Silent Hill: Superficial Concepts Need Not Review

Rating: 10/10 (27 April 2006)

Story: 10/10, Acting: 8/10, Dialogue: 7/10, Direction: 9/10, Visuals: 10/10, Overall: 9/10
I remember watching the trailer for this movie a few months back. Although I have never played the game nor had any desire to, the movie looked pretty exciting. I could tell from just the previews alone that the visuals were going to be beautifully disturbing. My lack of knowledge on the game really sparked my interest. Wow, I was really amazed and my interest to play the game has risen.
Silent Hill is set in fictional Toluca County, West Virginia. Christopher and Rose Da Silva's daughter, Sharon, has nightmares of a place called Silent Hill. Rose decides to take her daughter's mental condition into her own hands by bringing her to this foggy ghost town and facing her dilemma head on. Sharon soon finds herself in what can only be described as a hellish and contingent environment where reality is in the eyes of the beholder. When she arrives in Silent Hill the nightmarish tone is almost immediately set. The music (Which could also just be random demonic sounds. Another ingenious ploy to again set a creepy tone.) and camera angles work well to define an odd and out of place aura around this deserted town. The first siren blast sets an even more ominous feeling of what could possibly be coming next.
At times, the dialogue in this film can be a bit dry and the acting wasn't exactly the greatest in the world but the redeeming qualities lie in a strong storyline and the amazing visuals that reveal the full nightmarish environment that is Silent Hill. There are many random aspects that are never explained, but are there to enhance the viewer's final interpretation.
This was surprisingly an artsy film if broken down into certain aspects and definitely contained some metaphorical allusions. Many people who hate this movie do not understand the overall direction of what was going on. This was not supposed to be a typical horror movie, per se, but what I believe to be as rather an artistic approach to bend the minds of its viewers and leave open many possibilities as to what the heck they just saw.
I definitely recommend this movie to people who love to see a film that would require them to put rational thought into what they just saw and anyone who is not afraid of disturbing visuals. I would not recommend it to someone who expects to be spoon fed every solitary detail, so to speak, nor anyone who has a weak stomach.