"You must admit, you brought this on yourself."
Director Michael Haneke’s 2007 shot-for-shot remake of his psychological horror Funny Games, originally produced in 1997 in Austria, shocked and divided audiences and critics upon its release. Derided by some as needlessly sadistic whilst lauded by others as an intellectual confrontation of modern society’s obsession with violence, what all parties agreed on – including Haneke himself – was that the film’s narrative leads unambiguously to a pointless, nihilistic conclusion. Naomi Watts and Tim Roth play a wealthy American couple on holiday in the lakes with their child who are terrorised and held hostage by a pair of blonde, white-clad caddies who threaten to turn their lives into a literal horror movie. But why are we, the viewers, watching this unfold? In this week’s episode of the Ghastly Podcast Nick and Johanna focus on the 2007 remake with a reference to Haneke’s 1997 original, discussing horror as a spectator sport, the sociocultural meaning of violence, and the logistics of remakes and Americanisation.
