A lot of movies can be described as "dripping with atmosphere," but in the case ofSilent Hillit's literally true. Faithfully adapted from the Konami video games by French director Christophe Gans andPulp Fictioncowriter Roger Avary (both self-confessed video game addicts), this dark and grisly horror-fest is nothing if not a triumph of cinematography and production design, consisting of a minimal and mostly incoherent plot propped up by a mysterious maze of sets that literally seep, drip, and ooze with the atmospheric evil of past misdeeds. Welcome to the abandoned and perpetually foggy ghost town of Silent Hill, where grey ash falls like snow, a devastating coal-mine fire still burns in a hellish underground, and demons of various shapes and sizes make your worst nightmares seem like a walk in the park. It's here that distressed mother Rose (played byPitch Blackheroine Radha Mitchell) has taken her daughter Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) in hopes of discovering the source of Sharon's sleepwalking nightmares. What they find instead is a burned-out legacy of unspeakable evil, as Silent Hill's dark secrets are revealed. As opposing denizens of Silent Hill's meta-morphing underworld, Canadian actresses Alice Krige and Deborah Kara Unger seem to be the only ones who recognize this morbid mess as campy comedy; Gans (who established his visual flair withThe Brotherhood of the Wolf) and Avary take it far too seriously, and the entire movie is utterly devoid of any emotional hooks or plot logic that would make us care about anything that happens. In crafting a loyal big-screen rendition ofSilent Hilland its Playstation sequels, they've forgotten that movies play by a different and more demanding set of rules. As a result, they've made an impressive-looking but ultimately hollow horror film that onlySilent Hillgame-players can truly appreciate.--Jeff Shannon
another video game remake though a good one none the less well at least uwe bowe didn't get a chance to direct this. this was a very good movie by everyone's opinions, but i was dissiopointed when one person said they left half way cause the movie was scary. plus i loved this also and don't say this was horrible or not scary cause a flying chainsaw with wings will rape you!
the plot sypnosis circles around a mother and her adopted daughter (originaly in the video game is suppose to be a father but they didn't really follow the video game to resident evil anyway) then they venture to a ghost town that is silent hill. along with that a cult has somewhat been there since a great burning went wrong. and soon a story of witch hunt and obscurity has suddently lashed out.
there are lots of gory scenes to please the public and what not. with not a lot of hygene that we come to love if you played the video game. so rent, buy, be entertained by this cause you'll never want to leave silent hill [...]
Imaginative and Stylish Film Highly Underrated Silent HIll is the best horror film since The Ring. I was delightfully surprised, since this was another film inspired by a video game (which I've never played). But I found this film totally original, visually stylish with unique and horrific imagery. It's a film that's more creepy than jump-out-of-your-seat scarey -- but the creeps stay with you long after the film is over. It's notoriously difficult to sustain a particular atmosphere in any film, but horror even more so. Yet director Christophe Gans achieves this to an incredible degree over the entire length of the film, and the dream-logic conceit remains internally consistent. The special effects are jaw-droppingly wonderful, ground-breaking, and serve the story without calling attention to themselves. My only disappointment was that the film wasn't longer, and I would have liked to have seen more of the triangle-headed demon.
Vastly superior to anything that's been done in horror in years.Send Pyramid Head after Roger Ebert!! For the most part,I think this was a great horror movie. Naturally being a huge fan of the even more terrifying games,my review may seem biased.
However I truely don't understand why Roger Ebert gave such a terrible review for this movie,other than perhaps he has something against video games.
While the conclusion of the plot can be a bit confusing (they made the mistake of trying to fill in the connection on SH 1&3 and then adding hollywood's take on the game) there is still much for both horror fans and SH fans to enjoy.
The effects alone should have given this a thumbs up (Ebert barely gave any credit to this except to say that it was like a college art film) One of the greatest moments was when we encounter the first creature of Silent Hill.When the face was shown and that shrill was made,I truely got scared just from the anticipation alone.Then shorlty thereafter,when the "grey children" burn up,we get a dark comedy moment of Rose waking up to Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire.
While the acting was average(at least for the male roles)Cybil and Rose both did a good job portraying the horror that would be felt if being immersed in such a sadistic,evil dimension.
Also all SH fans will be happy to see their favorite demons make appearances in this movie adaptation.Included are patients roaches,Pyramid Head,and my personal twisted favorite,the nurses.Call me strange,but I actually find them kind of sexy.
The different music from various SH games are this movie's soundtrack.With the most notable being SH3's opening title as the movies end credits.
Personaly I think there will be alot more people that like this movie than hate it.The only reason that I give it a four star instead of a 5,is because 1.)I would have liked the storyline to be completely from an actual game rather than hollywood changing certain aspects 2.)the plot does kind of lose you,which is because of the first problem and 3.)more demons and special effects rather than the whole "witch!witch!" harping done in the final 45 minutes of the movie.
Still,the good outweighs the bad.SH and occult gore fans will enjoy this one.Roger Ebert is just a pompous,self-absorbed dinosouar who needs to retire.
