Silent Hill: A Review

Ok, so lets try and be objective, get this written down while its still fresh in my mind, then have a few cans, play a few hands of poker and go to sleep.

So, I'd heard from various sources that "Silent Hill" wasn't going to be a very good film and therefore I went into this showing with little expectation. I was never a fan of the Silent Hill game and in the broad spectrum of movies "Survival Horror" is never going to make my top five.

However, all things being equal I decided to give it a chance.

The film kicks off straight into fleshing out the main characters of a little girl and her parents who are struggling with the girls sleepwalking and strange behaviour. The scene is set and it quickly becomes evident that the mother and daughter have to head to Silent Hill to cure the sleepwalking - Fair enough.

The pace of the film is fairly rapid in its first half, quickly establishing an end goal (Find Daughter - get the fuck out of Silent Hill) and the set design and cinematography is absolutely spot as the mother moves further into the mysterious town. However, where the film starts to fall down (for me) is in too many key areas; character development is minimal and the belivability of some of the cast is a struggle.

If you've ever played any game on the PS2 where you're trapped into a mansion/ghost town/sunken ship/secret laboratory, you'll get an impression of many of the main action sequences where the lead character is being chased into a tight corner by ridiculous mutant creatures who's creation and purpose is never fully explained during the films plot (but - which is, I've reliably informed, developed in detail in the various Silent Hill games). It's this kind of omission which left me (and anyone who hasn't played the games I presume) confused as to why these odd creatures even existed, not to mention what their obvious beef was with the films leading heroine.

At one point mid-film the lead character picks up a knife and I half expected for a dialogue to pop up on the screen saying "Rose has found [Carving Knife], would you like to equip [Carving Knife]? YES/NO." whether that is testiment to the films ability to capture the feel of its console based parent, or whether it is a telling sign of the films almost computer generated appearance in parts is something that you will need to decide for yourself.

As the film progresses we're treated to a brief back story about Silent Hill and events escalate into a frenzy of gore and bizarrely barbed wire which seems to be trying to be gory for the sake of gore itself. Also, at one point, there is a very very odd fight scene which seems inspired by a Daft Punk dance sequence.

All in all, I thought the film was relatively poor, but, discounting the fact that I'm not a fan of the genre and am not a follower of the original game, this isn't to say that it doesn't have something to offer for those of you who carry a candle (or, more appropriately [A Lighter]) for movies of this type.

Also, despite the fact that I was bored for the majority of the nearly two hour sitting, I was pleased that the films producers didn't cop out with an easy ending and added a small, but clever twist. Added to that, even the most cynical viewer will probably be a little more tense when walking through a quiet town in the dead of night, largely down to the excellent set design and cinematography which does set this film apart from lesser console adaptations (Resident Evil to name but one).

To summarise, if you like films where a largely alone unlikely "hero" survives supernatural menace for two hours whilst mainly screaming and running away, this is probably for you.

If you don't, I'd stay at home.

- Dave out.