Watch with low expectations...

Rating: 7/10 (22 April 2006)

I think the problem with this film, for starters, is that Silent Hill fans, like myself, expected a little too much from it. Though, that isn't essentially a bad thing.
I had been looking forward to this film ever since I saw the teaser trailer for it online. I was excited, actually I was more than excited. I planned to see this film a week after it came out, with my girlfriend, but I actually couldn't wait that long. So I hunted around for someone to see it with on the night of it's release here in England, and after being told 'I'm too busy to go see a film' I decided to go with my old man, who is also a horror fan, though not specifically a Silent Hill fan.
We arrived at the cinema, anxiously watched the trailers for films-to-come, and then we were hit with the opening theme tune, and I was creaming my pants with excitement.
After the initial joy, though, I spent the first 10 minutes filled with disappointment.
I don't know why exactly. It could've been a mixture of reasons. It was like, OK, so this kid sleep walks and screams 'Silent Hill'. Fair enough. OK, so the mother wants to take the kid there, why? What mother in their right mind would take their little daughter to a place she has nightmares about?! I eventually got over it, because after the first 10-20 minutes, the film really started to fall into its stride.
I'm not slating this film, because I actually left the cinema a very happy man.
Christopher Gans and team Silent really did the games justice here. In all fairness, I haven't actually played Silent Hill 1. I came into the series at number 3 (a Christmas present from my brother), and then picked up Silent Hill 2 soon after, and have been searching for a copy of 1 for a while now, but I am familiar with the storyline for SH1. I seriously think they did a good job with the storyline, it seemed to transcend to the big screen quite well.
Some of the dialogue seemed a little uncomfortable for the actors though, especially the actress playing Cybil, though it could have just been me.
All in all, I think it was a successful film, which could have been a lot better without Sean Bean, he didn't seem to fit into the film very well, and you could tell he was simply an after-thought.
The graphics were stunning. The way you go from misty-Silent-Hill and then to Hellish-Silent-Hill couldn't have been done any better.
7/10 And, contrary to what my old-man thinks, it's way better than 'End of Days'.