thoroughly entertaining, but doesn't quite feel like the games

Rating: 7/10 (4 April 2007)

This is an interesting movie, because the games have a very Japanese quality to them, full of creeping dread and weirdness, but the movie has more of an American feel, with straightforward action and scares. I think it probably would have been a more interesting film if it were done more along the line of The Ring, but taken on its own terms it's quite entertaining.
I've played all the Silent Hill games except the first one, which is probably what this was based on, so it makes it difficult to know how closely the story was followed. I did read a synopsis of the first game and I think it was something like what was here. I suspect, based on the other games, that the movie took more pains to explain what was going on, although it apparently didn't help since I see a lot of complaints about not understanding the story. I followed it pretty well myself though, and was surprised people were having so much difficulty with it.
All in all I liked this movie. While it doesn't quite have the tone of the games, it does have a lot of the look, keeps things moving and has a few nifty scares in it. I'd say it ties with Resident Evil for best game-based movie.