Disappointing

Rating: 4/10 (23 August 2006)

My wife and I saw the film with no foreknowledge that it was based on a video game. And just as well: any film should stand on its own merits, not what it was derived from.
The story, while not incoherent, was a tad illogical. A woman has a young daughter who sleepwalks and who mentions a town, Silent Hill, while in a trance. So the lady decides to take the obviously disturbed young girl to Silent Hill, despite that her husband doesn't think it's a good idea (to the point of canceling her credit card -- and how did she pay for the gas?). At a store, she asks the lady behind the counter about how to reach Silent Hill, and was given an evasive answer. So a lady cop approaches her outside the store, and asks if everything is okay. The mother doesn't ask her how to get to Silent Hill or anything like that, but takes off.
For no known reason at the time, the cop follows her (and why not interrogate her at the store?) and after stopping, the mother gets away, reaching Silent Hill, but getting knocked out in the process. When she regains consciousness, she discovers her daughter is gone, and settles on the strategy of running through the streets of the town at random, calling for her daughter, who of course doesn't answer.
Eventually, she's joined by the cop, and the two of them hunt inside deserted (?) buildings for the daughter, but with no coherent plan. They first encounter some sort of monster, but rather than regrouping and getting backup, the two press on.
Eventually, they find some religious fanatics who take shelter in a church, and the mother "goes underground" to reach the Demon. There, she's exposed to an Answer that's supposed to be Profound, and she returns to the church, not in time to save the lady cop, but in time to save the daughter, and to attack the fanatics (who are the real sinners, get it?) with killer barbed wire.
Interesting CGI visuals, silly plot. I suppose if you're into the game, it means more, but for pure moviegoers, it leaves a lot to be desired.