The product of my childhood dreams, the perfect horror.

Rating: 10/10 (26 April 2006)

My childhood search is now over: I've found the perfect horror movie for me. Before I get into why I thought this was the best horror movie I had ever seen, I'd like to make some things clear.
1) I played several Silent Hill games, but just couldn't get into them. The style of action/adventure gameplay found in those games (along with Resident Evil) just don't appeal to me, even though the twisted imagery was really cool.
2) I was not expecting much from this movie as a big Hollywood horror film. I've been very disappointed by the likes of Saw and Hostel, and thought this would fit alongside of those as something not particularly exciting for me (okay, but not great).
This movie was absolutely wonderful. It was like the movie I had been been waiting for my entire life after being disappointed by horror movie after horror movie from more mainstream hits like Hellraiser to Fangoria classics to Lucio Fulci's cult hits to Bunman: The Untold Story to Ichi the Killer (though I really did like Ichi the Killer, but not to the extent of this movie) to Hostel and more. I've watched many horror movies, and this one was the one for me.
While I am a big fan of horror, I'm ultimately more of a fan of fantasy, and I mean fantasy in a very broad sense of taking the audience to a world very different from our own, whether it's a violent, futuristic metropolis, outer space, a town full of zombies, a land of sorcery, etc. I like horror movies primarily for the otherworldly aspect, and as such, I don't care remotely for the likes of Scream.
As a fantasy film, I thought this film was fantastic. My favorites in that category would include Robocop, Excalibur, Neverending Story (nostalgia), Willow (nostalgia), Alien, Bladerunner, Sin City, Ichi the Killer, Ravenous, Lone Wolf and Cub, Story of Ricky, Equilibrium, and now probably Silent Hill. The movie really succeeded in taking me to another world: a hellish world filled with some of the coolest and nastiest creatures I've seen of the likes that would make Clive Barker envious. And, unlike Clive Barker's movies, the novelty and excitement from these creatures never ceased to wear off for me. If you aren't impressed after the first siren rings in the air, then you probably won't like this movie. I, for one, was completely mesmerized after that point.
The movie is not for everyone. It's obvious there are a large number of people who absolutely hate the movie, to the extent that they have to post on the message boards during regular discussions about the movie about how much they despise it. Still, I can say that if you're like me, you're going to be in for the time of your life.
The cinematography is fantastic. The music was a perfect way to accompany it for me: I'm always paying close attention to movie soundtracks, and there are some movies that I probably wouldn't consider nearly as good had it not been for their soundtracks. Among these would be The Fugitive (perfect soundtrack even though I didn't like the movie so much), Ravenous, Neverending Story, Sin City, Kill Bill, Rain Man, and now Silent Hill.