Despite the loss of the male protagonist, it is a brilliant portrayal of one person's depiction of hell.

Rating: 9/10 (23 March 2007)

The general consensus of the film (clearly evident over IMDb's forums), and indeed my own, was that initially it was disappointing that Hollywood chose to change the protagonist from a father, named Harry Mason, to a mother, Rose Da Silva. But other than that, all the other aspects of the game were pulled off satisfyingly, if not almost perfectly, making it possibly one of the best game-to-movie conversions ever made. Once the initial disappointment over the loss of Harry has settled, there is little else left that will do anything other than leave you with shocked sense of awe over the brilliant portrayal of one person's depiction of hell. Unlike other horror games like, say, Resident Evil, which relies heavily on the character development and an in depth storyline complete with twists, Silent Hill relies on an exquisitely grafted atmosphere throughout the game and film. This was made using breakthroughs in 3D lighting and particle effects (smoke / fog etc.) at the time it was made. This became the game's trademark, and whether on purpose or not, was without doubt the aspect of the game which propelled it to stardom. And it is specifically this aspect that they followed so totally strictly that made the film feel so like the game. That, and the fact that a number of characters, many of the creatures (who could have been lifted straight out of the game itself they were so similar) and of course the slightly confusing story which was told in a more coherent fashion in the movie which allowed many of the fans of the game to see the story in a slightly different light. Of course in a film you don't have to rely on finding scraps of paper and diary entries to piece to together the story, so as they are laid out more linearly as you watch the character's journey unravel you can concentrate on the visuals more than having to get your head around the strange and awesome world that is Silent Hill.
If you just want a quick review of this film, I can tell you that it is your stereotypical good horror in the sense that it has a good story, a start a middle and an end, plenty of soft core gore throughout to remind you what it is that you are watching, and the occasional hardcore scene which will knock you off your seat and keep you on your toes. What it is, however, I can assure you is entirely unique.
The story is coherent, but pretty out there as far as fantasy goes, because it leans further towards fear-of-the-dark type of horror rather than conventional sci-fi horror. By this I mean don't expect an actual explanation of how the horrors that are seen came to be, but rather why.
The acting is all top notch, only slightly spoiled by Sean Bean's awful American accent which slips non-stop. But he doesn't have too much screen time, so don't let that ruin the film for you.
The audio is probably Oscar winning - I don't know and I needn't look it up as I am telling you how I saw it as an audience member, not a critic. But it without doubt plays it's part very well in the atmosphere which will chill you throughout.
Visually it is well filmed, consisting of some actually very nice camera angles and perspectives, but these were hard to catch due to utterly being captured by the film when I watched it. But when I broke my concentration to give the cinematography some of my time, I realised that what I was looking at was actually very visually pleasing.
The effects are perfect. I mean literally at no point do you look and think "hey, that doesn't look realistic". I mean, if it's so good that it can't be told apart from the real thing, then in my opinion if that's not perfection then I don't know what is.
Overall, one of the best films I have seen in a long time. I am a fan of the game, so whether that would have swayed my biased opinions in any particular direction I'm not sure, but if you are able to handle shocking visuals then it would be hard not to enjoy this film, at the very least on a leave-the-cinema-in-silence-with-a-heavy-feeling-in-your-stomach level like I, and everybody around me at the showing I saw did. It is a very deep and shocking film with a powerful finale and it will leave you thinking.