Very very predictable, including the post credit scene !!!

I think this is a new genre that they're all sort of working their way through it and haven't got all the kinks worked out yet but it's a genre that works for me.

Easily the biggest piece of Right wing non sense propaganda I ever saw.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

I can't believe that this film is so high rated here, I just couldn't stand it, it was a pain to get to the end of it. An hour and a half of pure nothing, the story can be summarized in 2 lines, the actual events could have been squeezed in a 10 minutes short film. All the rest is useless crap: a cup of coffee on a table filmed for about 10 seconds, 2 full minutes of annoying arabian music with mother and son on the bed without uttering a word, long, unbearably long scenes where NOTHING at all happens, unexisting dialogue, unexpressive characters, everything about this movie is pure bore, tedium, humdrum.The twist end doesn't save the failure of what could have been a good story, if only it were brought on film in a different way. Sorry herr Haneke, I did like Funny Games, but this crap is unwatchable.

One of Mikael Haneke's first feature films makes a great impact on the viewer. I'm writing this after seeing this film for thew second time, 21 years after watching it in a cinema, in a film club setting. Back then we didn't know how many extraordinary films Haneke would be making later on. In that setting, I must say this showed promise of a controversial director with an important message in his films. Haneke wants to make discussions, and don't really care if he is controversial or even disgust people watching his films.Benny is a loner of a 14 year old boy, using so much time in his own room watching violent videos as well as making his own videos with his Video8 camera. His parents are rich, but largely absent from his upbringing, but are more hands on than normal, when they are at home. During a trip to the video store Benny meets a girl of his own age, and invites her home, to show her a video h has made about a pig being shot with a slaughter gun. He shows her the gun he has stolen, and from there the story turns severe.It's not really possible to give a review of this film without telling too much. Still there's no point in spilling the beans. The film has more than one surprise up in the sleeve, and is well suited for discussions in a group or a media class. I can assure you that the viewers will have different views on what they make of this movie. Why is Benny doing this? Is this likely or even at all realistic? Why do they do the things they do? Whta would you have done in the same situation? Who's to blame? Does it provoke you? Are we watching a sociopath in the making? Why did Haneke make this film?As always in Haneke's films, the actors are brilliant in their play, though it's easy to criticize the ideas if you don't like them. Arno Frisch is brilliantly portraying young Benny, as a boy who has lost his way due to some reason or another.After viewing this film the first time, back in 1993, we had one of the greatest discussions I ever experienced after a film. We always went to a café side-by-side to the cinema after the film club showings, and this film made us having a major discussion. So I never forgot this film, and Haneke, or Austrian films for that matter. I must say this film made an immensely impact on me due to this. Watching it again so many years later, reminds me of what I really remember of the film, which is almost half. When you remember so much of it, it's no doubt a great film. Not flawless, but important as well as remarkable.This can't be recommended to the faint hearted, nor due to the content, the violence or the moral. You'll better stay away if you are easily disgusted or offended.

The second film from the Austrian auteur Michael Haneke, Benny's Video is another look at the director's vision of our modern world and the societal problems he sees as rife within it.Benny's Video shows us a short period in the life of the eponymous character. Obsessed with visual images and that which he captures on camera, Benny's eye is caught by a girl he sees at his local video shop. He invites her to his house one day while his parents are away, and shows her his favourite video: a pig being slaughtered on his uncle's farm. What follows is Haneke's take on the accustomisation of mankind to horrendous violence and the true capability of human cruelty.In many ways, not least of all Haneke's direct statement, Benny's Video acts as a spiritual successor to the earlier Der Siebente Kontinent, tackling much of the same thematic material and issues of morality. Like its predecessor, it highlights its director's message in a shocking, horrifying, and utterly compelling manner. Benny is the typical teenage boy, revelling in the thrill of violence and bloodshed. His terrifying calmness around such terrible things as well as his peaceful perversity create an enigmatic character, but a realistic one. As with Der Siebente Kontinent, the placing of the camera is key to this film, the occurrence of the main event slightly out of view an extremely important element. The film's momentum lies in the performance of Arno Frisch, who manages to perfectly portray the icy Benny with a calculated complexity. Strong support comes from Angela Winkler and Ulrich Mühe as the parents, protective but no less horrified as we.Dark, disturbing and engaging, in Benny's Video Haneke again shows us the flaws of our species, effectively having us question what we never thought to before. A powerful movie, masterfully shot and terrifically acted, it really must be seen.

Jeez!!!!!! For the past thirteen years it has been impossible to get anything other than a crappy VHS copy of Michael Haneke's brilliant and disturbing "Benny's Video". Finally, it is out on DVD. It sure took 'em long enough! First off, if you think you're a film buff and you have never of Michael Haneke - THINK AGAIN. The Austrian Haneke is one of the great idiosyncratic filmmakers of our times. And his "emotional glaciation" trilogy (all of it finally out on DVD - hooray!!) deserves to be seen by everyone!! Everyone!! That means you! You - reading this!! "Benny's Video" is number two in the brilliant, brilliant trilogy and centers around 14-year old Benny, a young man consumed with violent media images and video. In particular, a video of a pig being slaughtered. Benny spends his days with his shades drawn, listening to speed metal and watching violent video images. He doesn't even look outside, but has a camera set up to play a constant, live "view" of the outside world on one of his TVs.The plot essentially takes off when Benny invites a young girl (and possible love interest) back to his parents house while they are away."Benny's Video" is one of the great commentaries on violence in the media and social apathy. It ranks up there with "Man Bites Dog" and "Natural Born Killers".The last third of the film lulls a little bit, but other than that this is essential Michael Haneke. Highly recommended.