Better than I thought

Rating: 8/10 (19 October 2006)

I wouldn't go as far as to say that this is the greatest vg film ever made (that goes to The Last Starfighter), but this movie is pretty darned good, nonetheless. Good video game films are very, very hard to come by (Wizard, Super Mario Bros, Double Dragon, anyone?) and Silent Hill is refreshing in that you don't think of it as a film based on a video game, but as a good horror film, period.
There's a lot to like here. The atmosphere of the film is awesome and faithful to the game series. In fact, a lot of the camera shots/angles used in the film are nostalgic of survival horror games. I'm a pretty big video-game junkie, so I got a kick out of it. The film is a bit on the lengthy side, but with the proper amount of suspense and action the viewer can't gripe. The film's cast (and despite lesbian suspicions of Laurie Holden, I personally think she's hot as hell in this film) is not well-known (except for Agent 006) but does a great job and doesn't unnecessarily overact (except for Agent 006). Most noteworthy is Alice Krige (otherwise known as the horny cat-mom from the early 90's Stephen King slump, Sleepwalkers) who plays the McCarthy-esquire town proclaimer of heresy.
And the horror aspects? Oh, how delicious they are. The gore comes in such awesome spurts! It takes a while to get to the good stuff, but there are some great skin-rippin', body-splittin' scenes when it does. The monsters are original and fascinating, especially the helmeted dude with the buster sword. For fans of the video-game series (and we'll throw Parasite Eve in there as well, because it was a hell of a game with some nasty, nasty creatures), you won't be disappointed with the creature concepts and environments.
This is definitely a film for most horror fans to enjoy. Although it's very modern in its directing technique and special effects, fans of the old generation of horror will appreciate it for being one of the better new horror films to come out this decade. You don't have to be a fan of video games to enjoy this film; just pick it up and pop it in your non-PS2 DVD player.