movieking5000

I saw the film when it appeared in Iowa City, where it was shot. I was surprised by the production value. The filmmakers made it look really sharp! Kudos to the team and the actors. I'd say more so to the actors, because even with the high-end production value, I felt that parts of the movie a bit cliché and a bit overdone. I don't think that makes it bad, but it keeps the film from being all it could be for a student film. I'd rather the plot wasn't done in such an over-complicated way, or that certain plot devices had been left out. But still, I don't think this is a film where you can really critique the writing so much as the production value, the way it was shot, the acting abilities, or the sheer audacity that the filmmakers chose to make a film closer to Hollywood than as an experimental art film which seems to be the only thing coming out of Iowa City film students. There is a place for both, and I appreciate that.

It's hard for me, as a film major, someone wanting to make films for a living, and a video game enthusiast, someone who remembers playing Silent Hill when it came out on the Playstation and remembering that I'd never been scared by a game like that, to think of the fact that video-game adaptations are historically bad, and that many a great game is marred by its film relative. You expect to see the elements of your favorite game brought to fruition, in spirit as much as content, and for every one I've went to see, I've come out exhausted, distraught, and a little disappointed. Disappointed that there are Hollywood execs who rip apart a game license to make the film into something it should never have been. How many times will Uwe Boll be given a script that used to be a video game? It's this sort of attitude, that because something is a game, it has no artistic merit to it, therefore we shouldn't put in the time or energy. When I saw Silent Hill, I was clutching my armrests, partly due to the fear and tension in the film, but mostly for the fear I had that Christophe Gans may have been blowing smoke up our dresses when he said he was a fan of the game. I love this game, the way that atmosphere was so well crafted, the music, the fact that you don't expect when something will jump at you. I didn't want it to just be turned into another Resident Evil, which as fun as the first one was, I felt like I was watching a B-Movie. I wanted the true cinematic quality of the game Silent Hill to be represented. But I have to say, what a brilliant piece of artistry and design the film portrayed. I've heard people complain about the length, and I've been told the movie was originally three hours long. I think I still would have rather seen all three hours of Silent Hill then even an hour of Bloodrayne or some other Uwe Boll crap. I felt like there was so much more to see and to feel. I honestly haven't felt this entranced by a film in a long time, so I have to give it to the art production team, and to Christophe Gans and the DP for shooting such a fantastic painting. My only question is, who's going to create a Metal Gear Solid movie? Huh? Another PS classic!