Extremely fascinating!!

Rating: 8/10 (14 July 2006)

There we go . . . I was so afraid for this movie. I just thought " Let's hope this ain't a "The Eye"-like stuff". The eye was great, but to see a copy of that movie wouldn't have been a great deal of entertainment. I have to admit, this movie is far to be just entertaining. It is built on the honest will to make you very concerned about the characters. Of the survival horror video games transposed into a movie, this is the best. The plot is very thick. You watch Rose and Cybil make her way through the school, the hotel, and you say "Oh poor girls!! Why the hell those monsters don't leave them alone? I hope all of you freaks just die this instant!", then, the movie goes on, and I've realized why in Italy we say that "hell is not as ugly as described". All of that nightmares you see have an origin. Basically (and here the spoiler), Rose's daughter (Sharon) is very much linked in some way to a girl (Alessa) that, in the 70's, living only with her mom, was pointed out as a witch. The community of Silent Hill decides to burn Alessa, as a witch. Of course, everything is documented with beautiful old-style shots. So everything starts from Alessa's hate, which is in some way perceived by The Death herself (which appears as a mix between Alessa and Samara in "The Ring"), which decided that "Her horror (of Alessa) should be theirs (of Silent Hill's community)". So, the curse on the town begins. Visually speaking, this movie is awesome. The special effects are really the best for a movie of this splatter level, and in more of an occasion, the monsters were as ugly of the ones you can see in the VG "Doom 3" (and it's definitely something!); 60% in CGI, 40% of consistent material. Very credible, also helped by the general setting of the movie , which is in the darkness, or into a snow (actually, is ash) landscape. Actors are just fine, the one that had convinced me the less has been Sean Bean, which is always with the same expression for all the movie. The girls have been more various. Soundtrack is "kinda" good; there are some holes here and there that I didn't like. But we're speaking in terms of scene, so you can just ignore this "con". Direction has been very very good. Great light choices, great shots, excellent dynamism. Monsieur Gans, after "Le Pacte de le Loups" has done another great movie. Bravo!!!