Review of Silent Hill (2006) by Jason A — 03 Dec 2012

To those who continuously degrade this film, it's sequel, and it's on-going game series: Please, stop presenting your opinions as absolute fact for others, and if you won't, then at least let me reach out to those who are still on the fence here. Silent Hill has always been popular to those with the patience to look at it as something more than a mere horror film.

In the case of Silent Hill, a 29% is absurd to me. Dealing heavily with the same concepts of the metaphysical and psychological manifestations of our inner demons that made the first game so popular, Silent Hill is an original and exciting spin on the supernatural horror genre.

It's so called "Incoherent plot," is not that difficult to understand, either; I could sum it up right now, in fact: The town of Silent Hill has literally become twisted into a hell on earth, an alternate dimension where visitors are claimed by the devil and forced to face physical manifestations of their deep buried inner demons in the form of the various creatures presented therein...

In addition, Silent Hill is not only of the horror genre, but taps into mystery as well; you are.

INTENTIONALLY dropped into this strange setting with no backfill or prior knowledge, and thus, you are forced to discover the world with the character, as they find the clues themselves, and encounter the grotesque creatures within. The plot is neither incoherent nor inconsistent, all of the necessary hints and plots are presented where they should be...

I could continue this review for days praising the hundreds of cinematic conventions and pointing out the just as numerous symbolic references to so many themes and ideas, but as the never ending deluge of negative reviews here makes clear: No one is listening anyway...

My advice? Watch the film yourself; if you don't like it, whatever... it's not for everyone. I personally loved the film, and thought it was a relief from the slasher films and cliched indies that line the horror market. So, for those of you that can appreciate the abstract themes presented within Silent Hill, you're in for quite a ride... ;).