"It is time for this dream world to come to an end along with the dreamers in it." - Alessa

Rating: 4/10 (5 May 2006)

I would say one of the most toxic kisses of death a movie can have is 'based on a video game'. I mean, let's be real here, video game plots suck. They suck because they don't have to be intriguing, most games the object is simple = shoot the sh*t out of the bad guy. That's it. I mean, some video games have good plots, but that is a good plot for a video game, not for a movie. 'Silent Hill' is a perfect example of this. It doesn't make much sense but when played as a video game it doesn't have to. When watched as a movie it sure as sh*t should! I had a lot to gripe about while watching this tiresome exercise in nonsense.
First of all, the plot is terrible, like I said before. I was having a hard time getting everything, because even at the end they didn't explain anything. The "twist" of the movie made absolutely no sense at all and defied all logic. The acting was another 'eh' quality about it. I usually like Rahda Mitchell (Pitch Dark, Phone Booth) but in this she just plain stinks. Sean Bean is good as her husband but he has a very brief role, and Laurie Holden is just plain awful as the "bad-girl" cop. Alice Krige makes a nice wack-a-doo religious cult villain, but she always plays that role (see Stephen King's 'Sleepwalkers'). One very positive thing I can say about the film is the visual effects are wonderful and dare I say, f*ckin' awesome, but everything else in the film is out of whack.
I do not recommend 'Silent Hill' to see in the theatres. If you are a horror buff, I recommend waiting for video, but if you are like me and aren't too into videogames or horror films, don't even bother looking at the movie poster. Grade: C- (screened at AMC Deer Valley 30, Phoenix, AZ, 4/23/06)