nerve shredding movie with astounding visuals.

Rating: 9/10 (26 April 2006)

The film starts out with the family DaSilva, they are a young attractive couple living the American dream with an adopted child, a young ethereal looking girl named Sharon(played with ghostlike otherworldliness by newcomer Jodelle Ferland). The mother and daughter share a strong bond.But all is not well in their seemingly enviable life, Rose DaSilva ( the always good Rhada Mitchell) and Christopher DaSilva ( played by the talented British actor Sean Bean) are on red alert every night because their daughter has a dangerous habit of sleepwalking. She also scribbles violent imagery of people being tortured by demons and being burned alive, the motife running through these macabre drawings is the town of Silent Hill. The daughter is being treated with medication for her behaviour but it seems to have little effect. In a fast paced scene we see every parents worst nightmare as young Sharon dream walks to the edge of a cliff saved at the last second by her mother, desperation and panic aiding her speed. After this terrifying night Christopher (understandbly perhaps) is at his wits end and wants his daughter to receive hospital treatment but Rose cannot bear to be parted from the daughter she loves so dearly. She takes Sharon to Silent Hill without telling her husband ,hoping that by going there she can understand why this town casts such a shadow over their lives.When Christopher finds they have gone to Silent Hill he makes a few panic stricken phonecalls and cancels her credit cards to get her to talk to him. She refuses to come home until she has some answers, in a key scene as they are talking on the phone we see he loves her and their daughter, and is not trying to get rid of her.. after all in the sleepwalking scene at the start of the movie he risks his neck dodging cars in his panic fuelled desire to find his daughter- he is no villain. Whilst they are arguing a butch female bike riding cop ( played with depth by the beautiful Laurie Holden) talks to the daughter, she compliments the reticent Sharon on not talking to strangers. Back in the car the DaSilvas are stopped by the same cop, fearing her husband has called the police to bring her back Rose speeds off on the road to Silent Hill with the cop in hot pursuit. Something or someone leaps out in to the road and the car spins and slides in to the town . Rose is knocked out temporarily by the crash and is terrified to find her daughter missing from the seat beside her, she sets off in to Silent Hill to find her.. . The town is disturbing, old buildings look abandoned and black ash floats through the air, the light in this town has a ghostly quality to it and dust covers everything. A chilling siren sounds warning that a darkness is about to descend ,seemingly pulling the town and its people in to Hell. Rose encounters the female cop again and they battle through hordes of demons to find her daughter. They are almost sliced in two by the truly terrifying Pyramid head- a giant with a thirty foot long sword, disfigured nurses wield knives and baby golems burn up in to embers, the visuals in this film are astonishing, reminiscent of Hyronemous Bosch paintings. They encounter the townsfolk, huddling in nooks and corners ,and discover the terrible punishment the have brought upon themselves. Rhada Mitchell is very good in this, Sean Bean gets little to do other than chase his wife ( and delve in to the history of the town), but he adds depth to his,limited, role. The direction by Christopher Gans is nerve shredding in places, particularly the demon sequences and the siren screaming. Alice Krige is as usual brilliant in a role tailor made for her cold beauty. The film is scary and gives a little food for thought for the viewer about hypocrisy and moral corruption.