Doesn't live up to the trailer

Rating: 4/10 (23 April 2006)

I did not know that Silent Hill was first a video game until a couple of days before I saw it. However, the trailer alone was enough of an incentive to plunk down $20 for two tickets. I would pay the filmmakers $40 more dollars to get back the two hours of my life they took from me. It seems that for all the "edgy" and extreme imagery that the filmmakers had at their disposal, not one frame of this film was the least bit scary. I sat in a theater in Burbank, CA, on day two of the release in an auditorium that was half full and at least half the audience howled in fits of (unintentional) laughter. Some of the situations in the film are so ham-handed that they elicited giggles from the audience because they were so ridiculous. I'm waiting two weeks for this thing to open, thinking I'm going to see some scary stuff and this movie is remarkable for the utter lack of any scenes or imagery that is dread-inducing. There were at least five walk-outs in the first thirty minutes and I hardly ever see that when I go to the movies. I will give the movie this kudo; the concept artists they hired to design their creatures was money well spent. But instead of seeing this movie, I think I would have rather browsed the artist's portfolios looking at their concept designs for two hours. Better luck next time...