Good Horror Movie In General, Best Video Game Adaptation Yet

Rating: Null/10 (28 April 2006)

The Joe Cool Review: Silent Hill(2006)
Starring: Radha Mitchell as Rose DaSilva, Jodelle Ferland as Sharon DaSilva, Sean Bean as Christopher DaSilva, Laurie Holden as Cybil, & Alice Krige as Christabella
Plot: A mother takes her daughter to a town called Silent Hill, where they become trapped in an alternate reality. Sharon, the daughter, ends up missing and the mother must search for her in a town where everything is not as it seems, and when it gets dark it changes into something far more sinister.
Openers: Just to start things out I am a huge fan of the Silent Hill game series. I was tentative to see this movie because let's face it, video games adaptations have not been kind to the fans. The best adaptations are simply okay(Resident Evil), some are bad but are guilty pleasures(Mortal Kombat), and some are just plain terrible(House of the Dead, Super Mario Bros, Street Fighter, etc). But when I heard who was behind it I gained some confidence in the project. Then they released pictures and trailers and I became very eager to see it. It looked like someone adapted a video game to the screen that not only stayed true to it's source material, but also was a good movie in itself. Did that happen?
The Good: For the most part, yes. Silent Hill's biggest triumph is that visually it is amazing. It stays true to the games in that it has a real gritty feel to it. You will recognize a lot of the creatures if you've ever played, and even if you haven't, the monsters are just plain scary looking. They look CGI in this movie but apparently they are actual people with costumes for the most part, so good job. When the town itself is transformed, there are great effects there as well. The story, while having some tweaks here and there, pretty much fit into the Silent Hill universe. So far so good. It stays true to the games. As far as a movie itself, it looks great visually, as I said before. Some of the acting is decent, such as Sean Bean, who only had a minor role here. Laurie Holden was pretty much a perfect choice as Cybil as it looked like she was pulled directly from the original game. She also held up her role in the movie as well. Jodelle Ferland wasn't annoying in her role, which is all you can say for most child actors.
The Bad: This movie had it's share of flaws too though. The script had some terrible lines in it, mainly from the fanatical church. Radha Mitchell pretty much annoyed me too as Rose, and I couldn't care too much for her as a result. The plot had some holes, not many but some, and the ending itself was anti-climatic and just took me out of the vibe that I had settled into. Felt like a lot of stuff was cut out(which I read that the original cut was 3 and a half hours so that may be why) and the movie itself felt disjointed in some parts.
The Ugly: Good news is there is a LOT of gore. Someone gets their skin ripped off, and there's one big scene with a lot of gore that I won't reveal.
Final Verdict: In spite of it's flaws, Silent Hill is not only the best video-game adaptation yet, it's also a good horror movie on top of it. I recommend it.
Rating: **** of *****