Naomi Watts in "Funny Games."

You could probably make a pretty effective statement about tool safety by hitting someone in the head with a hammer. But would you want to? And would you pay to be the one on the wrong end of the exercise?

"Funny Games," an American remake of director Michael Haneke's 1997 German film, toys with the way violence is portrayed and how we perceive it -- and toys with the audience in the process.

The movie is about two young men -- boys, really -- who hold a family hostage and force them to play increasingly sadistic, violent, torturous games. It doesn't take long for you to realize that, as part of the audience, you are being held captive as well. With one difference: Unlike the unlucky family in the film, you chose to be there.

The film is, without question, expertly made. Haneke's technique is so quirky, so different, that it demands attention and, yes, praise. If you can make yourself sit through it.

"Funny Games" stars Tim Roth and Naomi Watts (she also produced) as George and Ann, who, along with their 10-year-old son Georgie (Devon Gearhart), arrive at their weekend home for sailing and relaxation. On the way in, they notice neighbors acting strangely, with a couple of young men with them.

Soon the men, wearing white gloves, are at George and Ann's house, borrowing eggs, trying out golf clubs and generally making it known that they have no plans to leave. Paul (Michael Pitt) and Peter (Brady Corbet) -- at least that's what they call themselves most of the time -- then begin a brutal game. They're like monster preppies, with their just-so haircuts, tennis shirts and precious mannerisms.

Entertainment is what we want from movies, right? Is it what we're getting here? It's difficult to say. Nearly everything about "Funny Games" makes the audience uncomfortable. When Paul or Peter, for instance, talks to George or Ann, we see the person being talked to, not the speaker.

Indeed, much of the violence -- and there is plenty -- takes place either off-camera or just beyond the frame. But Haneke forces us to watch, almost in real time, the aftermath of shocking acts, something you just don't see in most horror films. It's slow, it's tedious, it's almost boring. And yet, say, when a bound Ann struggles for minutes to get to her feet, we are right there with her, unable to escape. At other times, Paul breaks the fourth wall and talks to the audience, making us almost participants in what's going on.

It's not a fun ride, but "Funny Games" forces us -- almost against our will -- to examine its characterization of violence and our response to it. Watching it is creepy. Writing this review is creepy. How can one praise something so willfully manipulative and brutal? And yet it haunts you long afterward, demanding that you roll it over and over in your mind.

Bill Goodykoontz / Gannett News Service