Superb until the wrong turn into Raccoon City.

Rating: 1/10 (14 December 2008)

Silent Hill, the movie, showed such promise. The characters were setup perfectly, and the introduction to the town followed the thematic and psychological elements to a "T". However, once the setting was developed, and the first, true "dream state" location was finished (trying to avoid the slightest spoilers, here), the psychological elements were completely dropped for 100% nonsensical gore-fest garbage. The Silent Hill series was built upon the deep-seated, often unspoken fears and stigmas that dwell in the hearts of at least most of humanity... The type of horror that begets visceral reactions that can be felt without seeing the actual viscera of the characters in the story. "Helplessness and hopelessness", the "unknown", "taboo", "caricature/effigy", the "abuse or twisting of innocence", the "violation of things perceived as sacred" - all are hallmarks of the Silent Hill games, and all are far more gut-level terrifying than any gore that the special effects team could show on screen. This movie had such promise, and then gave up 1/3 of the way through to hand the audience a laughable load of crap. The writers, directors, and producers should be ashamed of themselves for taking something that was truly art and defiling it.