Its been a long time since I've seen a good film ...

Rating: 4/10 (24 September 2008)

.. and unfortunately, it still is.
Reviewers seem to fall into two groups and two sub-groups. Those that have played the game, and those that haven't - and those that 'got' the film, and those that didn't. For the record - I haven't played the game, and yes I 'got' the film.
This film has a very weak script - you can pick holes in it without too much trouble - but it is a 'horror' movie so thats not too surprising. Some of the CG is good, without doubt, but the characters are paper thin. They could have cut out the Husband without any loss to the plot. The female police officer is nice to watch, but ultimately pointless. The flash-back sequence really just goes to show how badly the rest of the film written.
The ending was good.
Silent Hill clearly has the Japanese influence of a 4 or 5 act structure, which partly explains why it's a full 2 hours long. But, whilst many Japanese films are constructed with this in mind, Silent Hill is drawn out, and overly long. It didn't work.
Best watch something else.