Hill Has Eyes

Rating: Null/10 (21 April 2017)

Intrigued by a ghost town that her daughter keeps mentioning in her sleep, a concerned mother drives there and finds herself contending with monsters that may or may not be real when her daughter goes missing in this moody horror film. 'Silent Hill' is atmospheric right from the get-go and much of its nightmarish imagery leaves an indelible impression, but adapted from a popular video game, the film never quite gels as a cohesive narrative. While evidently desperate to stop her daughter sleepwalking, Radha Mitchell's protagonist is rather hard to relate to; her decision to break down fences to take her daughter to a town full of toxic fumes never once seems rational, and it is all her own fault that her daughter gets lost. There are some creepy moments to be had as she goes in and out of abandoned, dilapidated buildings for quite a while, but it is not until around 90 minutes in that the film bothers to try to explain any of the bizarre happenings, and when it does, it comes in the form of a monologue that goes on for minutes on end. In short, the mythology of the movie is too complex for its own good. The special effects ridden scenes in the final quarter of the movie also pale against the suggestiveness of the initial shots of the town. 'Silent Hill' has at least a couple of good scares and the music and set design are first-rate, but as a narrative, it comes up a little short.