Silent Hill is far from a perfect movie. But, Silent Hill is also one of the best video game to movie adaptations out there. That's really not saying much. If you were to watch this movie without playing the games, you might as well bring your pillow. Fortunately for me, I've played all 4 games in the series multiple times, and it was for people like me that the movie was made in the first place. The plot of the movie steals familiar elements from the games. But, it doesn't tie into the games. They combined the plots of the first two games, changed the focus around, and ultimately steered away from the MUCH darker and much more confusing plot of the games. The fans will either be smiling with glee or reliving their darkest nightmares as the movie tosses fans a lot of bones. There are EXACT shots recreated on the silver screen that were used in the games. Multiple times I THOUGHT I knew the direction in which the movie was going, because it was so familiar, and then they'd go in a completely different direction. It was actually irritating at first, but once I got over that, I just enjoyed it for what it was. Do NOT expect to watch "Resident Evil" with this movie. While they may share similar genres, that's where the comparisons end. MUCH like the game, the movie is slow, and it's scares rely on a creepy, skin-crawling feeling rather than "jump" scares. But, the acting is actually what impressed me. Some may see it as annoying, but those that played the game, will actually feel like they pulled dialogue directly out of it. And, Radha Mitchell does a good job acting like a frantic mother searching for her child. I will admit though, at times I wanted to pull my hair out in frustration because her character actually hardly does anything. She just runs around, chasing after a little girl that she thinks is her daughter. Did no one learn anything from Event Horizon? If they run AWAY from you, they are playing a game with you. Apart from minor annoyances with her character, the other characters were bland and flat, but hey, you can't have an "R" rated horror movie without a high corpse count. Although they did take the "survival horror" to the extreme with the survival part. It would've been nice to see some of the violence directed at the creatures. C'mon, you beat them senseless with lead pipes in the game, but that was lacking. Sean Bean could've helped make the movie all that more stellar, but he's kind of a side-plot. Without giving too much away, there's some closure to the movie, but it would be naive to say they wouldn't make a sequel starring Sean Bean, unless, of course, he was only a "draw" to bring more to the movie. The cinematography and camera angles steal from the game, but they are effective and well done. The sound was superb, with many sound bytes from the games, and a lot of eerie effects for the creatures. The gore was a little over the top, and like mentioned earlier, needed to be directed more at the creatures. All in all, the movie felt like a throwback to the games, putting in as many elements that made "sense" with the movies plot, to make the fans happy. Those unfamiliar with the series, MAY appreciate it for what it is. Basically this- it's a creepy and gory distraction, that's pretty boring as is, but given that it's based off of a video game that's just a creepy and gory distraction, that's pretty boring as well, they're a perfect match. Just remember that it's probably the best video game-to-movie adaptation out there (need I bring up Uwe Boll?), but leaves it's fans wanting more. Thankfully, the movie industry milks licenses for all they're worth, and we'll probably see a sequel sometime in the future.
Review of Silent Hill
