How did it take me so long to find "Silent Hill?" I guess I stayed lost in Raccoon City for so long that I wasn't looking to visit too many other places. So when I found the Silent Hill movie I went in with no expectations other than that it didn't seem to have made as big a splash as other horror movies that have since been given sequels on top of sequels. And that's a shame really, because "Silent Hill" is far better than so many of the more popular, more typical horror flicks of its time.

 

What fascinated me about the viewing experience was that when I got to the end I didn't know immediately afterwards if I liked it or not. It wasn't until I realized how much the imagery stayed with me, to the point that I couldn't resist watching it again, that I decided I undeniably enjoyed it enough to need to return to Silent Hill. I own a lot of horror movies; very few of them have ever created in me such an urgency to watch it again so soon.

 

The movie is, as I'm sure you know, based on a video game. I hadn't played at the time (largely due to the elusiveness of the first game since I had waited so long to check it out  but was determined to start at the beginning of the series), but I look back on it now well versed in all things Silent Hill. So I will try to give you the benefit of both perspectives.

 

The basic premise follows the first game with a few differences fans will notice immediately. Sharon is an adopted child who has some powerful but mysterious ties to a town called Silent Hill. Wanting to figure out what's going on and help her daughter, Rose makes an impromptu mother-daughter trip only to lose control of her car as they enter the desolate town. Awakening from the crash Rose finds that Sharon is missing. She begins a trek around the town in search of her daughter catching glimpses yet never catching up to Sharon.

 

The town is already odd with its perpetually falling ash from an underground coal fire that keeps the area vacant, but from time to time blackness takes over and reality goes from odd to nightmarish. Monsters creep about here, and they will do unspeakable things if they catch you. Rose will have to brave them in order to save her daughter and unravel the twisted connection a little kid has to such a malevolent place.

 

Perhaps the biggest plus between playing the game and watching the movie is that this really feels like Silent Hill. The continuously falling ash (though in the game it's said to be snow it has the same visual effect) as well as the drab colors and designs of the shifting realities, not to mention familiar characters like Cybil the cop all form close ties between the two mediums. Each version of reality in the cinematic presentation feels distinct and is visually interesting with the transitions between realities being visually stunning. While the dark reality of the movie may not have quite the depth or scope that the game world has, it does feel properly twisted and disorienting.

 

The locations feel familiar, too. We start in an alley, find a drawing that leads us to the school, and later find Rose confronting creepy nurses in a hospital. These are all important places to any fans of the game series. Of course, we don't watch Rose going from room to room hunting the right key to get through the next door, but we do see her explore familiar environments with significant elements such as a desk at the school that is very much in keeping with Alessa's as found in the game.

 

Don't remember seeing Alessa's desk in the first game? That's because the movie pulls from later games though the basic premise is from the first one. Some fans find this positive while some see it as a negative. Doesn't Pyramid Head belong solely to game 2 (James' story)? A number of fans of that game feel this particular monster should exist only in James' particular reality of Silent Hill, but it's clear that the writers behind the movies as well as other games feel like Pyramid Head is too powerful a marketing tool to be confined to a single story. This movie was the first to utilize him outside of James' story, but the creature has shown up many times since.

 

This is potentially important for anyone wanting a straight game-to-movie translation of the original story because as the tale unfolds in the movie it offers quite a different history for the Gillespie family – the family who is at the heart of the tale of why Silent Hill is the way it is (at least as far as the movie and Alessa-related games are concerned; we have to look beyond that when other characters like James and Travis come in, but that's beyond the scope of the story we're discussing here). The fates of the characters are likewise different. Some of these changes I think are improvements, some are unnecessary, and some have positive as well as negative results. I'll only touch on a few of them.

 

I find Alessa's backstory to be stronger here than in the game. The notion of her “birthing god” has been removed which simplifies the story a good bit though it also excludes any potential discussion of the significance of exactly what that “god” is or what it represents. With the tighter time constraints of a movie I think the absence of this element makes for a tighter plot overall. (This will come into play again in the sequel movie.)

 

Pyramid Head gives a face (so to speak) to the monstrous element that we wouldn't have without him. We need an identifiable monster to chase Rose. Christabella works as a human antagonist, but she's not scary. The lesser creatures have their moments, but none of them have the effect of a juggernaut wielding a giant blade. So we need Mr. Head (“P- Midi” to his friends) as a focus for our fear. I've never been of the mind that P-Midi belongs solely to James' story in game 2.

 

Some of the changes seem unnecessary. Why change Cheryl's name? (It's now Sharon for the movie.) Why change the Mason family's name to DaSilva? Why swap Harry for Rose? None of this bothered me as a person unfamiliar with the games, but after playing through them a few times I have become increasing bothered by these differences because they don't serve any particular improvement to the story.

 

Another change is the reinvention of Dahlia (a familiar character) and the creation of Christabella (a new character) to fill much of the ensuing gap. While I do miss what Dahlia meant to the original story, I can appreciate what the changes to her mean for this plot. However, I don't think Christabella's story is as good as what Dahlia's was in the games.

 

The acting is generally quite good. I am impressed with the little girl, Jodelle Ferland. She plays a couple of different parts including a creepy child that she does exceptionally well. Radha Mitchell struck me as one of the prettiest faces I'd seen on screen recently while also turning in a touchingly desperate performance. Laurie Holden comes off as a female Dirty Harry at first but proves to have admirable compassion and determination rather than just being some robotic tough-guy (errr.... tough-gal I guess) character. Sean Bean as Rose's husband (and who is actually Harry Mason, protagonist of the first game, though he won't take on that name until the movie's sequel) has a small but touching role as the one left behind in our reality searching for the fate of his family only to be hindered by Kim Coates who has his own secrets to hide. My main criticism is that Alice Krige as Christabella seems too over the top.

 

What would Silent Hill be without monsters? A lot like Resident Evil without zombies – lacking. We don't get all of the various creatures from the game realized on screen, but we do get glimpses at several (most are from game 2 which had better creatures than the first one): the armless acid spewer (often called the “lying figure,”) the grey children, creepers (bugs), and, of course, the nurses. Some say the nurses feel too much like a choreographed dance routine, however I love this realization of them. The way they move makes them feel unnatural while also looking realistic and reacting to the light as if mechanical even though they aren't. There's a certain beauty to them even as they create an air of foreboding. There's an unnaturally realistic look to pretty much all of the creatures we see (thanks largely to practical effects rather than CG) which makes them all the more disturbing and is a big reason I like returning to this movie every so often.

 

"Silent Hill" takes time to create an atmosphere with meaning and a backstory rather than just a place where people go to die. Chris (AKA Harry) being at the school at the same time as Rose yet being unable to have contact with her because of the way reality works in this hellish town is a perfect example of this. It's possible to consider this moment an unnecessary slowing of the pace, but I see it as an indication that Rose is not just in some deserted town but in a whole different plane of reality almost like a spirit world. It punctuates the isolation and helplessness of the characters. This slows the pace down from a non-stop action-adventure like "Resident Evil," but it makes for a more substantial viewing experience.

 

Being that the reality in the movie has the essence of a dream the surroundings and creatures have metaphorical associations that are left up to the imaginings of individual viewers. Part of the fun of the Silent Hill experience is discussing theories of what these different elements mean. The ties are perhaps not as strong here as they are in the games, but they are present if you care to look below the surface.

 

One last note for game and music fans, this may be the only movie ever made (not counting the sequel) that uses actual video game music as part of its soundtrack. Most of the songs listed in the credits are by the original Japanese composer Akira Yamaoka. While the editing of the music is different, the tunes are recognizable. I can never bring myself to shut the movie off before the credits have rolled because I enjoy hearing the music so much.