Christophe Gans Strikes Again!

Rating: 8/10 (17 May 2006)

If you enjoy cinematography in movies, or at least can appreciate what M. Night does with his flicks, then definitely go see Silent Hill. It is full of eye candy; eye candy of a darker, rustier manner, but eye candy, nonetheless.
I've talked to a few people about the movie, and it would appear that if you have no experience with the games, you will enjoy the movie a little more. Makes sense. Most movies based on books are enjoyed less by those that have read the novels simply because they know what to expect.
Of course, there is another group of people that will not enjoy the film; those that tend to over analyze movies. This is really not a movie for those people. If you have a problem with Mulder's extraordinary leaps of logic in The X-Files, then you will probably have an aneurysm when watching this. It's one thing to try to escape a cop when you're pulled over, if there's traffic, or an off-ramp, or something to blend in to. If you're in the middle of West Virginia, on a deserted road, you may want to rethink your options.
Leaving the logic behind, one is left with a tragic tale of a mother who loses her child. In her best efforts to be a loving, caring mother; she sets off on a journey that she thinks will help her child confront her inner daemons. On this path of good intentions, Rose (the mother) hits a bump in the road, and in the process loses Sharon (the daughter). So she must enter the town of Silent Hill to find her.
While there are not many truly scary moments to the movie (one or two 'jumps' just because of a loud sound), there is definitely a fair amount of creepiness to it. The gore factor isn't really that major in the film, but in the few times that gore is present, there is a lot of it.
I can't say much about the acting, let's face it, I love the Star Wars movies, so acting is not a big issue with me. Everyone does a passable job. The side plots though are not fully formed, and again require a large leap in logic.
The majority of the music comes from selections from all four of the Silent Hill games. Those soundtracks are all incredible in their richness. While it's no John Williams, or Howard Shore, Akira Yamamoto (both creator of the games, composer of all music in the games, as well as executive producer for the movie) provides all the tension and eeriness one could hope for.
Overall, it was a good, enjoyable movie. I loved the way the film looked, and that was one reason for me to see it on the big screen. Christophe Gans has a very rich visual style (check out The Brotherhood of the Wolf if you're in doubt), that is, as mentioned before, very nice eye candy. Seeing some of the scenes from the first game enacted on the silver screen was a treat. And to be sure, Pyramid Head is one of the most disturbing creatures I've seen in a movie in a long while (imagine being chased by two of them, and then trying to fight them off!!).
In a nutshell, if you can see this movie in the theater, do so. It's worth it.
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