Wonderful Horror with an Irritating Ending

Rating: 8/10 (24 October 2006)

There is little that annoys me more that a film sacrificing a moving ending in favour of one that leaves it more open to a commercially viable sequel opportunity. Unfortunately, Silent Hill is one of those movies.
Radha Mitchell and Sean Bean both excel as the troubled parents of a demonically possessed child, whilst Laurie Holden excites both sympathy and respect as the tough cop trying to cope with supernatural events. Also, Jodelle Ferland performs wonderfully as both innocent and demon, demonstrating a truth unusual to an actress of her age, and Deborah Kara Unger is suitably creepy. Alice Krige is competent in her role of religious nut-case but not particularly memorable, seeming reminiscent of Piper Laurie from "Carrie" without the horror.
However, Christophe Gans' direction is virtually immaculate. Simultaneously horrific and beautiful, sweepingly bleak shots are mixed together with scenes of horrific violence seamlessly and, unusually in modern film, logically.
All this being said, I was personally annoyed by the ending of the film. Without giving too much away, I must admit that I found the finale of the movie condescending, where none of the rest of the picture had been. In its shameless promotion of itself this film loses much of its impact, a fact which, despite the profit it may achieve by such a sequel, cheats it of a great deal of emotional impact.