Wow

Rating: 10/10 (27 April 2006)

First off, I don't really like movies. I'm a huge nerd who reads literature, especially Dostoyevsky and stuff like that. That said, this movie was amazing. I don't think the fact that I haven't been to a movie in the theaters in about 3 years had anything to do with the fact that I enjoyed and was horrified by this movie so much, but I guess the reader should take that into account while reading this review.
OK back to Silent Hill. My God, this movie was scary/exciting. I'm a pretty big video game fan, and this movie "played" just like a video game-not necessarily the Silent Hill games, but just a really fun, scary game in that genre. The movie really kicks in about 45(?) minutes in, and when it gets going, it dosen't really stop, except for brief bits to let your catch your breath and relax your death grip on the seat/friend sitting next to you/stranger. The creatures are absolutely amazing; I hope it's not too much of a spoiler to say that there's a thing running around with a HUGE knife (reminiscent of Knightmare's sword from Soul Caliber...) that just freaking rules.
The movie is not bound or weighed down by a heavy plot- note that I didn't say the movie had no plot, or had a bad one, but that the creators achieved an excellent balance of Horror/Action with well developed characters that seem to learn and grow based upon the plot line. It's a bit confusing at times, and never 100% clear, but I felt it was done appropriately and didn't serve to simply obfuscate or cover bad writing.
Back to the action. There are several absolutely horrifying scenes that had me staring at the screen wondering how this movie got an R rating. I may have seen more gore last night that I did my entire life. I literally left the movie theatre afraid, and I'm not a pansy in any way. If you like what video games have been trying to do over the last few years in the Horror genre.. think "Its Blood!... I hope it's not Barry's Blood..." but less B-movieish, you should see it. Just make sure you don't eat too much before hand.