You've got to be kidding me, right? No? Damn.

Rating: 2/10 (22 April 2006)

A two you might be asking yourself right now. Yeah, that's right. The ONLY reason why this movie got a two out of me was because I was impressed by the creature and setting designs. The transforming of Foggy Silent Hill into Nightmare Silent Hill was definitely a visual I would've loved to have seen in the game series. Also, the creature representation was excellent as well right down to their movements, and of course, freaking Pyramid Head. I loved that guy...monster...thing...I give up. But that's about it. In dead on terms my opinion of this movie was mostly bad, a little good, and a lot that was bad but was inevitable in the movie adaptation. Stop reading now if you gave this movie higher than a 5.
Reasons why this movie didn't work:
-There should be no hordes, rather in my opinion single creatures stalking around the protagonists would have been more effective in making an eerie and uneasy atmosphere.
-Although I agree with its usage, ultimately it would have been better to cut out the husband who does not really get "involved" with Silent Hill. His use to move the truth along is important, but I felt that the answers could have been found within the city itself rather than out. By cutting to scenes of the husband searching outside of Silent Hill you lose intensity which could have been focused inside the city. I felt that detachment from the source really put a cramp on the potential of this movie.
-Long drawn explanations. Rather than having it all just told to the audience straight out front from the horse's mouth, subtle hints and fragments of the truth would have made this movie noteworthy if not a hot topic of discussion after the movie is over. The only questions I heard about the movie after seeing it was confusion about the ending which you will have to see for yourself. A movie that gives subtle hints to the answer is a hell of a lot better after the movie is over rather than a movie that spills its guts in the last 20 some minutes.
-Idiotic statements. Let's see here, what are some lines that people just couldn't help but laugh at? "it seems like there was a fire here," "Look...I'm burning," "what the f***....what the f***!?". I'd certainly hope that the intellect of the audience isn't put into question when statements like these have to be made. And that just goes to show that silence is golden more times than not.
-Gore. We all know and some love it. What's a modern horror flick without the gratuitous gore-fest? I admit that sometimes it is necessary but not to the extent to which the movie goes with it.
The list could go on...and on, but it's gonna stop there. For me, who has played through all the SH games numerous times (once for each ending no less!), there were a lot of inherent flaws, but at the same time those flaws were necessary to make the adaption possible for the mainstream viewers. If you're someone who goes and sees this movie and found it unenjoyable, confusing, or not worth giving higher than a 5, then do yourself a favor and go find cheap used copies of the video games and find out why veterans are shooting back and forth between "this movie was an excellent representation of SH" and "this movie disgraced SH".
But don't let anything I've said deter YOU from seeing this movie. There is a lot to be appreciated that isn't connected to the plot, and yes, I do mean the visuals. Creature design and screen representation are amazing. I never dreamed I would be able to see Pyramid Head in all his frightening glory. Also, the architecture of the city itself is pretty much 100% scale to the city from the games (right down to the street names, in particular Nathan ave). But the thing that really made me smile was how the city would change from Foggy Silent Hill into Nightmare Silent Hill. I can't stress how cool that visual was.