Silent Hill (2006)

[ozzylogic]

Disappointing, and for sure not a perfect horror film. The effects were good, didn't look cheesy though, so were the characters, with a proper storyline. Had I been a Silent Hill (VG) fan, I would've appreciate it more I bet. The part where the 'darkness' comes was pretty cool though, but the duration of the enemies presence on screen (per 'level') was disappointing.'

Way better than crap like House on Haunted Hill, and a few crappy horror flicks I've seen (I'm not a horror movie fan!)

Ps (Had to edit this post to get this outta m'system)

WTF is wrong with the locals here?! There were just SO many of 'em today, even though it wasn't it's first week, and it was a 12am show, but they're SO fucking thick! They giggled @ inappropriate times, were loud, had even more annoying ring tones...and bought a whole fucking feast with 'em. And their comments...woah...if the director of this flick would've heard 'em, he'd hang himself...they called the dudes in the coal miner costumer Ghost Busters...WHAT THE FUCK?!

[fizz]

Silent hill is something, but its not a horror film, its an industrial bands music video peppered with bad CG animation. It is also an assembly of loud noises and jump cuts, arguably the worst way to make a horror film - using cheap thrills. Scriptwriter Avery (he who co-wrote the mighty, mighty Pulp Fiction) confuses ambigious closing acts with murky storytelling. The continuous shifting between the real world where husband is looking for wife and kid and the dream world/parallel dimension/hell where mother is searching for daughter is uneven and annoying. This overcooked film is one of the least involving things I've seen in a long time, and to say that its many scenes move like video game stages is stating the obvious (Rose picks a key, loses a key, finds a weapon, loses the weapon and so on....)

Without logic to drive a story or any real emotional resonance to bind it together, any movie is pointless. Director Christopher Gans is no stranger to making good looking bad films (his French import Brotherhood of the wolf being a prime example) and this film only helps to cement that reputation. I would have preferred to watch a film where the little girls problems were cured while she sat on a psychiatrists chair and not one where she visited the rusty town from her dreams.

Rating: 2.5/5

[animatedude]

while i loved Silent Hill and thought it was original in so many ways, i think it suffered from the same thing The Brotherhood of the wolf suffered, which is being confusing at times and too long for its own good.

so what's the rumored extended cut will be? 2 hours and a half? for a horror film?

[ozzylogic]

*Spoiler*

They could've used some scenes for a Jeep advert, come to think of it.

[kaytee]

I watched it last night at home and I really enjoyed the flick. Though I wont put this movie in the Horror genre, Thriller is more appropriate. I never shrieked throughout the movie but I was glued to the TV. I have never played the game either so I cant comment on how true to the game it is but the story was more game like. The mother moving from one stage to another from Colin to the pyramid head dude to the nurses and finally to the big fish.

The atmosphere of the movie was really good and Radha Mitchell is so damn hot. Sean Bean was wasted, that little girl Sharon was creepy. I agree with Ozzy that the enemies were not given enough screen time to really show there menace but its all good as that lapse is made up by the atmosphere and creepiness of the whole movie.

A great watch.

[ozzylogic]

True. It wasn't as cheesy as regular horror flicks, and the animation was pretty good.

[X.]

Neil Gaiman and Roger Avary are said to be working on the sequel screenplay. "Silent Hill 2" with Gans at the helm is a strong possibility.

[shariqq]

Neil Gaiman? How does he get involved here? I thought he did books... Interesting if he wants to take on someone else's creation.

[fizz]

Gainman did Mirror Mask which best buddy Dave McKean directed. He also wrote the screenplay (along with Avery again) to Zemeckis' upcoming animated Beowulf.

[shariqq]

MirrorMask. atleast in trailer,was very Gaimen-ish. And then, it was his original material. I was only surprised that he took on a Video-Game turned movie's sequel to write. Ofcourse, it only makes the sequel that much more interesting a prospect.

[X.]

So far we've had three different intepretations of this writer's name!

For the record, after verifying with his official website, his name is (not Robert Paulson!)....

Neil Gaiman