Two and a half stars (R)

A family (Tim Roth, Naomi Watts and Devon Gearhart) on a trip gets targeted by two teenage sadists (Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet) in Austrian director Michael Haneke’s shot-by-shot English language remake of his 1997 film of the same title. For the most part, the violence is not graphic, but the level of suspense, of dread, is excruciating. The film works against audience expectations, but to what end? Why subject yourself to a miserable experience, however well crafted? 108 minutes. DVD INFO: Includes a commentary track by the director, who reportedly says his decision to make the film was a sarcastic need to punish his audience and that he hates writers that are more intelligent than their creatures.