10 Movies That Hated Their Own Audience

Michael Haneke's 1997 psychological thriller and his 2007 shot-for-shot Hollywood remake both set out to achieve the same goal - depict the horrible brutalisation of a family unit, and make the audience feel like crap for watching it.

Both movies revolve around two young men who invade the home of a well-to-do family and painstakingly torture them.

Haneke, a cooly detached director if there ever was one, nevertheless actively antagonises the audience throughout the film.

For starters, both films are bookended with an extremely discordant grindcore song that defies the formal expectations audiences have of glossy genre thrillers.

And mid-way through the film, the "heroes" attempt to mount an escape plan, only for one of the attackers to grab a remote control and literally rewind the movie, allowing him a do-over.

Between this and the savage ending sequence, where the family are killed and the killers get away scot-free, Haneke is basically scolding the audience for getting their thrills out of rampant human destruction.

This is further supported by not only the generally tame and restrained approach to violence throughout the films, but also the chilling final shot, in which one of the attackers stares directly into the camera lens, as if to say, "What? You thought the good guys were gonna win?"

It's easy to see why the films were widely loathed by more casual audiences - especially the Naomi Watts-starring remake - while proving divisive with critics. But it's tough to argue with the imaginative effectiveness of Haneke's critique of violence in the media.