Having always been a fan of the Silent Hill series of games, the news of a film remake was pleasantly received. Seeing as most movie critics have likely never played through any of the games (Perhaps 10 minutes or so, to prevent people saying they've never played the games) I didn't go into the cinema with any preconceptions or hopes, as most videogame remakes have been either spectacularly poor or ridiculously stupid. Nevertheless, the Silent Hill franchise has always seemed like promising subject matter for a film in my opinion. I wasn't wrong.

[***SPOILERS***] The film starts off very quickly, but I feel that more work could have been done to establish the characters for those who haven't played the games. Regardless, the introduction is always going to be the part of the movie which is going to be disregarded, as we all know where the meaty part is going to be: Silent Hill. On reaching the damned town, the atmosphere is very faithful to the games; including the thick, constricting fog which makes the viewer feel incredibly claustrophobic. The 'scary parts' where the darkness ensues, and the monsters come out to play, is very well done. Although there is no shock factor in particular, the segments are genuinely disturbing in keeping with the games.

The special effects are professionally done, and don't look fake like some have done in previous game remakes. However, I feel that much more could have been done with Silent Hill. Of the whole time period of the film, only around 30% of the film was scary. The vast majority of the film was rather misguided in my opinion, and it tries to draw the storyline along with the audience kicking and screaming. The ending segment in the church and hospital was very drawn out, and I feel that it nullified the good work that the film does in creating a disturbing and paranoid atmosphere. The large majority of viewers are likely to have played the games, so I think that the huge amount of time devoted to conveying the storyline is slightly unwise. I would go as far to say that this isn't so much a horror film as it is a thriller with elements of horror thrown in. Nevertheless, the areas where the creatures of Silent Hill threaten Rose (Radha Mitchell) are very impressive, albeit extremely disturbing at times.

However, towards the end of the film, I feel that too much effort is made to shock the viewer (My mind flashes to the segment outside the church with Pyramid Head), and that the director was trying to make up for lost time by cramming as much senseless gore into the last 20 minutes or so as possible. The acting was passable, although nothing special. Laurie Holden (The cop) was overused, and I feel that the film would have benefitted from isolating Rose much more; which would increase the feeling of loneliness and paranoia ten-fold. So essentially, Silent Hill is definitely recommended for fans of the film; but if you haven't played a substantial portion of one of the games, you will go away feeling either incredibly confused or very angry. Thankfully, the ending leaves the path open for a sequel; with Sean Bean likely to walk the hellish road to Silent Hill. Having seen his performance in this film, I think he could put in a better performance than his female counterpart.

Dazz, wannabe film critic