Alright so, I’ve started doing a thing where every weekend I make time to watch a horror movie that I wasn’t interested in before, never heard of before, or otherwise passed up. I believe this will be a good way for me to expand my “horror movie fandom” and broaden my horrific horizons. I’ll write about them in this blog, and do my best to keep an open mind. This article may contain spoilers!
Foreword
After playing the video game version of this story way back when I was in Elementary School, I avoided its cinematic release for years because the whole video-game-to-movie thing hadn’t really worked out well for me in the past.
Anytime that I started to get interested in watching this movie, I made the classic mistake of reading reviews online beforehand, which were mostly negative.
However, I decided to give this movie a shot, and here are my findings:
Quick Summary
Much like the PlayStation version, a little girl is lost in a city plagued by monsters and secrets and her parent risks their life trying to rescue her, with the help of a police officer.
Unlike the PlayStation version, the protagonist is played by the little girls (adopted) mother, which doesn’t really take away from the film (in fact, it might have been a better decision). Some names are slightly changed, and several other aspects differ, but overall the story is relatively the same.
The mother (Radha Mitchell), while taking her troubled daughter (Jodelle Ferland) to the town (Silent Hill) that she speaks of in her sleep, gets into an accident while fleeing from a police officer (Laurie Holden).
When the mother wakes up, her daughter is gone and she must (in a way) enlist the help of the officer she was running from in order to brave hell on earth to get her back.
They learn of Silent Hill’s dark past, meet its demons and discover not everything is what it seems it the desolate town.
Plot Review
Meh, the plot felt a little too typical for me in this one. Although there were many original moments, the whole “searching-for-a-loved-one-in-a-city-where-maybe-the-evil-isn’t-really-evil” thing tasted a little too familiar, which also made a few of the revelations seem a little too predictable.
However, Director Christophe Gans did manage to make a few mysteries stick (like the ending of the film) and what he lacked in “seat-straddling suspense” he made up for with his creative use of CGI (which I usually can’t stand) and a few monstrous moments of gore.
The Horror!
The “horror” in this film takes the form of fanaticism and motherly abandonment.
Oh, and also a giant demon known as Pyramid Head (pictured above) that summons hoards of creepy crawly critters and carries the biggest sword ever.
Those of us who played the video game version of this film already knew to expect Pyramid Head, he is iconic for the series (both video games and movies). And you may be thinking that no one could really do this monster any justice on screen.
However, Roberto Campanella really brings his character to life in this film and, honestly, its his performance that saved this movie for me. Although he doesn’t appear as often as I may have wanted, his screen time really kept my attention.
Those of us who are tired of “child villains” and no longer find the “creepy little girl” thing amusing can take solace in the fact that a giant, ripped demon with a gigantic metal pyramid helmet rips the entirety of someone’s skin of in a single tug in this film.
There are other monsters in the film, but none as memorable as Pyramid Head, and I am hoping to see more of him in the second film.
Rating
What? No. I’m not going to rate other people’s work, I’m no asshole. Instead, let’s do this:
Should you see it?
Yes.
I won’t lie and say it’s the best horror film I have ever watched, but if you have time, you should definitely check it out.
I intentionally left out a few parts and didn’t really discuss the ending because I believe you should watch it yourself (if you already haven’t).
Thanks for reading and feel free to comment!
B.G.'s Horror Blog 