Very good and atmospheric horror film...

Rating: 7/10 (24 July 2006)

Based on a very successful series of horror video-games, "Silent Hill" is a new entry on the horror genre that has the challenge of surpassing the high expectations built due to the video-game's fame and status as one of the best series ever done. Not an easy task for a film (and one that hasn't been fulfilled by many films based on video-games), however, the highly anticipated film by french director Christophe Gans has proved to be up to the challenge and quickly has earned a cult-following even among fans without gaming experience.
The movie keeps the premise of the game series (it focuses on the key plot of the first video game) but enough changes have been done to keep it original enough to fans of the game and still easy-to-follow for non-fans. The plot revolves around the Da Silva family, whose little daughter Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) is suffering from bizarre nightmares about a town named "Silent Hill". While her father, Christopher (Sean Bean) trusts in psychology, her mother Rose (Radha Mitchell) doesn't and takes Sharon to Silent Hill in order to discover the mystery of her daughter's nightmares. What she'll find there will be a nightmare come true.
Written by Roger Avary, the movie's screenplay is what could be stated as an update to the first game's plot, with new things added and others changed. The most important one is that the lead character is now a female rather than a male, this change was a very appropriate one as it focuses on a mother-child relationship, a bond considerably stronger in the western culture than the father-child bond. The film keeps the feeling of isolation and the nightmarish atmospheres although it tones down the mystery and exploration of the town (another obvious change). It also has a small dose of drama, which came up as a good surprise as not many modern horror films seem to care for it nowadays.
Christophe Gans' conception of "Silent Hill" is a very beautiful work of art. Like in his previous work, the visual composition is amazing and "Silen Hill"'s mix of haunting loneliness and menacing darkness is wonderfully portrayed. Gans' care for details and love for the video game are notorious as some scenes seem to be taken shot by shot from it. While it still has its fair share of gore and other cheap thrills, for the most part the films relays on atmosphere and mood rather than in graphic violence. However, it's safe to say that it's biggest problems occur when it moves away from that style.
The acting is for the most part good, with Radha Mitchell being an excellent choice for a lead character and shows her talent for drama as well as for horror. She carries the film with elegance and is very believable as a worried mother. Sean Bean is credited as co-star, but his presence is small and while he gives a fine performance, the real co-star is definitely Laurie Holden. As Cybil Bennet (a cop who follows Rose to Silent Hill), Holden is very effective and overall makes a good job. Deborah Kara Unger as Dahlia is somewhat disappointing, not only because her character is quite poorly developed, but also her performance ends up as weak.
The problem with "Silent Hill" are not the high expectations it built (relatively, it satisfied most of them), but the potential it left unexploited. The story is a fitting adaptation but still some of the magic is missing there and some details appear as flaws. The focus on apparently unnecessary characters (Christopher) contrasts with the poor development of more important ones such as Dahlia. As written above, while the film is for the most part an atmospheric Gothic film, when it moves to a gorier graphical film the results are less impressive and the massive use of CGI at times makes an otherwise beautiful looking film appear as of lesser quality.
Depsite this flaws, "Silent Hill" is a terrific film and a very enjoyable one for fans of slower, creepier films. It's not a gore-fest so fans expecting fast action will be sorely disappointed. It's true that its not a perfect film, but its a good attempt at making Gothic horror the way it used to be. 7/10