A great atmosphere, but not really much else of anything else

Rating: 4/10 (22 September 2006)

Now, before I continue on, I am just going to put this right out there right away: I never really played the Silent Hill video games. As a result, I watched the movie purely from a film standpoint, and not as a comparison to the video game.
And in that respect, I found the movie to be fairly terrible, if only rescued by a few things that could only have been made possible by the game.
Sharon Da Silva (Jodelle Ferland) is having nightmares, all of which consistently mention a place called "Silent Hill". Her mother, Rose (Radha Mitchell), is getting increasingly frustrated, and one night decides to drive to the mythical place in an attempt to see if anything could be done to fix these nightmares. After an unfortunate run-in with a cop, Rose finds herself almost in an accident. She awakens in the town to find Sharon missing, and sets out to find her. While this is all going on, Rose's husband Christopher (Sean Bean), is out to try and find his wife and daughter, and uncover the secrets of the town on his way.
Thinking about this plot from a gaming perspective (even though the original game's lead protagonist was male), it works magnificently. The story, the set-up, the events, and more all work out in perfect unison. Hell, the camera angles are set-up specifically to look like they did in the game. Thinking of the film like that, as a grander version of a video game, may lead people into actually thinking this movie is good.
But it is not.
What works in a game, does not in a movie. Everything just kind of feels thrown together, with little to no explanation. Things just seem to happen. We learn more of a "history" of the town, and why it and its townspeople are in such rough shape, but because the game's characters and stories are not really fleshed out beyond the one-dimensional point, neither are the film's. Are we supposed to feel pity for these people, or are we just supposed to laugh at them? Are we horrified when the "evil" shows up after a loud bell sounds, or do we just stare and wish that we were actually being scared? None of it really seems to want to work, and none of the actors or filmmakers seem to give a damn in trying to make it. Making the film have the same spirit and feel as the game is one thing, but not making the movie actually work in movie terms, is another.
Like I said, all the characters are one-dimensional, and none of them really seem to stand out at all. Absolutely no one puts in a captivating performance, they just kind of look crossed between zombified and stupefied. How are we as an audience, supposed to make anything of the film when we get actors being stiffer than a piece of wood? The film is terribly boring as a result, and really, left a sour taste in my mouth. I was not sure what to expect, but I expected so much better than what was delivered.
But I digress, the main measure of where this film actually has failed potential is in its visuals.
This is a very atmospheric movie, and the look has not been skimped on at all. Glorious fog stays sparkled throughout the film, and the constantly dilapidating town looks really well done. Special mention goes to the effects used when the "evil" shows up and everything begins to fall apart. Mitchell is usually found right in the middle of it, and nowhere does it ever seem fake. This sudden falling apart, and the hellacious looking creatures that appear from the beneath the cracks in the ground are fascinating to watch. They all look horrific, and all make for the film to really rise up beyond its pre-determined range. If only we could say that for the rest of the movie.
Overall, the movie is only worth the invested time if people expect to look at the effects. If they come for acting or a storyline, they are well advised to be better off renting and/or buying something else.
4/10.