Even after all the bad points, I still think it's a film you absolutely must see

Rating: 7/10 (22 April 2006)

As a huge fan of the series, here's a little bit about what I thought.
The environment was done perfectly, a fantastic portrayal of the world in Silent Hill. The transition from the light to dark worlds was really cool and I don't think it could have been done much better. I think the cinematography when she was wondering around in buildings, fighting monsters and running around streets was brilliant.
All but one of the monsters were out of the game. Aside from that one monster, I think they were all done perfectly  from their looks down to how they moved their toes and fingers. Not scary to me (but then again no film has ever been scary, it can only make me jump - which isn't scary, it's just going BOO), but they were grotesque and disturbing certainly  which is what I want in a monster.
The acting was pretty poor and I wish Radha Mitchell would stop screaming 'Shannon!' all the time, she made my ear drums bleed and although she was searching for a child it wasn't necessary to kill my hearing over it.
You don't really find out about the plot until about half way through the film, and it's really pretty weak  I won't spoil it for you, because there's really nothing to spoil. I mean, there is a plot, and it is quite hard to get your head around, and you'll probably walk out not totally understanding it - I just don't think it was really very good. The way it was explained could have been a heck of a lot better too.
I think what this film did right, was represent a world of nightmare. From falling down and blacking out right at a pinnacle of your nightmare, then being in place of another nightmare, the environment, the monsters, the transition of worlds, the vagueness at points, the feeling that you're running as hard as you can but you can't run fast enough  the cinematography construed this perfectly. I really don't think a world of nightmare could have been more accurately depicted. A world of nightmare knows no bounds and generally doesn't make any sense - but that is what makes nightmares even more horrifying. You won't possibly understand how well this film does this until you see it for yourself.
Unfortunately, when watching this film, and having played the game, I really think they didn't do this film right. It's too much like a game. It's almost as if they sat down and watched somebody play silent hill, wrote down everything that happened, and then acted it out  that just doesn't work in a film. I think the environment was right, the monsters were right, and I don't think there was anything wrong about the characters (I think the real Alessa character was great  I also think the actor for the girl was a good choice  just because she was really weird), I just think everything else in this film was wrong. It could have been so much better.
I think the soundtrack from the game is amazing, and I love that they used it in this film - and I really think that it suited it on so many levels, but sometimes it seemed out of place. Maybe only because I knew it was from the game and the scenes it was used with then.
I really think this film had the potential to be fantastic. The stage & characters were there for the best horror film of all time in my opinion - but it just wasn't used right. As this film was now, it was just entertaining, grotesque and disgusting (good). I do admire all the great elements that were in the film, but I hate it for how those elements were used so poorly sometimes.
One thing I can say, is that the way this film does horror is like having King Kong charge you and smack his balls in your face whilst echoing off a huge roar. There were many times when I sat back in this film with my eyes wide and thought "...holy s##t.........".
Something that shocked me most about this film was that it was a certificate 15 in the UK. I think this should have certainly been an 18. The ending alone warranted that.
As much as I have slagged off this film, and even after all the bad points, I still think it's a film you absolutely must see & I really did love it. At IMDb most people are loving this film so don't let my negative feedback put you off - as this is currently my favourite horror film in a long time.
I'm too tired to right anymore now, I'll edit this post another time.
PS> I think we need a justice system similar to the end of this film.