Terror en Silent Hill

I remember I sat down to play Silent Hill a couple of years ago because the mystery genre intrigued me and the game had an interesting look to it, so I started running through the abandoned town of 'Silent Hill' as the main player. I stopped playing very soon because, in truth, not a whole lot was happening. It was mostly an uncomfortable experience, eerily lit and hauntingly scored. I could feel an intense build-up in that foggy place but I never reached the culmination, so I gave up. OK, fine - I was scared.

Years later this film adaptation is bravely made by Christophe Gans and, even though I'd played less than ten minutes of the game, I immediately recognised the haunting visuals of the abandoned city. So 'well done' here is an understatement. It is superbly breathed new life into.

The plot has been glossed over slightly in a Hollywood fashion, but captures the essence of its characters and storyline - which is: as a last resort, a mother takes her ill daughter to a place she often mentions in her sleep - a place near where she was adopted from. But the hope the mother has for her daughter's recovery quickly shatters and turns into despair when the little girl vanishes in the misty mysterious old town.

I truly cannot credit the atmosphere of this film enough. Christophe Gans has successfully captured the eerie mood of Silent Hill and it is a nightmarish place - a fog-enshrouded hell that shifts between two modes: barren ashen daylight and a gruesome decaying state with fiery ember, demons and enhanced by chilling (and very sudden) sound effects. It's strangely fascinating, surreal and above all frightening.

The problems of Silent Hill (2006) are that there are not nearly enough build-ups. They should have been used not only to stay faithful to the video game upon which it was based but to wield tension in the right way and shock us when the build-up finally culminates. But here we are introduced to horrid creatures early on and often without much foreshadowing devices. Because they are presented to us so generously and clear-viewed, they are not that scary. At all. Some even manage a raised eyebrow, like the crawly CGI cripples.

In the end, I think this is quality horror entertainment and probably one of the better game-to-film adaptations, abut it is much too chaotic - too many monsters and too often and too clearly to be frightening. The mood and atmosphere are what is frightening and so it should have been used even more in Silent Hill, but instead the director feels pressured to introduce creatures to satisfy mainstream audiences' need for bloody gorefest and kinetic action.

7 out of 10

Yea I live in a cave. Not only am I over a decade late to the Silent Hill party, but I had no idea that it is an adaptation of the famous 1999 PlayStation game Silent Hill. If this describes you as well then read on because it might help you enjoy this flick more.

Silent Hill the movie has a distinctly cold, brooding vibe similar to the classic supernatural mindbenders like The Others, The Sixth Sense, or even going way back to The Shining. That is, it immediately puts us in a surreal state of mind, cut off from reality (in this case an abandoned ghost town) where anything can & usually does happen.

Where it gets crazy and possibly disorienting to newbies is when it incorporates some of the videogame elements which are never really explained. The terrifying monster Pyramid Head just sort of appears without any context, and similarly the famous Nurses From Hell scene happens almost randomly. These are excellent scenes, but still a bit disorienting if you're trying to relate everything to the narrative that's unfolding.

The story itself is about a woman searching for a child in the creepy ghost town of Silent Hill, and it becomes a sort of dysfunctional Alice in Wonderland type tale with random gruesome episodes and good scares, but underneath it is a consistent plot which slowly reveals itself. One unique angle worth mentioning is that this movie is almost entirely a female cast. I thought that was a really interesting diversion from the standard horror flick where men dominate the story as both heroes and villians. Here our protagonist is a strong female lead--not quite Sarah Connor Terminator 2 strong, but definitely not a squeaking damsel in distress. The antagonist is a female as well, a very creepy matriarchal character whom you totally wouldn't want to meet at Sunday brunch.

Just be prepared that not everything ties neatly into the story (due to the videogame elements), and that's my only real criticism. However, if I watch it a 2nd time I'll be better prepared, as I hope you are after reading this! Silent Hill is a great flick with some terrifying moments, nice creative gore (ever see someone get their entire skin ripped off? tune in) and a satisfying story with a really interesting twist. Definitely worth checking out.

Although I have never played the actual game I am aware of its story and how this film decided to take another route. It borrows many elements & ideas from not just the first game but it's first couple sequels as well & blends in with the director's own ideas. The end result in my opinion I think works rather well both telling a solid story that doesn't hold your hand while also nailing the look and feel of its source material. I've seen many claim they couldn't understand much of the story but I personally think it explains everything pretty well. There are a couple exposition dumps & maybe at times some of the elements from the video games can feel disjointed but nothing feels out of place or forced in. Especially have to give the director and production crew props for the set design and visual effects that really brings to life the disturbing imagery of the games. There are many effective sequences especially one involving creepy nurses & there's no cheap jump scares to be found.

The only issue for me with the film are the boring and slow paced scenes with the husband character. It feels like they just added these scenes with him cuz the movie didn't have enough males but you could honestly cut all these out and it wouldn't effect the movie any. Other than that Silent Hill was definitely a milestone for video game adaptations especially from around that time. Even today you don't see many get as much effort put into them as this one did.

First of all, Carol Spiers deserved an Oscar for her production design. I'm not joking at all. It was so creepy and unsettling. It's worth watching for that alone. Unfortunately the storytelling aspect of it was pretty meh. Not a great script with some pretty lazy dialogue. In spite of that, I really liked this movie... surprisingly.

I have been a fan of the first game since it came out. As with most video game adaptations, I expected this to be a piece of sh#@. Instead, I got an atmospheric, haunting thriller that slowly creeps into you and doesn't let go.

True, the game was scarier. Way scarier. And there was something appealing about the vagueness of the story - the fact that it was never fully explained. And some parts (especially in the third act) could have been edited down and made more intense. And I wasn't fully convinced by Radha Mitchell's acting. But seriously, folks, this goes above and beyond your standard fare horror flick.

Speaking visually, the film is breath-taking. Some of the best conceptual designs I've ever seen. The creature's design and effects are top notch. Pay attention to one very creepy scene that revolves around a flash-light. It is brilliant.

The score is perfect. Disturbing and melancholy at the same time, just like the themes the movie explores. It has depth and its meanings are relevant to our current existence.

One thing I wanted to see used more was the radio static that signifies when a monster is approaching. That was to me one of the scariest elements of the game, since you knew the monster is close, and yet you couldn't see it. Also, with such a tightly woven, dense atmosphere, some boo moments could have been super scary, although the movie doesn't use them. That is a plus and a minus. The result is more sophisticated, refined, working more on psychological horror rather than shock value. On the other hand, on a superficial level, the film is not as scary as it could have been.

To conclude, a very pleasant surprise. Hopefully this is not the last we've seen of Silent Hill.