Pretty good, actually.

Rating: 8/10 (22 April 2006)

I'm not a huge fan of gore or suspense, so I generally don't like to see any movies in the "horror" genre. That being said, I am a huge fan of the Silent Hill games. Something about the atmosphere in these games just draws me to them. One thing the movie definitely had was the same atmosphere. It did a great job with that and I and my friend were highly impressed.
Essentially, this review is a gamer's take on the film, for others like me who couldn't wait to see one of their favorite games on the big screen.
-Spoilers Ahead!- The movie is based on the plot of the the first Silent Hill, only it's been changed quite a bit. The main character isn't Harry Townsend, single father to Cheryl, but Rose Da Silva, married and mom to Sharon. The mode of getting to Silent Hill is the same, although the introduction of Sybil is a bit different; she's more of an adversary at first. One thing I thought was interesting was the inclusion of the Silent Hill 2 monsters in the Silent Hill 1 scenario. They also changed the reason behind how the town became "cursed," and, the big change to me, they made Dahlia a good, innocent person. There was no mention of raising an evil god, no "White Claudia," and no inclusion of medical staff in the plot. The worst exclusion? No amusement park. That was a disappointment. Oh, and Rose never got a gun, a stick with a nail in it, or an iron rod, just a puny knife.
It also lost a little of the sense of isolation by showing Rose's husband, Chris, on the outside world trying to find them. While finding out the background of the town and revealing the Silent Hill conspiracy a little was informative, it distracted from the story of Rose and Sharon. One of the things about the games is that those who go to Silent Hill don't have anyone outside of town looking for them or caring for them. They're all alone in this and that's what makes it so very frightening.
What they did have: The fog and its "normal" monsters. The dark, nightmare Silent Hill and it's "tough" monsters. A church cult. Alessa going' all crazy (yeah!). Pyramid Head! The hospital, with a group of nurses. The school, complete with a freaky bathroom. The static on the radio. And did I mention the atmosphere? I really feel that they got that right. I also liked the ending, though a few people in the theater were outright mad at it. The one thing about the town of Silent Hill: Once you go there, you never really leave. Even if you physically get out it's always with you, until the day you die.
This is a very jumbled review and I'm sorry for that. As a fan of the genre, I like this movie but I was disappointed at a few of the changes and exclusions. Seeing crazy Alessa and Pyramid Head, though, kind of made up for all that was lacking. I recommend this movie to other fans of the series.
In closing, I give you my only real complaint: Why did they have to change her name to Sharon? It was Cheryl! It's not that big a difference! Why couldn't they just keep it the same? Oh, that bugged me for the whole movie...