A beautiful film if you have Clive Barker's sense of aesthetics

Rating: 7/10 (24 September 2009)

The problem with "Silent Hill" is that it lacks balance. Some parts of the film are over-explained while others leave you in a constant "What the f***". Some parts are just too creepy and shocking, while others get a little boring. Some parts are taken right out of the film, while others seemed added for no good reason. Some acting is very good, while other is very questionable.
This lack of balance is enough to make many people disinterested in the film. Either they think it's too confusing, too gory, too different from the game, too slow, etc.
Although IMO his "Brotherhood of the Wolf" was most definitely a better film, Gans definitely managed to provide something the Silver Screen hasn't seen in a long time : a dark and genuinely creepy Gothic environment with a Clive Barker sense of aesthetics. Too bad the "darkness" had only so little presence in this film, although I guess they had to make it fairly short to make it even remotely possible to survive in there.
In spite of its many flaws, however, I can say I really loved seeing "Silent Hill". It's definitely refreshing after seeing all those cliché American horror films or typical Japanese gore.