So Scary You'll Cry
Silent Hill is a Nightmarish Horror

As someone who never plays horror-style video games, the world of Silent Hill was a mystery to me. Still, as a fan of horror films I felt that this video game adaptation would be at best, something along the lines of Resident Evil. At worst, well... I've seen some pretty bad horror films. Instead of bringing a video game to life, however, director Christophe Gans has brought to life a terribly realistic nightmare filled with grotesque demons and very horrifying sights.

Rose De Silva (Radha Mitchell) walks through ash-filled air into the deserted town of Silent Hill in search of her daughter. (Sony, 2006)

Directed by: Christophe Gans
Written by: Roger Avary
Starring: Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Jodelle Ferland, Laurie Holden, and Deborah Kara Unger

Rated

(for strong horror violence and gore, disturbing images, and some language)
Running time: 127 min.

FilmGuru's Rating : 9 out of 10.

Radha Mitchell portrays Rose, a mother of an adopted girl who has been sleepwalking. This wouldn't normally be cause for alarm, but Sharon's (Jodelle Ferland) latest midnight sojourn has taken her to the top of a cliff where she was crying "Silent Hill! Silent Hill!" as she prepared to jump.

Needless to say, Rose is concerned enough about Sharon that she feels something needs to be done. Should she a) seek counseling, b) get the kid some medication, or c) drive with her child to the abandoned ghost town that the girl screams about during her nightmares?

Despite the shaky premise that gets Rose and Sharon to Silent Hill -- including crashing through a gate on a closed road... in the middle of the night... in the rain... while evading a motorcycle cop -- the dreamy, ash-white reality of Silent Hill is much more frightening than it first appears.

In Silent Hill, the world blurs with a reality that can only be described as hell. Rose first discovers this after hearing a warning siren blast throughout the city. Light gives way to darkness and she finds herself mobbed by fleshless, burning children crying out for her. As quickly as it started, the nightmare ends. Rose continues her search for Sharon and discovers more questions about the town and its past.

Thankfully, Silent Hill plays out like a traditional film without trying to become a video game. At no time does the film resort to a first-person shooter point-of-view (as the movie Doom did). It doesn't rely on increasingly strong monsters that the hero must defeat (as Resident Evil: Apocalypse did). This isn't about dealing out punishment. It's about survival. Yet their are moments when one can almost sense the puzzle or mystery that must be solved to advance to the next level.

Gans tells a frightening story of madness using Rose's husband (played excellently by Sean Bean) to fill in a lot of the backstory. While Rose searches for Sharon, Christopher is searching for Rose with the help of a detective from the area who clearly knows more about Silent Hill than he is willing to admit.

Without giving away too much of the surprise, let me just say that Silent Hill offers horror fans something wonderful. The shocks, terrors, and surprises may not be unexpected for those who have played the game, but for someone new to the Hill the experience was unforgettable.

So Scary You'll Cry Silent Hill is a Nightmarish Horror

So Scary You'll Cry
Silent Hill is a Nightmarish Horror