Silent Hill

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Silent Hill
Silent Hill is less a video game gone movie done wrong, then a video game gone movie that was done just a little too right.

There are really two different kinds of "what the hell just happened?" feelings you can get after watching a film. The first of which is the kind you get after you watch the ending of Primal Fear or Identity, and then there is the kind that you get at the end of this movie.

The movie is very impressive visually, and obvious care has been taken to stick to the source material, which is exactly where the movie finds its fault. Silent Hill starts off promising, a chilling premise, a good cast, a director who obviously cares about the story. From there, however, it starts to go wrong. Because of the fact that, like most video game adaptations, it's targeting not only the rabid fans but those who have never experienced it, it spends an inordinate amount of time explaining the plot halfway into the film. Which may be why the film is so... damn... long. 127 minutes is too long by far for a horror/game flick. I understand there was a lot to go through but by the end of the movie I was feeling sympathy with the heroine of the film simply because I started to believe we were both stuck in a hell we couldn't escape.

The plot is instantly understandable and very familiar to those who have played the first Silent Hill game. The hero is now a heroine, Deliah is a little less important, and Red Pyramid has jumped back a game to appear (somewhat badassedly) as a powerful protagonist. However it may leave some who haven't played the series a little baffled. Not to say I wouldn't recommend the movie, all in all it played out a lot better than most horror flicks I've seen... then again I'm not really a fan of the genre.

Much like the games the ending is somewhat confusing, and leaves you with a lot of questions. It was when a friend suggested to others in the group that I went with to check the Silent Hill plot guide on GameFAQs for insight that I decided that the movie was a little too close to the source for it's own good. While the game inspired you to ask questions and discuss the experience, the ending on the movie seemed a little too forced. A bit too much like Sixth Sense to be practical for the series.

All in all a decent movie, but a bit too long. Fans of the Series who aren't too anal about the plot should love it, and if you've never played the games at all you might want to check it out as well. Next to fellow horror genre films such as Hostel this one is a delectable treat indeed.

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DJ still not master of the obvious

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The previews before Lucky Number Slevin contained a number of good films that I hope to go and see at some point, including Silent Hill and The Sentinel. Mashed in between these was a quicky advert involving a film festival somewhere. My friend DJ is a film nut, and as such the idea of a film festival has always appealed to him, but he has yet to have the chance to go to one. He informed me of this and then asked me if I had ever been to one before.

The question seems innocent enough I suppose, however DJ had spent the entire day with me and had even made a comment about the giant STAFF letters stenciled across the back of my T-Shirt. My T-Shirt for the International Horror & Sci-Fi Film Festival...which I looked down at, then at him, then at the shirt, then at him, before he caught on and said "Oh Yeah".

In other news why the hell is Hard Candy not going to play anywhere near me? I really, really want to see this movie. Am I going to have to pirate it?

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