Silent Hill, the movie, can best be characterized by the words of the obnoxious boy sitting behind me in the theater (said with a Beavis and Butthead-like intonation): "Violent Hill. Yeeeaah."
Silent Hill -- with its bad acting, nonsensical plot and grotesque CGI -- was as much like a nightmare as anything I had ever experienced in a movie theater. Much of that was intentional on the part of the moviemakers. Some of it, I suspect, was not.
The premise is that Sharon (Jodelle Ferland), the adopted daughter of Rose (Radha Mitchell) and Christopher (Sean Bean) is plagued by a psychosis that gives her horrible nightmares and sends her sleepwalking to unfortunate places like, say, the edge of very tall cliffs. During these fits, she screams about a place she doesn't remember named Silent Hill. Medication isn't working, and Christopher wants to commit her, but Rose, unwilling to lock her daughter away, takes her on a roadtrip to find Silent Hill and uncover her daughter's past.
It sounds a little lame, and that's because it was. The story is more convoluted than the usual fair in the American horror genre, but in the end, that doesn't mean better. Still, it's really not the story's fault that the movie ultimately sucks - because, as any horror movie connoisseur (and I
use the word with plenty of sar
casm) knows, you do not go to
a horror movie expecting Oscar material. But combined with the poor pacing and amateurish directing, the actual plot was pretty unbearable. What was most frustrating about it was that many of its worst problems seemed so easily solved - if only the order of the scenes was better planned (there was a lot of flashing back and forth between Rose trying to find her daughter and Christopher trying to find Rose), or if what was going on was uncovered more gradually rather than in an abrupt flashback sequence, it would have been a much better movie.
Worst of all, Silent Hill wasn't that scary was I expected it to be. I was hoping for the subtle and never ending horror of the original Silent Hill, punctuated with moments of sheer terror - but all I got was a lot of mindless gore. Nonetheless, what worked best for the movie was its atmosphere. The ever-changing scenery was well designed, evoking, at least, a constant, unsettling feeling. Many images complimented that feeling, from the Heaven and Hell hopscotch, to the men in the gas masks, to the deformed contortionist nurses armed with scalpels, to the birds and air raid siren. The infamous crackling was also there, but slightly updated, coming from Rose's cell phone rather than the old radio in the original video game. The soundtrack, save for a few strange jazzy pieces near the end, was also well chosen - in addition to the opening theme, the music was a strange cross between classical, industrial and rock opera that complimented both the action and horror aspects of the movie.
Even with its altered story, Silent Hill is still a video game movie, and it's when the movie gives a nod to its origins that it succeeds the most. But you may only be able to appreciate the nods to the games if you've played them. Otherwise, a spooky but convenient clue may seem more like a plot device than an homage; and if you've never fought Pyramid Head, you aren't liable to scream like I did when he comes on screen. I screamed like a little girl.
In my entirely biased view, I think the movie would have done better to stick closer to the game. I found Rose ineffectual as a main character, because she, unlike her game counterpart Harry, never picked up a lead pipe, or a revolver, or a shotgun. She just kind of ran around, getting progressively dirtier, and curling into a fetal position now and then.
That's not to say all the original content of Silent Hill was bad. Cybil Bennett's increased role was a nice touch, especially because Rose left a void for a strong character, any strong character, to fill. Silent Hill abhors a vacuum.
In the end, faithful fans of the games may be disappointed. The horror artistry we've come to expect just isn't in this big screen incarnation. But its legacy aside, as a straight up horror movie, Silent Hill is as good as the usual American fair. Not that that says much.
