First Review: Silent Hill

Silent Hill...2006...125 minutes...rated R...starring Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Alice Krige, and Jodelle Ferland..written by Roger Avary....directed by Christophe Gans

Based on the horror/survival video game series by Konami, Silent Hill is the story of  Rose Da Silva...who takes her adopted daughter Sharon to the abandoned title town in hopes of helping Sharon remember whatever it is that has her sleepwalking at nights. Rapidly, Rose finds herself wrapped in the mystery of Silent Hill...and may find out the truth about the mining town and her daughter if she can survive long enough.

Okay, I'll start by saying that I thought that this movie was an excellent adaptation of a video game series to a movie, though I understand that when I say this, I'm talking about a category where the bar has unfortuanetly not been set very high. Don't get me wrong, I enjoy the Resident Evil series...but anyone who has had to sit through such cinematic "bliss" as House of The Dead, Alone In The Dark, or Street Fighter (either one of them) will know that this particular transition is very hit-or-miss. In this particular case, the filmmakers played to the strengths of the game and produced something that was accessible to veteran SH game explorers and to first time audience members.

The most obvious strength is in the visual look of the movie.The film bounces between Silent Hill in our world, and the Silent Hill of the other world...not truly a hell, but certainly no paradise either. It's this version of the town that really catches the eye. Landscapes are filled with obscured buildings, strangely named roads, huge chasms that cut off the town in places, and deserted vehicles. Strange creatures lurk in this environment, modeled almost directly from monsters encountered in the game series. (One of the most notable is the gigantic monstrosity known as the Red Pyramid), and the transition from day to night in the Otherworld is a spectacular transition form fog and soot to darkness, rust, and blood.  A wonderful soundtrack adds to the overall strangeness of the place.

The story itself is nothing that most movie viewers haven't seen before, but Radha Mitchell is believable as a mother willing to do anything to make sure her daughter is safe, and its her performance that centers the movie. Many of the other characters do seem to get short shrift, especially Sean Bean, but Jodelle Ferland as both Sharon Da Silva and Alessa Gillespie steals the show when both her performances are considered. Like most of the games, I found the end of the movie to be a bit unsatisfying in terms of plot...(admittedly, I ended the movie thinking 'Wait...what?')but if it made for not-great story, the lack did add to accuracy in cross-over.

There's a fair level of gore in the film...it's not pervasive, but the moments it does have are impressive and not for the squeamish. Two scenes stick out: an encounter with the Red Pyramid by the church...and a plot-resolving confrontation at the end of the movie.

Overall, I give this movie 3.5 pyramid heads out of 5. I read that a sequel is being planned, involving the same writer and director, so I have fairly high hopes for it. My only question: did Radha Mitchell ever get the outfit she was promised? (If you get the DVD, check out the 'making of' featurettes to understand what I'm babbling about.)