Silent Thrills

Rating: 5/10 (19 August 2006)

Visually, this video game adaptation is spot on at recreating the eerie, detailed stillness and psychological atmosphere associated with this long forgotten ghost town of Silent Hill. Fans of the cult franchise will not be disappointed at the near perfection of recreating some of the morbidly surreal horror fantasy scenes, inspired primarily from the games first installment, ultimately confirming the real star here is the set design. Unfortunately, eerie atmospherics a substantial movie does not make, and like every other video game movie before it (just in a slightly less obvious, better produced way) this port to film is somehow lost in translation. Written by Roger Avary of Pulp Fiction fame, the primary focus on milking everything from the franchise that is visually compelling ends up overpowering the weak plot. Instead of getting a unique storyline to match the unique visuals, the script offers something of a rehashed synopsis of the game's history, which by the time the uninteresting supporting cast predictably relays, most non-fans will likely be too apathetic to care about.