Movies that made my head hurt: Silent Hill (1070 hits)
Category: Movies & TVRating: 1.77 on 9 reviews (Rate this item) (V)
Submitted by Creepy_Guy (View user info) at 2006-04-22 11:32:10 EDT
I loved the Silent Hill games; I've played all of them all the way through. I think Silent Hill was the first game that got me into the whole "Survival Horror" gaming thing. So when they announced a Silent Hill movie, I screamed "Eeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeee!" and ran around the room like a little fucking girl. It opened last night, so I was there, front and center. It was...a unique experience.
The cast includes Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden and Deborah Kara Unger, just to name a few. Some of the characters were taken directly from the games. The ones that come to mind first off are Cybil Bennet and Dahlia Gillespie, but there are more. One of which will be described in detail further on...
The acting wasn't anything special and more than a few times, it seemed as though some of the actors dropped the ball. The kid (played by Jodelle Ferland) especially. The only real exception was Sean Bean, whose character seemed mostly unimportant until very near the end. That said though, he did a very, very good job.
Visually, the movie is amazing. For those who have never played the games, the town of Silent Hill switches between the normal version (the basic town itself) and a much darker, more violent place. The "Evil Place" is simply another version of the town that exists "over top" of the regular town. The transitions between the two are amazing; paint peels off walls, leaving behind metal cages and bars. The ground cracks and falls apart, turning to a steel grating. Its almost worth seeing just for those parts.
The biggest and best part of the movie however, had to be the monsters. For the most part, there were no computer generated monsters; just people in latex and makeup. For that reason, they seemed so much more realistic and organic. Specifically, Pyramid Head.
For those people who have never played the game, Pyramid Head is the equivilant of The Nemis, from Resident Evil. If you've never seen THAT, well...just assume Pyramid Head is really, really badass. His purpose is to walk around, dragging an oversized sword (more of a jagged, sharp piece of metal) and kill things. It made the movie a thousand times better.
Like any movie, it has strong and weak points. This one was obviously made for fans of the games and if you've never played those games, this movie will be lost on you. If you HAVE played them though, you'll enjoy this a fair bit. There's talk of another one being made over the next few years.
If there were any justice, they'd make a movie like Freddy vs. Jason, only it would be Nemesis vs. Pyramid Head and people would actually enjoy it.
User Reviews
Submitted by erosion_rules (user info) at 2006-04-23 22:14:49 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I haven't finished any of the games. While I was working through the first, my PlayStation died. I haven't gotten another one since.
But the ending made me want to punch a baby, and not in the gleeful way I usually punch babies. Maybe I'm missing something, or maybe they needed to drive home the idea that Rose, Cybill, and...uh...the little girl whose name escapes me at the moment...died in the crash in the beginning of the movie. At least, that's my guess.
Submitted by matnotharry (user info) at 2006-04-23 08:18:08 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
SEAN BEAN!!
- autoawesome
Submitted by HurtByTheSun (user info) at 2006-04-23 08:01:25 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Loved the games, and the thought of proper monsters makes me seep!
Submitted by Monarch (user info) at 2006-04-22 20:27:57 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I want to see Silent Hill soooooo bad right now.
I tried to convince my buddies to go see it last night, but they all told me they didn't want to go see and 'scary movies.'
Hell, I'll go see it by myself if I have to.
Submitted by Dead_0hi0_Sky (user info) at 2006-04-22 20:06:39 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
saw it last night, and loved it. so glad they used a lot of the Silent Hill 2 creatures b/c that was my favorite game in the series.
Submitted by eppliks (user info) at 2006-04-22 19:57:28 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I loved the Silent Hill games a lot (more of an RE guy, though), but the movie- while it was good and all- left me with a headache. At least they tried to keep things nice and square with film/game plot relations.
Submitted by Stagger_Lee (user info) at 2006-04-22 12:41:45 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
Plus 2 simpy because the Silent Hill games are absolutely fantastic and possess a grasp of imagery that I can only dream of achieveing.
Submitted by awesome_face (user info) at 2006-04-22 11:44:09 EDT (#)
Ranking: 2
I never played the games and the movie made me want to play them. Im still into the whole Resident Evil scene (4 had a lame as hell story though).
Some of the lines were terribly corny and that main character lady just did some stupid unexplainable thigns.
I think the corniest/funniest line in the movie was in the hotel.
"What room did you get that from?"
"Room 111."
*pause of like 8 seconds
"We need to go to Room 111"
REALLY NO SHIT!
Submitted by Doodles (user info) at 2006-04-22 11:37:00 EDT (#)
Ranking: 1
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Meh