Silent Hill

This treasure of quality atmospheric horror is flat-out one of the best films I've EVER watched. It's now almost been 10 years since it was originally released and I've only grown to appreciate it more as time moves on. No other such movie has peaked my interest in real events such as Centralia and Chernobyl quite like this one. It's not a turn-your-brain-off and enjoy jump-scare popcorn shit-fest like some recent studio releases in the past couple of years. This right here is an extremely rare case. Not many movies come out like this anymore. Think about it: It's a video game adaptation that's good, a horror movie that's more about the tone than the scares, and a think piece that requires some thought while watching. Even today, I'm still learning new things about this movie and it's production. Roger Avary, who most know as the co-writer of Pulp Fiction, was the lead writer alongside director Christophe Gans, both of whom are extreme fans of the video games, which is very important in making a faithful yet standalone adaptation. The two amazingly put together such a great ride. GoodBad Flicks made a fantastic video summarizing everything you should know and why you should watch it. I recommend this movie hardcore. It's an underrated and underappreciated masterpiece.

GoodBadFlicks' video: youtu.be/CfEnsMWYisI

One of my favourite horrors. So creepy when it first came out and it still is.

Excellent film, not without faults, but I still love it.

I never played the video game so this review is based solely on the film as a standalone. In that regard, it has to rate as one of my favorite horror flicks of all time, second or (perhaps) third after John Carpenter's _The Thing_ [1982]. I've no idea who came up with the creatures in this film (or the video game) or how such monstrosities ever formed in someone's mind but this movie has some of the coolest (i.e. _most hideous, most terrifying, most nightmarish_ ) monster/creatures that I've seen in a movie. Even today (this is not my first time to watch it; I think it's my fourth.) after 17 years, it still stands the test of time, in my opinion, and rates up there with the best of them. It _does_ have some "jump scare" moments, but the movie overall just has a really spooky, eerie feel to it...which, of course, almost any movie with a band of fanatical _"Let's purge the world by crucifying anyone that's not already part of our congregation"_ would have. Again, since I've never played the video game, I have absolutely no concept of whether the movie is "true to the game" or not but as a standalone movie, it has a great storyline that's easy to follow. The lighting is good throughout (there are some scenes shot in darkness but deliberately so rather than just being the result of bad lighting) and the musical score is excellent as well. The main flaw - and this is undoubtedly just me, since I'm unfamiliar with the game - is that I don't understand the ending. That doesn't necessarily mean it's confusing; it was just confusing to ME. Perhaps it makes perfect sense to those who are familiar with the _Silent Hill_ video game but I had difficulty understanding what happened at the end. (Again, this is my fourth time to watch this and I _still_ don't understand the ending.)

Would I recommend it? Absolutely. I recommend it to anyone who is a fan of horror films, whether you've ever played the video game or not. This stands on its own merit and still - after 7 years - remains one of my favorite horror films of all time.

PS: I still don't understand why people think Johnny Cash was a great singer. (Watch the movie and you'll understand that comment.)

Enjoyable adaptation. Had horror, suspense, and a fair bit of drama too - guy below must've been watching a different movie...

Really good, it did well recreating the atmosphere from the game. Late at night on the PS1 alone at 1am really created some atmosphere for me back then and it was nice to see some effort in its recreation. They did add a bit more religious story to this than the original game I felt and gender swapping leads made a better choice in a movie version and went with the back story. [spoiler]Sean Bean Lives[/spoiler]

Very scary and sometimes shocking horror flick based on the eponymous PC game: a girl, burned nearly to death because the village elders think she's the devil's spawn, takes revenge on the whole town of "Silent Hill". The ending (the return of Rose and Sharon after the destruction of the Church in Silent Hill by Sharon's "Twin") is somehow strange: are they both dead and live in a parallel world or why can't Christopher see them?

If I wasn’t a huge fan of Harry Mason, I think I would have liked this a lot more. I am someone coming from the game and did have some expectations going into this movie. Objectively I had a great time watching this movie, the acting was awesome and the enemies were super cool. The atmosphere was done super well and I thought Silent Hill was done perfectly, I was very happy with it.

However, also as a fan coming from the games first, I did have some grievances with some of the things they did. To me, Pyramid Head is James’ being, he is a manifestation of James and what he did to Mary and having him in this movie feels very off to me. Second of all… they killed off Cybil… Might as well just end it all. I didn’t mind that they changed some of the story, but what I did enjoy about Silent Hill the game, was that Harry fought God. To me, that was cool.

❤x6
I rewatched this movie and found it to be a little bit more enjoyable than the first time I saw it. I remember feeling a bit lost on th plot the first time I saw this but it made more sense this time. What the movie does very well is setting a mood.

How I rate:
1-3 ❤ = seriously! don't waste your time
4-6 ❤ = you may or may not enjoy this
7-8 ❤ = I expect you will like this too
9-10 ❤ = movies and TV shows I really love!

>"Fire doesn't cleanse, it blackens!"

This is not near as bad as I thought it was going to be. It's a pretty good adaptation and it definitely has the Silent Hill feel that the game had. Pyramid Head is awesome of course.

I enjoyed this movie. Definitely something to watch with friends and/or family.
[spoiler]I did have a problem with the way the mother reacted to her child's illness and taking her to a town with fumes still lingering from a previous coal mine fire, but it did not ruin the experience for me. After they arrived in Silent Hill it was an enjoyable movie. Surprising ending.[/spoiler]
I'm interested in playing the Silent Hill games now to learn more about the lore and see how it varies to the movie adaptation.