So far everything is... silent.

Isitthebesthorrormovieever?No.Butisitonehellofaride?Ofcourse.Basicallyevery scenethattookplaceintheOtherWorldwashorrorbrilliance,especiallythefirst.

Iwasleftannoyedanddisappointedbyafewthings,however.IhaaatteeedddthewaytheykilledCybil.Howdare thefilmmakersdothat.Atleastkillherlikeshediedinthegame,orhavehersurvive,whichwasoneoftheendings tothegamealso.Ialsodislikedtheending.Itwasjust..bad,andpoorlyexecuted.Andthegirlthatplayed Sharon/Alessa..shewasjustbad.Herdeliveryoflineswassooff,butthenagainthisisprobablyherfirstmovie socan'tbetoohardonher,butstill.Radhawasn'tmuchbetter,though.

Butuntilthelast..15minutesorso,it'sgreat.It'sthebestvideogamemovieyet.Butitcould'vebeenbetter.I'd giveitaB.Idefinitelylikedit,andIlooovvveeedddtheOtherWorldscenes,andIlovethatitcaughtthe atmosphereofthegamesalmostperfectly,butIjustdidn'tloveitasIhadbeenhoping.

Interesting and rather macabre film to say the least. In reality there was very little plot but instead 120-odd minutes of increasingly odd and often meaningless imagery. It wasn't a bad film by any stretch, but it wasn't that great either. The effects, set designs and overall production were quite stylish but somehow it just felt like something was missing. Mainly an explanation which was finally delivered in an overlong montage at the end. It just didn't work though, and could have been better worked in to the film. Not a bad film, and certainly not the worst video game entry of late. B-

makeshift, explain that C in the poll ASAP.

It's a hard one to grade. On one hand, it has some pretty excellent sequences of horror. Gans is a fantastic visual filmmaker, too. However, the screenplay and acting are simply atrocious. Seriously, some of the worst acting I've ever seen in a big budget, studio produced film. There are far too many unintentional laughs due to it. Also, the entire Sean Bean subplot is completely pointless and really brings the film to a dragging hault several times. Still, the visuals are gorgeous, the art direction/set design is brilliant, the creatures are stunning, and there are some genuinely creepy moments. So, yeah, it's a combination of the best horror has to offer and the worst. Thus, a C.

Oh yeah, the ending is terrible, too. The final frame is completely botched. It makes no sense and has no relation to anything.

I was really hoping this would be good horror movie. The premise is juvenile, acting pathetic and the movie is plain boring.

Phantoms with a similar deserted city premise was infinitely better. Silent Hill seems to have borrowed quite a few scenes from that movie including the siren sound.

D-

Um, it's the best videogame movie yet, but could've been better?? If it's the best yet, then it shouldn't have to be any better, right??? I'd gather from reading your review again that maybe you really didn't like this as much as your leading on about and that your expectations got the best of you and you can't decide whether you really liked it or thought it sucked and are afraid to admit that it did.. How am I doing so far?? Pretty close??

BKB,stoptrolling.SHwasagoodmovie,ithadsomerreeaaalllyyyawesomescenesandcaughttheatmosphere ofthegamesperfectlyexceptforafewscenes.Unfortunatelytherewassomebadthingsaboutitandtheendingblew. Butit'sstillthebestgameadaptionyet.It'snotlikeithasmuchcompetition,itisthefirstvideogame movietoactuallyfeellikethegamebutstillbeagoodmovie.

Butyes,itdidnotmeetmyincrediblyhighexpectations.Butthatstilldidn'tstopitfrombeingagoodmovieforme. Therewereanumberofseriouslymessedup,awesomescenesthatmadetheSHfanofmegiddyinside.

You know what this is making me want to do? I really want to play the video games, which I've never touched before.

SILENT HILL

Where: Harkins Theatre OKC
When: 042106 / 2220
Size/Occ: 550+ / 85%

Trailers:
some Basketball flck
POTC2 : looks awesome
forgot others

Audience Reaction: Audience was very hyped, excited to see this film. Everyone was pretty into it leading up to the first appearance of the Darkness which was very tense. Unfortunately, I think the audience was growing tired of the film as it went on. I heard, "this movie f'in sucks" and "when can I get my money back" along with audience laughs at scenes that should not elicit laughs like when Rose says, "I think there was a fire here" the audience laughed and I heard a "no duh or duh." As for me, I actually was pretty interested in the film and did not totally share the audience's overall perception.

Film: SH starts off right away with very little background other than the daughter having some mental issue, dream ing issue and sleepwalking. Off to SH she goes driving like a madwoman running away from a female cop then getting blended into a different dimension or parallel view of the world when she reaches SH. Her daughter goes missing and the fun begins. I'm kind of split between the film because at times it can be slow but when the darkness comes it gets extremely creepy to watch. I thought some line readings came out hokey especially from Anna and Rose at the end of the film. The whole backstory of Sharon and Alyssia was kind of interesting although the actor who played the girl was a little iffy for me. Was the little girl from Signs not avail? I felt was too much running around by Rose at times along with the absence of dialogue. A couple things I really loved about the film was the Sound which was very effective and I thought it really drew one into the film and added to scenes as opposed to just being a filler to scenes. The look of the film was very good too. You could tell they really tried to emulate the feel and look of a video game at times. Another surprise for me was that the cop was Lauren Holley. That was a nice touch to the film because I thought she quit acting and I think she did a pretty nice job in the film. Overall, I liked the style and look of the film. At times I did it feel it was slow but not excessively slow. I was annoyed with the use of the White screen a couple times especially when it's lasting more than 5 seconds. The haunting sound of the coming Darkness was excellent as well. I admit I was confused by the ending other than know that the girl was Alyssia in Sharon's body, I think.

Grade: B

B-

Well directed with a very intriguing storyline (and I was generally freaked out in places, too), but it lags and the screenplay is beyond disappointing.

^____^

IsohopetheyadaptSH2now,astheplotinitissssooomuchbetterthantheplotinanyoftheothergames.

5.5/10 or C+/C

There is some great atmosphere here, amazing visuals, good use of sound, and it's easily the best video game adaptation made yet. However, it gets boring, as the plot is distractingly disjointed, after a while, I didn't give a shit about what was happening (hell, I could barely tell what was going on). That's not the only reason for the bloat--the worst part is that it doesn't delve far enough into outright scares for a 2+ hour long horror film, it is unsettling at times, but it doesn't go any further with the vast majority of the set pieces (though the climax in the church is awesome).

The sequel certainly has a huge amount of potential, it just needs a better writer and ballsier set pieces.

Foranyonecurious,thesequelwasaboutamanthatreceivedaletterfromhiswifethathaddiedthreeyearsearlier, tellinghimtogotoSilentHill.Theycouldalwayschangeitsoit'sSeanBean'scharacterreceivingtheletter, butI'drathertheynot.It'dbechangingSH2aroundwwwaaaayyytoomuch.

Just got back from seeing it in a packed house. I know the word is mixed but I loved it. They nailed the look of the game to a T and the production design and cinematography were both fantastic, as was the music. What was with all the fade to blacks/whites though? This film does that more than any film I can remember. The film is very, very moody. The plot is odd and sometimes confusing but it works in the end. I liked Mitchell's performance as she only suffered when Avary's script made her deliver some horrid dialogue near the end. I really hope it does well enough to warrent a sequel with Gans back directing (different writer though) as there's lots of potential for the series. It definitely has a better premise than any other video game movie before it.

Grade - B+

Could someone explain why Radha Mitchell decided to engage in a high-speed chase from Cybil? That didn't make any sense.

A lot of the movie didn't make any sense...like reaching into the corpse's mouth in the bathroom. I suppose they just wanted to advance the plot the quickest way possible.

I don't know for sure if it's true but I heard Nicolas Cage had a cameo as one of the townspeople at the end. Can anyone confirm this?

My only guess is that she saw the piece sticking out of the corpse's mouth. Or else she's played lots of survival horror video games and thus knows it's imperative to examine everything with a fine-tooth comb.

Theyshoweditstickingoutinonescenebutthenwhenshewenttopullitoutithadmagicallymovedfartherdown.

Iseriously,reallyhopetheyadaptthegameofSH2forasequel.Ithadtrue plot,whichthefirstgamereallykindofdidn't.Ithadtwistsandareal,finelycraftedstory. I'lldieiftheymakeanallnewstoryorsomething,SH2'splotwassssssooooperfect!AndPyramidHeadinSH2.. wow.Hestoodformorethanjustanothermonstertheretoscare,hewasamanifestationofguilt thatcontinuallyhauntedJames,themaincharacterinSH2.

Wow... did I hate this one. It had maybe 90 seconds worth of decent visuals (which is why it made for a good trailer), but it was just a train wreck of a movie on every level... terrible acting, ridiculously stupid plot that rarely made sense (even for a horror/video game movie), and it was just painfully boring most of the time.

It seemed to want to insert random cheesy goriness (like the body splitting apart spilling 50 gallons of blood while the little girl twirled underneath as if dancing in a sprinkler) instead of adding actual suspense or horror. There wasn't really any action to speak of. Most of the time the lead character - Rose - would just scream and run (although she'd do a 180 at times and act all tough, but without really fighting). I was disappointed it didn't stay truer to the video games and thought it would have been better if the heroine actually picked up arms against the ghouls.

I'm generally pretty easy to please when it comes to horror or video game adaptations as I don't expect much, but this was just unwatchable and not fun on any level.

D-

This is one freakin' creepy movie...

Unless your the kind of person who could never free yourself to fly with the dream logic, you may find Silent Hill to be the coolest portrayal of a nightmare this side of The Cell. The director's vision of a lost town in dreamland is nothing if not fantastic. In his first movie since the intensely stylish & archetypical Brotherhood of the Wolf, Christophe Gans has woven a tormented web of images into a mindtrap of subconciously connected ideas.

As to the videogame on which it's based - I've never played it. I went to the movie tonight without reading a review or anything about it, nor seeing a single trailer. As with all movies, the story was in control tonight - this was not an interactive game. But like sex, the bottom offers just as many pleasures as the top. One can enjoy being in control, but that does nothing to diminish the pleasure of being controlled. Optimally, there's lots of rolling around anyways.

I thoroughly enjoyed the work of the lead actors - especially, Radha Mitchell who's been in some cool movies in the last decade; Sean Bean, who's got the look; Deborah Kara Unger, Crash, anyone?; Laurie Holden as the leather lady cop; Jodelle Ferland as your stock creepy kid; ex-Borg Queen, Alice Krige, and many others in their dual guises.

Not your standard Hollywood action movie, not even a stock plot - nope - this puppy's a whole new breed, and a lot of the scare-and-jump horror audience isn't going to get it. This one's not looking for temporary jump scares, it's lookin' to get under your skin, sneak deep, and scare you inside when you're not expecting it.

5 out of 5.

Nicely succinct review that hits on the film's intent. I hope Gans considers directing the sequel if there is one.