Decent VG Conversion To Film

Rating: 7/10 (21 April 2006)

Finally, after waiting for a sequel to Jacob's ladder we get this spiritual follow-up instead! I saw this film today on opening and I was thrilled to find that the time spent was worth it, not wasted on these same genre flops: Mario Bros, Resident Evil Alone in the Dark, House of the Dead, Doom, Mortal Kombat...the list goes on. Konami should be proud that their franchise was done correctly. Now they just need to make a film version of Hideo Kojima's SNATCHER please. HINT HINT!!
BASIC PREMISE
The story is about a mother Rose, who's adopted child Sharon goes missing when they drive to Silent Hill. The reason for this is that Sharon is having trouble with nightmares and sleepwalking and one night cries out the name 'Silent Hill' in her sleep. Her mother decides to investigate her daughter's origins to see if she can uncover the truth behind Sharon's troubles.
When they arrive is when the fun begins as Rose wakes up in her car and Sharon has vanished! She looks out beyond to see a thick mist and ash falling from the sky like snow. Rose must now find Sharon and seek the answers to the mysteries of Silent Hill.
REVIEW
The pace feels deliberately slow which works as it builds the tension and is the exact opposite of Paul Anderson's Resident Evil films which were MTV paced where you could leave your brain in autopilot.
This film actually has a deep story which requires the viewer to concentrate, watch and listen. Christophe Gans previous film I watched was Brotherhood of the Wolf. This film also had a similar pace to it where I felt it fed you the answers slowly and required you to participate your brain for full enjoyment. It's a thinking person's movie.
Acting, directing, writing and all crew related tasks (don't forget the little guys!) were of very good, professional quality, I didn't feel I was watching amateurs or that the quality of production was poor.
Compared to the video game upon which it was based, Silent Hill follows the game series rather well, borrowing most of it from the games SH1 (story) and SH2 (monsters). I do hope they make a sequel, either by borrowing from SH3 storyline or what happens straight after the movie ending.
IS THIS FOR ME?
Honestly, this is the best video game to film adaption yet, if you go and see this film expecting it to be like Final Destination or The Grudge you will be disappointed, this film is more for people who appreciate to take the time to sit down and be sucked in by the film not just waiting for the 'good bits'.
RATING (out of 10) = 6.9/10
******SLIGHT SPOILERS FROM NOW:*********
FAVOURITE SCENES
PYRAMID HEAD scenes were good, his weapon reminded me of Wolf Creek and Mad Max, I wanted PH to speak and say 'that's not a knife. This is a knife!!'
When Rose first enters Dark SH and uses her Zippo to light her run down the alleyways towards the burning children that attack her, the camera angles are extremely similar to the ones used in the game. This made a fan of the game (me) quite happy.
When Rose is in Dark SH and at the school and parallel to them in our reality, her husband and a policeman are investigating the school and they are all in the same room but can't see each other made me appreciate the frustration of the characters and the desperation.
CRITICISMS
They should have followed the original story completely and used the parasite side story with the policewoman becoming controlled by the enemy rather than her being burnt alive.
Could have been more gore as always with films and also more characters for Rose to have interacted with in Silent Hill that were from our reality with their own little side stories and death scenes.
Did not like the Hellraiser style massacre of the cult by Burnt Alessa, thought this was needless and they could have used PH to slice/dice them for example.