| Silent Hill (2006) | |
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Rating: 6.5/10 (243,563 votes) Director: Christophe Gans Writer: Roger Avary Stars: Radha Mitchell, Laurie Holden, Sean Bean Runtime: 125 min Rated: R Genre: Horror, Mystery Released: 21 Apr 2006 |
| Plot: A woman, Rose, goes in search for her adopted daughter within the confines of a strange, desolate town called Silent Hill. | |
Silent Hill is a sleepy town which harbours a dark secret. Many years ago, something happened there that has cast the place, forever since, into a dark ‘otherworld’. To this fog enshrouded town comes Rose (Radha Mitchell) and her daughter Sharon (Jodella Ferland). Crashing her vehicle, Rose awakens to find her daughter gone, run off into the fog of the town. Her search for her daughter throws her into a world which hangs on the precipice of evil, and where a strange pyramid-headed butcher hunts those who trespass when the lights go out. Whilst this takes place Rose’s husband, Christopher (Sean Bean) seeks to find out where she has gone, following her into Silent Hill – but his story will take a different route to hers.
Based on the popular game series, Silent Hill has been a few years in production. With the past history of game-to-film adaptations being, in the most part, a bit patchy, initial fear was that this would be another failed attempt. Even Resident Evil, enjoyable as it was to watch, bore little similarity to the tone of the games that inspired it.
Luckily producer Roger Avery and director Christophe Gans were such huge fans of the games that they refused to bend to the usual Hollywood whims. So, rather than getting a huge orchestra in to score the film, and tell us when to be scared, the pair called on Akira Yamaoka, the composer of the disturbing, and melodic sounds in the games. Thus, familiar themes play out, from the title music, to the end credits – none telling you to jump, but many hinting at something unnerving just out of reach. You see, Gans and Avery realised that the atmosphere of the games relies more on the sounds (crackling radio, strange cries) than the visuals.
That isn’t to say that the visuals are lacking though. Gans, who previously wowed lovers of foreign film with the bloody, and dreary Brotherhood of the Wolf, shows such devotion to making things appeal real in the strange ‘otherworld’ of Silent Hill. Instead of CGI, many of the creatures are simple ‘people-in-suits’, lumbering and jerking around. None delivered so menacingly as the lumbering, brutal Pyramid Head (played by Tanya Allen who also plays Anna, a minor character in the tale – this joint role possibly holding some significance, but possibly not). There is CGI in the film, for the transitions between worlds, the dense fog, and the crawling bugs – but they are managed so convincingly that it all goes to paint one beautiful, if somewhat disturbing, vision.
Camera shots are lifted right out of the game, with skewed frame, motion camera, and ‘Raimi-esque’ lensing used to great effect. Gans has certainly done the tale justice (the story itself being inspired by the plot of the first game), and has crafted the first ‘real’ game-to-film adaptation to date. The film sits well within the mythos of the games, and adds to the chilling backstory of the small town.
So, what about non-gamers? What can they expect from the film? Well, that all depends. If you prefer the US Ring to the Japanese Ringu, then you may feel a little unnerved, but find the experience lacking somewhat. If your taste in horror is more along the lines of Scream, and I Know What You Did Last Summer, then you may as well skip this film totally and wait for Slither to come out. However, if you love Japanese/Korean horror of recent years, and want something that will crawl inside your mind, offer no easy answers, and leave you somewhat perplexed and unnerved, then Silent Hill is for you.
A wonderfully shot film with one of the creepiest settings seen on film in recent years. Fans of the game can relax now, Silent Hill is here and, damn, it’s good!
