I missed the SH-atmosphere...

Rating: 7/10 (4 October 2008)

I am a fan of the Silent Hill game series (maybe except the 4th part^^), and I was looking forward to see that movie for a long time. The first thing I noticed was that Akira Yamaoka made the music for that movie. And music is one of the most important thing of Silent Hill and its atmosphere. Yeah, this little word: "atmosphere". I think the crew around SH ignored that word a little bit. Or they didn't really understand what the typical SH-atmosphere really is. Walking through empty, lost and timeless rooms, hearing the creepy noises coming from everywhere around you. To see the horrifying transitions from the fogged world into the dark world, where the town shows its skeleton and its bloody history. And the awareness, that you have to go THROUGH that hell to get out of that nightmare. In my opinion, they just reached 40 percent of the Silent Hill atmosphere in the movie - maybe less. And in SH there are not the creatures or the special effects the main part, even not the characters (they just give us a chance to see and understand that world) - no, I think it's rather that, what we can't see. Every step you make, that town seems to grow more and more. And the more you see, the more you don't wanna think about what there else could be. THIS is Silent Hill, and I don't know if you ever could put all this into a movie, especially in a Hollywood-movie. For a self-contained movie it has its qualities, but for a Silent Hill movie it is all in all a little bit disappointing. But anyway I liked that movie...
For everyone, that don't know the game series: Don't be discouraged to buy any of the games - in that (I recommend starting with part 2, part 3 is visual the best) you going to understand what I've meant in this comment... ;)