An excellent transition to a horror film

Rating: 7/10 (23 April 2006)

****SPOILERS**** Upon hearing that Silent Hill was a movie from a video game, I was a bit nervous, particularly because I was coming to it with high hopes - I wouldn't go to the opening afternoon of a horror film unless I had high hopes.
However, I walked away quite pleased with the outcome - if I hadn't known that this was a video game, I would have never guessed, although I noticed a few video game elements while watching, such as the burning babies at the beginning and the running through the halls.
Radha Mitchell and Laurie Holden did excellently - their terror never reached a shrill pitch that some screaming horror films can become. Under the circumstances, they remained remarkably held together with appropriate moments of just giving into emotions that were never unbelievable. Jodelle Ferland was surprising good - I can only imagine what it takes for a girl her age to be a demon. I was worried that Sean Bean's character would be lost, but they integrated him very well, and I didn't feel like he was extraneous to the plot.
I was pleasantly surprised by the graphics as well as the actors who played most of the creepy people - I was tense the whole way through. It engages me and terrified me without sending me under my seat, and although it played on music sometimes, I never felt it was only the music that made it frightening. There were a few questionable additions to the film that never were explained to my satisfaction, such as the origin of the executioner creature and the bugs. The rest, such as the fire alarm, the burning babies (I loved the inclusion of "Ring of Fire" following that...), the walking creature on the street, the nurses, and the burned Alessa all were suitably creepy and pertinent. The barbed wire bit at the end was easily the most gory scene I've ever watched and was really the only part that made me cringe, but somehow, it seemed... right.
Perhaps it is just me, but the ending did not give me a sense of closure. For me, closure does not have to be a period. However, I feel unsatisfied when it's a question mark. I don't understand how the end happens, not even a suggestion of it. So... maybe when the DVD comes out, the ending will make more sense.