Silent Hill (2006)
Fear … what is fear? For everyone, fear is different. For me, Silent Hill is not a movie to be cowered in fear of, but rather to be enjoyed as a well-made thriller. I didn’t play any game in the series, but I know it’s rated as one of the scariest of horror genre. Perhaps because the movie itself isn’t scary, thus people’s disappointment. Or perhaps it’s the deviation from the game that caused an uproar amongst the fans? With the past track record of sucky game-to-movie conversions, Silent Hill couldn’t not have possibly bombed as badly as those by Ewe Boll, but it’s better than your average movie in my opinion. Silent Hill got a well-rounded cast, a wonderful backdrop, digusting looking monsters, and a good story to crank it all together perfectly.
The story starts with Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) having nightmares of a place called Silent Hill. While asleep, she would sleep walk into danger and her parents Rose (Radha Mitchell) and Christopher (Sean Bean) are at their wits end. Rose decided the only solution is to find Silent Hill, and take Sharon there in hope of finding a solution to Sharon’s nightmares. While driving on the moutainside in the remote part of the country, the two of them unknowningly drove through the gates of hell, into Silent Hill.
Although we only see Rose and Cybil Bennett (Laurie Holden) for the majority of the movie, the key emphasis is the bond between mother and child. Rose is going through hell in order to rescue Sharon – and without believable acting, the entire movie would’ve failed. What it must take, in order to step through the nurses at the end, each wielding a crazy dissection tool, to reach where the demon is residing… Radha Mitchell is almost Sigourney Weaver-like in her quest to save her baby! Ah, I was in awe =)
The town itself is freaky enough. Who would want to live on a mountain side anyway?! The cinematography of the ashy town, the cliff, of hell, and other places – though didn’t particularly scare, it’s more than enough to send chills and thrills up my spine. I don’t know why Jerfy didn’t enjoy this, but… it makes no sense! He said the movie is worse than … ICE AGE.. AND SCARY MOVIE 4!
… I don’t get it. I digress. Monsters were really well done. Now, for the plot. And, spoilers. So, don’t click on more. All I have to say is, I highly recommend this movie to anyone looking for a thriller to watch, with a mix of scare element!
So the movie begins with Sharon going apey and Rose trying to save her by going to Silent Hill. There are some who hypothesize that the moment they saw the girl walking and they crashes, both mother and daughter died instantly. This might be a very possible explanation to why the town is totally on a different dimension, as the two of them entered as ghosts/spirits. Actually, this might be the only good explanation. Cybil also died, when she couldn’t see the fog, and her motorcycle crashed into the rail.
While in Silent Hill as ghosts, they were experiencing different levels of hell depending on the surrounding. As the night bell descends, the torture from true hell begins. The church, are group of lost souls congregating and already dead – they just don’t know it and continue to practice their banal traditions and fears. It makes good sense, and I thought the end was done well – but Jerfy just didn’t enjoy it! Rose confronts Alessa, and brings the demonic blood within the forsaken Church ~
Ahh, I liked it, and will definitely watch it again sometimes!