When directors decide to remake one of their own films, it is usually because there was something about the first version that they felt could be improved.

Alfred Hitchcock gave his 1934 black-and-white British thriller The Man Who Knew Too Much a Technicolor makeover in 1956, emphasizing the allure of Hollywood stars James Stewart and Doris Day. Dutch filmmaker George Sluizer retooled his 1988 arthouse hit The Vanishing in 1993 with a bigger budget, big-name stars (Kiefer Sutherland, Jeff Bridges, Sandra Bullock) and -- gasp! -- a happy ending.

But when Michael Haneke set out to remake his 1997 Austrian thriller Funny Games, he wasn't interested in changing a thing, other than using English-speaking actors. The new Funny Games, which stars Naomi Watts, Tim Roth and Devon Gearhart as the family held hostage in their vacation home by a pair of young psychopaths (Michael Pitt and Brady Corbet), is so similar to the first film it is practically a shot-for-shot remake, employing near-identical angles, sets and dialogue to the original.

''There really was nothing more to add,'' Haneke said via telephone about his decision not to tinker with what had worked the first time around. ``I wanted to remake it in English to attract a larger American audience, and because I have always felt this story is of the most relevance to the U.S. But the script felt just as relevant and timely today than it did 10 years ago, maybe even more so. I couldn't think of anything else I needed to say.''

Some preview audiences have had plenty to say about Funny Games: One Internet report claims a viewer stood up after an advance screening and yelled ''F--- you!'' at the screen. But Haneke takes that as a compliment, since the fiendish Funny Games accomplishes exactly what the original did: It seduces the thrill-seeking audience with a suspenseful tale about an innocent family subjected to psychological and physical torture, then throws the viewer's interest in this sort of material back at them, forcing you to contemplate why, exactly, we derive entertainment out of watching such sadistic pictures.

Watts, who also served as executive producer on Funny Games, said the film's violent nature initially gave her pause when Haneke contacted her about the project and told her he would make it only if she agreed to play the role of the distraught wife and mother.

''I was concerned how it would land in America,'' the actress said via telephone. ``So I had to talk to him to make sure that the reactions I had when I saw the original film were the same reactions he was going for. I think Michael uses Funny Games to have us question our role as an audience member and make us think about the things we crave. And I think he definitely succeeded. That's what makes him such a provocative filmmaker: His movies really get under your skin.''

Watts said it was a challenge to make Funny Games, because Haneke wanted to recreate the original so scrupulously that even her performance had to be a near-mirror reflection of Sussane Lothar's work in the first film.

''I'm used to walking onto a set and discovering a scene with the director and the other actors in an organic way,'' Watts said. ``But that wasn't the case with this film, because since it was a shot-for-shot remake, the blocking was automatically dictated by the first film. Michael said this was the way he was making the movie, so I just had to go with him. But I don't think I could have done it with any other director. He is so consumed with every tiny detail and every piece of minutiae that you just trust him.''

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