From the opening moment Lord of the Flies is a savage and thoughtful tale of youth gone awry. Really awry.

Set to the music of Philippe Sarde, Flies begins with a stunning underwater shot of a man sinking. The slow paced and stunning scene sets the tone for director Harry Hook's remake, which is based on Sir William Golding's novel of the same name.

The film tells of the descent to savagery of a group of military school boys stranded on a tropical island.

At first, the boys try to make the island a non-factionalized community similar to their military school. Unfortunately, not all the boys are as gung ho about working together as leader Ralph; some want to roam the island freely and revel in a life of no school or parents.

Most adamant about this lifestyle is Jack, the oldest and most persuasive of the group. Jack, a young politician type, always knows what to say to sway the younger boys.

Eventually the group splinters into the hunters -- Jack's group of violent cronies -- and Ralph and Piggy, the only resilient, rational young men.

This separation causes terror for Piggy and Ralph, who are highly outnumbered. It also causes fear for the audience, as muddied boys chase one another on screen with sharpened sticks.

Hook uses Sarde's eerie music to complement the boys' malevolent behavior and add this semblance of fright. In one scene, the hunters dance around a fire, celebrating their pig kill. The pulsating music and Hook's slow motion photography not only make for a potent scene, but also foreshadow the upcoming violence.

The real question posed is how could such "civilized" young men turn brutal and sadistic to the point of murder? The foreign surroundings cannot account for all their misdeeds. Hook searches through his lens for an answer to this query.

The rub is that Hook spoon feeds much of the horrific action to the audience, thus eliminating the power of interpretation. Sarde's music, although it glows with haunting melodies, is overused as a foreshadowing device.

The music, accompanied by such techniques as slow-motion photography, make the film seem like an endless display of messages. Hook creates a film that is pleasurable to look at but loses sight of much of Golding's novel.

Luckily the young men, most of whom are newcomers to acting, all perform well. Especially effective is Chris Furruh as the crazed Jack. The blond-haired adolescent looks comfortable doused in mud, and his crazed glare gives Jack an edge of instability. Most other performers handle their parts well, however, some blatantly show their acting naivete.

Lord of the Flies is not a bad motion picture. Hook's ambition and style simply overwhelm, which detracts from the gritty sense of the picture.