About as insipid, hackneyed, childish and inaccurate as a Resident Evil movie.

Rating: 1/10 (23 September 2007)

All I ever really wanted out of a video game film adaptation was one that simulated the feeling of the game to the point where it actually felt like the game it was based off of in every aspect (save for the technical ones such as menus, options, etc.); not only would it full fill the needs of the long-running fans (in other words didn't start playing the most recent game in the series before viewing), but it would also give common movie goers a better idea of what the game is really about between its presentation, cast of characters, aspects, fun-factor and strains.
I realize this method is impossible, yet modern film makers, script writers and their massive checkbooks alike seem to think otherwise.
Here is the movie's most accurate points:
Set designs - 90% of the sets actually looked like the backgrounds to many of the Silent Hill games between the fog inundated street corners and even parts of the Other World (forgiving the fact that we only see a little bit of it now and then).
Cinematography - Some of the camera angles reproduced frame by frame were accurate as well, particularly the alley overhead shot from the first game.
Here is the movie's least accurate points:
Characters and portrayal -In the Silent Hill games, there is a large emphasis on character empathy as even some of the two dimensional characters you end up learning to care about. There were very few characters in the movie that really begged for sympathy including the main character and her determination to uncover her daughter's mysteries whilst attempting to get arrested and possibly even get her daughter injured in a car accident in the process. There was just about one character in the movie who showed any point of development or characterization, but the character was so poorly presented it was impossible to feel anything for said character.
Too much gore - It's not that I don't appreciate a gory horror film, it's just that the Silent Hill games were never entirely about massive amounts of gore, blood or even shocking deaths. The only game in the series that had any type of gore was the first game and all the gore was postmortem (some of the bodies were actually mummified) and none of it adhered to any form of reality or even the living characters in the game. In this movie, the gore is thrown out from the characters so much it feels like the film was based off a completely different game or movie.
Ripped soundtrack - Rather than finding musical artists to reproduce the sound of the game's soundtrack or even ask Yamaoka (the original composer of the game's songs) to compose a soundtrack for the movie, the creators found it unique to just take existing songs from three of the past four games and insert it into the movie, remixing at least two. All of the songs however represent specific moments in the game, so it's impossible to get into the movie when you're thinking too much of a specific moment from the games.
Combat - As the games allowed the players to navigate the protagonist around their settings, the games also allowed the protagonist to protect themselves against the various demented enemies. Such never happens in the movie. Rather, the heroine basically depends upon another heroine to do all the fighting for her; If Rose were trapped in an actual Silent Hill game, she would've been dead 5 minutes into the game.
Puzzles - Although the movie does try to display a few puzzles in the game as well as item searching, the concept falls flat after the first few items a nd puzzles experienced due to the fact that there was only one puzzle and one item retrieval moment, the puzzle being so simple any one could figure it out. The puzzles of Silent Hill have always been complex and challenging, even if there was only one such challenging puzzle in the fourth game with the rest being of the simple 'retrieve and use here' fashion.
Plot - Not only does it have little to nothing to do with the complex and unique history of the town, but it also has little uniqueness or complexity to it. What seems like a romp into another's psyche and a horrifying truth that challenges the very existence of the characters we're supposed to care about turns out to be a sad excuse to make a modern horror movie with a bunch of gore and a video game name slapped on the cover.
Atmosphere - The atmosphere of the Silent Hill games are indeed visual and often ubiquitous, but it is still a slow atmosphere that lingers on the audience and builds up through exploration of settings. Such just does not happen here. Although the settings were good, we just didn't get to see them enough for them to contribute to the atmosphere, nor did the presence of the monsters.
Creature designs that adhered to plot - No matter what, all creatures in the Silent Hill games had something to do with the plot. Nine out of ten times, the monsters here are just thrown in because they were inspired from previous games and only one of which actually adheres to the plot, forgiving the fact that it was made solely for show and didn't even do anything.
There are some other aspects the director and script writer added particularly the director's sense of over-rationalizing and questioning puritanical occult authorities (reminds me of another film that he's famous for...) and some of which do shoot down the game's principles, but my apathy for this movie has all ready taken mammoth proportions.
I refuse to call this movie accurate to its source, I refuse to call this movie good and I refuse to willingly see it again.