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Rating: 6/10 (22 April 2006)

Attention all: please welcome video game adaptation number 32, Silent Hill. Here we have a lovely specimen, a film that actually stands out from the pack.
Our main character is Rose, the mother of an adopted little girl named Sharon. Sadly, little Sharon has been acting weird thanks to some high-risk sleep walking. Worse, she keeps mumbling about a mysterious town called Silent Hill.
Rose decides the best solution to cure her daughter is to bring her to Silent Hill and discover exactly what is going on. Of course her husband does not approve, but it doesn't matter since there isn't much time to reflect on the situation at all.
Silent Hill delves right into the action.
In fact, within 10 minutes Rose is already stranded at the mysterious Silent Hill.
While it's nice to not have to wade through pointless exposition that exists only to give the illusion of an actual story, there is no time to bond with the characters at all.
The problem is not so much that we need a half hour of superfluous back story, but that too little time is focused on the main characters as people merely trying to live their lives.
Thus, they become artificial cardboard cutouts. There is never a sense of panic or fear.
As strange and sinister as Silent Hill can be, it's never genuinely scary because there is never any real connection to a human figure.
The acting doesn't help much, either, with Sean Bean phoning in his performance as the worried dad and Jodelle Ferland doing her best "creepy girl from The Ring" impression. Lead actress Radha Mitchell plays a convincing mother, though her entire performance is fairly one note.
However, one thing about Silent Hill stands out in an extraordinary way.
Simply put, French director Christophe Gans knows how to sculpt moving images.
Much like his last film, the stylish but complex The Brotherhood of the Wolf, the assorted mix of odd environments and crazed fiends fill a dark void that is anything but empty.
With a surrealist look reminiscent of earlier European horror, Silent Hill is able to stretch out from the screen and into the mind.
Now, it is absolutely true that great visuals cannot make a bad movie great.
To be fair, horror films are hardly heralded for brilliant character development or complex stories. Nevertheless, this does not mean that these elements are useless.
And no doubt, if Silent Hill had a stronger script it could truly have been a brilliant little film.
Thankfully these flaws don't sink the entire production. Even as the vague plot lurches to its halfway satisfactory climax, it is hard to turn away.
This is a movie for the fans, and it includes many horror movie musts. There are especially scenes of great carnage, including a gruesome finale and the untimely demise of one character whose clothes are torn off in one fell swoop, followed by their skin.
Yet, Silent Hill is more than a pointless gore fest.
Although a level of realism is purposely lost, something distinctive is always waiting to echo from the darkness. A curiosity as to what could be around the next corner keeps boredom at bay.
Admittedly, though, the ending is weak.
First we have the wonderful "Harry Potter" monologue where most of the story is summarized in a short spouting of clunky dialogue. Then there is the obligatory ambiguous finale that is not so much clever as it is predictable and disappointing.
In some ways, the problems with the plot are because Silent Hill is such a faithful and direct adaptation of its source material. Many videogames are very clearly influenced by films, and what might be original in one medium becomes tired and overused in another.
Still, Silent Hill is an interesting journey that feels dredged up straight from a nightmare.
Gans will not convert nonbelievers to the world of horror, but for those who have played the game or seek something unusual, there is quite a bit to appreciate here.
Critic's Conclusion: It is probably the best video game to film adaptation so far (not that this is saying much), and despite inherent flaws with basic concepts of story and characters, Silent Hill compels attention.