Silent Hill review: B-

I saw Silent Hill today. I give it a B-. I almost would give it a C due to some lame dialoges early on but the visual and atmosphere of the movie tilted my score up to the B level.

Basically...if you've played the video games and liked them, then go see it you'll like it.

If you're in the mood for a scary flick and aren't really picky, go see it.

If you're picky about your films or unsure ...wait for it to come out on video.


I wasn't expecting greatness with this film but I was very hopeful. Video games have not got a good track record being moved over into movies, specifically horror-genre video games. This horror video game indeed seems to have been the best migration yet though. The movie quickly moves into scary places with surreal atmospheres. Rose, the main character, is escaping from one close call after another as she attempts to locate her missing daughter in the town of Silent Hill. She doesn't seem to do stupid stuff or stumble and fall in the film or the usual things you'd expect. Considering the circumstances that she finds herself in, she does remarkably well.

Acting: In the begining of the film I felt that the acting of the police officers was not all that good...but later it either improved or I no longer noticed it. The actor who played the female head of the church was great. The little girl who played Sharon/Alessa shined. The choice of actors who portrayed several of the characters actually looked like some familiar game characters.

Atmosphere: Fading in and out of reality into some other plane. Nightmarish world recreated quite well.

Monsters: Creepy, horrific. Most come right out of the games. The nurses only in one scene but done well. Pyramid Head monster was done nicely. Man that sword! Tell HIM that size doesn't matter! Only thing I was a bit disappointed in not seeing in the movie was any dogs. Silent Hill doesn't quite seem like Silent Hill without trying to pull my leg out of the mouth of a gnawing mutant dog. But I can forgive them excluding the dogs actually.

Ending stuff: Ain't gonna tell you squat. But I will say that you may find yourself cheering internally at some quite horrific deeds near the end.

I think they left themselves an adequate opportunity to pursue a sequel in the future if indeed this film does good in the box office. I don't think it will happen, but they could if they wanted to.

I liked it. Maybe you will too.


Go to my previous post to learn more about Silent Hill.