I’ve been scanning Ye Olde Internet today—as is my wont—and I seem to be very much in the minority concerning Silent Hill. That is to say, I liked it. While I won’t forfeit my belief that it was a decent film, I will concede a few points. Tycho over at Penny Arcade has posted a firm lashing of the film. He primarily picks apart the poor script. I won’t attempt to recreate his sentiments though, look for yourself:
You might have seen people say that this was a good movie, or a faithful representation of the game, and I would urge you to disregard anything those people say in the future about movies or, indeed, any other subject. Silent Hill: The Movie evokes the games without accurately expressing them – to the extent that the movie succeeds at all, it is because director Christophe Gans has mastered the series’ visual lexicon. It was weighed down by a faulty script, a terrible kind of smudge across the sheet, but brilliantly directed. It is in this way that it most closely mirrors electronic gaming in a general sense, though (ironically) not Silent Hill, in that it is the sterling execution of a poor narrative.
He is right about the evocation of the games. I hadn’t really articulated the thought in my head, but he’s right. In short, if you really want the Silent Hill experience, I suggest you go play the games, particularly the first two. And I suppose you can disregard everything I say ever again, but I still enjoyed the movie. Frankly, I’m not sure its complexities can ever be accurately captured on film, or at least not in a way that would stand up to mass acceptance. I’d like to see it happen but I’m certainly not expecting it.
Then again, Tycho is a verbal guy. Language is his bread and butter. I’m a little more forgiving of bad scripts. To each his own, I guess.
PS. Here’s a review from a horror fan’s perspective, if that’s your angle.