[Movie] - Silent Hill

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Movie: Silent Hill
Starring: Radha Mitchell, Jodelle Ferland, Sean Bean, and Pyramid Head
Director: Christopher Gans
Writing: Roger Avary (screenplay), Nicolas Boukhrief, and Christophe Gans (story)

Christopher Gans knew what he was doing when he adapted Konami’s popular survival horror series in the Silent Hill movie. Unlike previous adaptations Gans goes for something that stays very true to the premise of the game. Most of the story seems to have been borrowed from the first Silent Hill where the look of the town was lifted from the graphically superior Silent Hills 2 and 3.

Our movie story begins in suburbia where little Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) is sleep walking and nearly falls off a cliff. The daughter is saved by foster mother, Rose. We find out that Sharon has had recurring dreams about a town called Silent Hill and Sharon thinks that it would be a good idea to go to this town and perhaps it will solve the problem (aparently she never played the game.)

From the introduction of the town the audience is treated to a intriguing, gore-filled, and suprisingly thought-provoking good time. The look of Silent Hill is dead on and fans of the game will clap for joy at the killer nurses, burning demon children, and yes Pyramid Head ^_^! The movie has some pretty good tension and a couple of scared. However, the CG seems a little on the fake side and detracts from the feeling of scariness. Also, the film tends to run a bit long in places, particularily one scene at the end that gets milked for about a mile and half.

One thing about the plot that I thought made the film drag a bit was the preasence of Chrisopher (Sean Bean) who plays the father. It seems taht whenever the scene switches to him the plot slows down and it takes away from the action happening in Silent Hill with Rose. I also felt that Radha was a little wooden in places and the “good” Sharon was played a little young. It seems that her character was written about 8 or 9 but she looks 12.

All of these flaws are rather nit-picky and overall it was a movie that I enjoyed immensily. I think that fans of the game should definetly check this out. Those who have not played the games, I fear, may feel cheated because there are questions in the film that go unanswered. But I think that works to the movie’s benefit because things that we don’t understand or see can be more terrifying than that we do see. It adds mystery to the story without making it terribly hard to understand. Despite any flaws it might have Silent Hill may just be the best video game film adaptation yet.

Rating: B+

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So, others have already posted on the movie…yes I know it. But I figured since I have read other posts by the thread auther …well, I would go ahead and put in my two sense and see what happens. I enjoyed the movie, but I went to the theater with an open mind just looking to have a good time so maybe I am slightly biased. I have seen many horror movies over the years…many of which I saw between the ages of 7-15. So, yes my little fragile mind may have been warped…but no more warped than the people who WROTE the stinking films.

First in relation to the game experience, I squirmed in my seat while watching the movie…which is what most horror films set out to do…they set out to make the viewer uncomfortable…so on that note with gore it gets a B-. It was within normal ranges though because as a horror movie lover…I have seen much worse. See Romero’s Dawn of the Dead, Day of the Dead, …and so on.

The plot was interesting…although…hate to say it…WAY too easy to figure out within the first quarter of the movie. C+ has to be given because I don’t know about you…but I could tell where the reality/evil/ darkness cut cut offs were as soon as the accident.(SEE ANY OF THE SILENT HILL GAMES FOR THE SAME EFFECT or Clive Barker’s Night Breed)

When you watch a movie…you should identify with the actors/actresses and you should be ok with who they are on the screen and what they are doing. Certain charecters are important to the exposition. I am very happy with the casting of most of the people…aLTHOUGH…the casting of the head woman of the cult was ALL OFF!!! Although she fit the role perfectly…she has been overly type casted for years and (see Steven King’s SLEEPWALKERS) …when you see her face you already know who she is to the plot so for casting an amazingly high (from my point of view) B+

For those people who moan and whine that it pushes limits…Jeesh…first of all it’s a movie. The game was nothing compared to how Doom was when it first came out. The game scares you with sounds and settings more than anything… it’s actually very popular still…and considered a cult classic…not comparible to doom of course…but…still a classic.

.AND…to argue that child rape/kidnap is wrong to talk about…well then you had better avoid the movie theater, the television, the radio, the news, most highway billboards, newspapers, magazines, the internet, and pretty much life itself…because ITS EVERYWHERE. Reality is to be mocked and recreated because without that process we as a people could NEVER overcome such evils.

Go see an AMERICAN HAUNTING…and THEN tell me what you thought about Silent Hill…talk about topics being pressed…

so, if you say silent hill was bad because it pressed issues…dealing with children and violence I hope you say the same thing when the cursed 9/11 movies are released because they REALLY push limits. They will be gaining profit from the death of hundreds/thousands of Americans.

I would say that this movie can be seen by ANYONE over 16. If you are sensitive to the Witch trial burnings, child abuse situations, rape, violence, or plots dealing with demonic possession …dont go see it… or An American Haunting, or The Davinci Code…Trust me the list goes on and on back to the first movies ever made.

Over all …a high c+ from me…

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Silent Hill was even more impressive as our Lass (her, it that follows me about and spends’ me money) is the jumpiest, most easily shocked person i’ve ever met. Out of boredom we go to see films such as Lord of the Rings, Star Wars etc. and she falls asleep. Blockedbusters - asleep. Oldies - asleep. Mates’ B-movies - asleep. Porn movies - asleep. Horrors… petrified. Example: a sudden “AAnaRRRGGHH!” gets the baby flung; ten minutes later a little “NNAAAARRrr!!!” gets a full leap and previous sound effects; ten minutes later… you get the picture, hours of entertainment (till it gets nasty).

List of films and there near the bottom was Silent Hill;
‘wouldn’t mind seeing that’ [looked up at her],
na… she’d never… hehe, know what the hell it is.
her ‘what?’
m-e ‘this film’
what’s it about?
action-drama-comedy-romance-thing looks good, laddo of Sharps in it, you know, Sean Bean. Come on it’ll be a laugh.
Ok. I’ll need to blah, blah, blah, blah…

…2 minute’s later…

blah, blah so what happens in it
dunno, havent seen it yet but it got a good write up
where at?
oww… er, some magazine
hum… this isn’t one of them stupid gore films?
no… there was a clip on the tele, you saw it and i said “that looks good” remember that?
No

blah, blah… popcorn, car radio, tickets, her mother etc

Previews finish and the films started; if you dont know about Silent Hill from the computer games, things get interesting once loud siren goes off. She’s saying things like “this isn’t very funny” or “theres Frank and Cheral over there” until: Waaaaaaaaa, the siren goes off. I whisper “this is one them daft gore films.”

WAHAHAHA!

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Haven’t read any of this thread so as to avoid spoilers, but just bough Silent Hill today. I’ll see how it is in an hour or so. Never played the game much, don’t know if that will help or hurt my opinion.

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Hrmph…not bad, not brilliant. Cannily & predictably situated for a sequel (to be performed by much poorer, hungrier and less talented actors). A decent effort. And if our reach didn’t exceed our grasp…well, skip it.

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The movie was…horrid. If you have played the game, you spend the entire movie going “W…T…F.”

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Excellently summarized review, OP

I think I posted a thread on this movie elsewhere. But nevertheless, I think it’s worth taking a close look at the elements.

The movie was a very dramatic experience for me, and even more dramatic in behind-the-scenes, when Christopher admitted to crying when he played the game- which inspired him to make the movie.

I’d like to take a closer look at some of the elements-- as a kind of reminiscence of elements in reality. A “philosophy of silent hill.” But without a lot of time, I want to take only one specific element right now. The janitor.

[b]THE RAPIST JANITOR[/b]

I find that everyone -producers and fans alike- avoid this person the most. It’s easy to deal with when we think about weird creepy monsters that are no longer human. We constantly thwart away the considerations of the ugly side of real humanity.

Forgive me if it sounds cruel, but I demand that no one be given this privilege. Out of everything you remember about this movie, I want this seared into your head the most clearly–

THE MOVIE IS A MOVIE . . . BUT THE JANITOR IS REAL. HE IS SOMEWHERE RIGHT NOW. HE IS HUNTING RIGHT NOW AND HE GOES UNPUNISHED. HE GOES UNPUNISHED BECAUSE YOU AVOID ACKNOWLEDGING HIS EXISTENCE!