Silent Hill (2006)

Widescreen Edition DVD

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"‘Because you're her mother. Mother is God in the eyes of a child.’"

THE CAST:

Silent Hill has a pretty good cast and most of the time they are convincing in their roles. Occasionally the film suffers from over acting but in this type of dramatic movie you would almost expect it. The cast includes Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Unger, Kim Coates and Tanya Allen.

DIRECTION, CINEMATOGRAPHY AND SPECIAL EFFECTS:

Photography is done very well with effective contrasts between the 'normal world' and the Silent Hill reality. Every so often it is evident the actors are on a set instead of in a real building and some CGI work could have been done a bit better, but overall the special effects are suitable and plausible. A total of 165 sets and locations were used for the film so I am sure that is the reason there are a couple noticeable inconsistencies throughout, but nothing glaringly perceivable.

I did not realize until recently this film was a game adaptation. It took director Christopher Gans five years to obtain the rights to do this film and only received permission after sending Konami an interview describing how much Silent Hill meant to him. When he developed the film he wanted to remain true to the game so all of the music you hear is directly from the game series with one exception, Ring of Fire by Johnny Cash. Gans wanted a part of each game incorporated into the film so the characters and many lines in the film are taken directly from each of the three Silent Hill Games.

THE GOOD:

The story and script is a decent one with enough intrigue to hold your attention. Even though some of the dialogue is meaningless, it is easily overcome by the disturbing visuals and/or creatures. The atmosphere is creepy and they do a good job making it consistent up to the end of the film. The originality of the creatures/monsters is refreshing. Instead of having something we have seen a million times, the creatures are original and from what I understand adapted directly from the series of video games.

THE BAD:

Towards the beginning the main character Rose is running through the streets of Silent Hill and it is unmistakably not the actress playing the part but a double wearing a wig. I do not know why this was necessary, but maybe the location they were filming at was a dangerous area. The only other thing that bothered me about the film is certain scenes tend to cause the suspense built to that point to be lost. These scenes are not in abundance, but border on the unnecessary.

THE STORY (may contain spoilers):

Rose Da Silva (Radha Mitchell) and her husband Christopher (Sean Bean) have an adopted daughter who sleepwalks and has terrifying dreams about a place called Silent Hill. At first Rose believes this is a fictional place but after doing a little research determines it is a very real town in West Virginia. In an attempt to help Sharon overcome what is going on in her subconscious, Rose decides to take her to the actual town. Once there they are thrown into the alternate reality of Silent Hill and must face horrific creatures, 'the darkness' and a group of citizens whom have obviously been driven mad by the battle they themselves have been facing for so long.

SPECIAL FEATURES: Widescreen DVD

6-part behind the scenes featurette

Path of darkness: making "Silent Hill"

Origins

Casting

Set design

Stars and stunts

Creatures unleashed

Creature choreography

REPLAY VALUE:

Average replay for Silent Hill because while it could be watched several times, it would become boring trying to watch over and over.

BOTTOM LINE:

Silent Hill may not be the most exciting film but it does hold your attention throughout. I do recommend it to all fans of the horror genre, especially those who enjoy movies with a story to be told like The Ring. I do not think it is necessary to play the game before watching but from what I have read, this is a very good and accurate game adaptation. To be honest I am surprised there was not a sequel to this film because it made over $97 million worldwide. But who knows maybe one will be in our future during this time of remakes, reboots and prequels.

Thanks for reading.