Rutger, Patricia et.al.,
Funny Games is utterly gripping in its believablility, which, surprisingly, is not squandered by having the self-conscious references, alterations and addressings of the camera. Indeed, that the main baddie looks right into the camera at the end with a gleeful self-possession (reminiscent of little Alex in A Clockwork Orange), as the pair moves on to their next victims, is part of what makes the film so effective.
Despite the devices, the horror here is realistic, and unlike Noel Carroll's claim that possible beings are not horrifying in the requisite sense, I find them even more horrifying for their plausibility. They remind us of the very real horrors in the world that most of us are fortunate enough to avoid. A home invasion where an entire family, including the dog, are massacred does "concern" me, as a family man myself who lives in a rural vacationland setting...besides the anxious adreniline that Funny Games generates is exhilarating (and the long duration shot in the living room that only gradually allows us to see the dead body of the son, though we see the grief written all over the father's face for some time before, is one of the best in the realistic horror/thriller genre).
Dan
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