good, but not quite good enough

Rating: 7/10 (15 July 2006)

After playing all the released games and hanging around on Silent Hill, forums, I heard that a movie was being made out of (mostly) the first game, from 1999. My first thought was something along the lines of, "dear god, don't let it be so." But after seeing the movie, I wasn't nearly as offended as I thought I would be.
I already knew form the trailer that the great music from the games (mostly from Silent Hill 2) was preserved for the movie. The monsters were mostly pulled from the second game as well, which was kind of puzzling considering that their design and actions were so closely tied to the events of Silent Hill 2, not the original that the movie was to be based off of. Once they appeared in the movie, I stopped caring that they were out of context.
All the monsters in Silent Hill are played by people in costume, not CGI (with the exception of the famous cockroaches.) This was very nice, as it just isn't the same with CGI. All the monsters were amazing, all identical to how they appeared in the games (again, with one or two exceptions, this time from monsters not in the games at all).
The plot was... different. I was disappointed that Harry Mason was replaced by Rose DaSilva, and couldn't fathom why they would rename Cheryl into Sharon. It just kind of irked me.
Most of the plot elements came from the original Silent Hill, with a dash of Silent Hill 2 and a few added points.
I was very happy with Laurie Holden as Cybil Bennett, though disappointed with her final scene (NOT how it happened in the game!).
The new-for-movie ending, though an interesting twist, eliminates the possibility of ever having a movie with Silent Hill 3's plot, one of the best of the series. And having the theme from Silent Hill 3 play during the credits was a touch random...
All in all, the movie captured the essence of the game, with spectacular music and visuals, but had a few points of annoyance.
Note: when the IMDb credits list Claudia Wolf of SH3 and Henry Townshend of SH4 as being characters in the movie... pay no attention.