Review of Silent Hill (2006) by David D — 24 Apr 2013

This was mostly a love letter to the fans of the series. Though many fans knocked it for being more American in it's approach, whilst the games are known for being very JP in that they are more moody and mental.

The film did a very good job at capturing the atmosphere, the sounds, and the monsters. The soundtrack is an absolute masterpiece but the credit goes to the games as the entire OST for this film is comprised of songs from various titles within the Silent Hill gaming space.

The acting is about as good as you can expect for a horror movie. I tend to go more easy on the actors in horror films as it's much harder to play these sort of roles than ones grounded more in normal situations.

I have always had a love for the story of Silent Hill but the games are just a way better way of telling such a story, you get more envolved in the character and become much more attached to them, The story also comes on slow in the games and is the primary reason/reward for progressing through the nightmare!

All in all I feel they could have captured the more mental side of Silent Hill. Films like Jacobs ladder were a MAIN inspiration for the game Silent Hill. I just feel they didn't quite mess with your mind enough with this movie. I really walked away from it feeling they did a fair amount of justice though.

After all it's not easy to convert games to movies and vice versa. Anyone who judges this too harshly is not a fan of the games or fails to understand how hard these are to translate. I can forgive the shortcomings and the lost in translations of Silent Hill, It was a fun place to visit, I just wish the same could be said for the god awful sequel...