Pretty decent piece of film.

Rating: 8/10 (23 April 2006)

Having been a rather hardcore gamer for most of my life, I have been rather disappointed by most of the movies based on games we've got so far. Though Super Mario Bros. has a certain charm. Anyway, along comes Uwe Boll and makes things even worse than they already were, and pretty much destroys any chance they have of being taken seriously - when Resident Evil is the best you have, it's a pretty sorry state of affairs. I've not seen DooM, I should note.
And then along comes Silent Hill. And, by some strange contrivance of the universe, it's actually a rather good film. The problem is, however, that there are certain points where things could have been done much better, and because we are being served a very nice dish of movie-based-on-game, it's rather saddening to have to endure those missed opportunities.
I felt the first half to be the strongest - that was when the mystery and confusion existed, and the unknown is always scariest. Once things ramp up, whilst it is well executed, it becomes less and less scary. The major problem I had was with the denouement, which I liked in narrative terms, but which I thought was poorly told.
Special mention should go to the special effects department, which I hear tell was mostly the work of prosthetics and makeup, with remarkably little CGI involved. They have created an incredibly good-looking world (Well, as good as Hell can look.) and they deserve a great deal of credit.
I don't know if I voted correctly in giving it an 8. I think a 7 might be more appropriate. But I can see a genuine effort to make a good film here and in large part it succeeds. I didn't have the heart to vote lower, to be honest. I recommend the movie to fans of the game (Most accounts from real fans, rather than people who've casually played like me, indicate a great deal of enjoyment.) and to ordinary folks who want a pretty good, fun movie.