Many fans of the games were expecting this movie. Myself no exception, despite how I’ve never played the game. Its only recently that I saw playthroughs of the first two games. Many fans said Silent Hill is the best video game to movie adaption to date. I finally got a chance to see it. I was turned off in the first few minutes, you’ll soon see why you can skip this movie.
The movie starts out with a mother screaming for her daughter. She tracks down her daughter, screaming all the while, tackles the daughter down and the daughter starts screaming Silent Hill. The mother starts more screaming. She suddenly decides in another scene that she’ll take her daughter to Silent Hill to cure her of her sleep walking illness. A police chase ensues, and more screaming. Once in Silent Hill, the mother screams even more for her daughter. In another scene she mysteriously has handcuffs on. There is more screaming as monsters start to make their appearance. We have a screamer on our hands. The daughter is no better.
Now, this movie does adapt the atmosphere and many of the monsters nicely. It’s executed almost flawlessly. Silent Hill is up in the mountains, next to a lake, and a giant sign off the side of the road greets you. It BECKONS you to come in, despite how there is danger. That sign is creepy to say the least. It is snowing in the middle of the town, despite how it is summer, just like in the game. Stranger still, it’s a resort area of all things! The town is entirely deserted. Many of the buildings are brick and show signs of evacuation or scorch marks. The explanation is finally given, a coal fire underground caught most of the town on fire, incinerating most anyone in it’s path. The snow is actually ash. The nightmare style world is also present here. The cop from the first game, makes an appearance here.
Now, the atmosphere is fine and good, but let’s talk about the real reason fans came to see this movie. The monsters are shown very similar to their game forms. I saw only two monsters in the first thirty minutes. The first was a monster dragging himself around on the ground. Reading on some reviews showns the nurses, doctors and other monsters from the games are rendered in near perfect 3D. But, the one monster that will send shivers down your spine, hold your attention, and make you root for him the minute he stumbles onto screen is none other than Pyramid Head. He’s a pimp, he sexes four legged corpses and carries around a giant ten foot sword which is actually a cleaver. He is the man and he owns. He also has a giant cheese grater style head in the shape of a pyramid. The is only on screen two times, the first he is shown stumbling around like he does in the game, and the second has him throwing his sword through a door trying to slice the cop from the first game.
This still does not make up for all the screaming in the first thirty minutes no. This also doesn’t make up for the lack of backstory. The movie is all action based in the first thirty minutes, and feels heavily rushed. One scene jumps to another. There is no explanation why Rose (the main character) is looking for clues, why her daughter is acting the way she does, or why she was even reckless enough to bring her daughter to Silent Hill. When the mother is busy not screaming her head off, she suddenly becomes a strong leader and searches for her daughter. The cycle keeps on repeating and the screaming drives me crazy. I skipped ahead to a few parts, and a cult is in this movie, just like in this game, but it is different. There is also more screaming by the young girl. Ugh.
My two biggest complaints are the lack of reasoning in the character’s motives in this movie. There is a lack of a setup and it really detracts from what’s going on. If you haven’t played the games, you’ll have a hard time knowing what is going on. It feels strangely like an Indiana Jones movie was cut in half, and starts at the second half. Then there is the character from the game, Harry Mason. He’s an average joe, a storeclerk, looking for his daughter. He’s certainly not a hero, but he’s not much of a coward either. He is somewhat of a wuss, but he’s here to save his daughter. Instead, we are given a damsel in distress, who acts strong on minute, fluctuates to being a strong headed bitch, becomes a damsel again, then a mother and then a raging psycho. I don’t like this character.
I fast forwarded for the more interesting parts, but didn’t find any. It feels very bland actually. The only reason you’d want to watch this movie is for Pyramid Head and the cop from the first game. Otherwise, skip it.
Yozuki’s Drive - 5
