It's no surprise that video game movies aren't the most loved or anywhere near the greatest of movie choices out there, which is likely why films like Christophe Gans' 2006 film 'Silent Hill' is often lumped into the likes of 'Super Mario Bros.' & 'Resident Evil'. Now that's not to say Gans' adaptation is a masterpiece or anything, but he does manage to capture the tone, look, and themes of the games which makes it stand far above the others. The plot is based on the 1999 game where a mother named Rose (Radha Mitchell) takes her daughter to the mysterious titular town in the hopes of finding the source of her night terrors. The film switches roles from father to mother which I guess is supposed to create a stronger bond between the characters, but it almost seems a bit sexist to think that a father can't care for their child or have the same motivations as the mother when put in a similar situation. Getting off of politics, as far as the movie's plot is concerned, this change does provide a strong motivation and gives far more depth to the protagonist than any other video game movie has.
Once in Silent Hill, the movie is pretty straight forward with recreating the major scenes from the first game from that grotesque moment when the town first converts into the nightmare world to the introduction of policewoman Cybil who after a brief confrontation begins to assist Rose in finding her lost daughter. It's at this point when the movie's biggest flaws come out and where many fans of the games likely begin to have sour feelings. Much like the 'Resident Evil' series, 'Silent Hill' throws in many monsters and scenery from the various game sequels but without any context or connection to the original's plot. The series's biggest icon is a monster named Pyramid Head (or Red Pyramid) who was meant to be symbolism for the main character of 'Silent Hill 2' but as the games went on, he was shoehorned in as some kind of familiarity. He serves no purpose or symbolism in the 2006 film other than he's cool to look at and provides one of the more graphic murder scenes but he's all style and no substance. The same with the Nurses, who I've used for my graphic above. To be fair, the original game did have a nurse monster but this specific design is once again taken from 'Silent Hill 2' with no context.
As a whole however, that's all I really have to say when it comes to negativity towards 'Silent Hill'. The acting is better than average with the main villain (Alice Krige) providing the proper amount of over the top silliness. Radha Mitchell is the most grounded with her performance and you see the genuine emotions for her daughter throughout as she literally goes through hell to save her. While the Cybil character is not as fleshed out here, we do get a proper arc that explains why she initially distrusts Rose, becomes determined to help her find her daughter, and in the end she plays the hero to make sure they can escape. The average acting is mainly Sean Bean who was in fact just thrown in at the request of Sony Pictures and it clearly shows. Bean is an excellent actor as fans of 'Game of Thrones' or 'GoldenEye' will tell you but he has nothing to work with due to what were likely rushed on top of being re-shoots.
The overall design is spot on from the games, perfectly recreating the creepy fog and rust covered darkness of the town. Christophe Gans and his crew studied the games and this is by far the most accurate video game movie as far as the environment and overall horror aspects are concerned. The score is taken directly from the original 1999 game remastered and rerecorded especially for the movie by the game's original composer Akira Yamaoka. The music felt a lot like something you'd hear in a classic fairy tale with a warmth but also has that creepy factor to it that makes it a good listen by itself or with the games/movie.
'Silent Hill' is still quite the underrated gem these days but I can understand why. Video games movies aren't great 99% of the time so it's easy to see this as just another pile of garbage on top of the landfill. However, I really suggest you'd give it a watch or if you didn't care for it before perhaps give it another chance. The movie perfectly captures the look and feel of the games, the acting is better than most of these films, and while the choice to bring over monsters and plot points over just due to their popularity is pointless and drags the film down just a peg 'Silent Hill' is worth checking out for Halloween.
4/5
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