Review: Silent Hill

Radha Mitchell’s daughter Jodelle Ferland is sleepwalking and keep mentioning the title town in her sleep. Her husband (Sean Bean) isn’t keen on the idea, but Mitchell decides to take her daughter to the town, which appears to be something of a ghost town. Shrouded in fog and with a distinct burning smell in the air, apparently the town experienced some trouble back in the 70s involving a mining fire, and it hasn’t recovered since. They find themselves pursued by a butch motorcycle cop (Laurie Holden) and after nearly hitting a young pedestrian (resulting in a minor accident), Mitchell somehow loses Ferland. And so her search for her daughter begins, as she also learns more about the town and its troubled backstory. Meanwhile, husband Bean is on his way to the town, but having trouble getting in. Kim Coates plays a cop, whilst Alice Krige plays a local cult leader.

 

Probably one of the better adaptations of a computer game, this 2006 film from director Christophe Gans (the highly underrated “The Brotherhood of the Wolf”, and the also underrated manga adaptation “Crying Freeman”) and screenwriter Roger Avary (“Beowulf”, the story for “Pulp Fiction”) is an effectively and oppressively doom-laden film. Director of Photography Dan Laustsen (“Brotherhood of the Wolf”, “Solomon Kane”) really does capture some beautiful imagery in this, great shot composition in particular. The use of fog is especially expert and the film looks more like a painting come to life than a computer game. The visuals/backgrounds really are a character unto themselves. I hear the film is pretty faithful to the game, especially the first act of the film, and I believe it (I haven’t played the game, but the burning children looked like they just had to be holdovers from the game. They just gave me that vibe).

 

It’s just a shame that the story really doesn’t grab you the way you’d like it to, and the FX are somewhat uneven too. The big explanation behind everything has been done before, and although it doesn’t indulge in the cliché as much as say “Doom” or “Resident Evil” (the latter of which wasn’t bad), the film does indeed go into ‘long, dark corridor search’ mode a bit too often for my liking. That’s one of the problems with computer game adaptations (at least this type), and even the better ones like this and “Resident Evil” can’t help going there. It’s fine when you’re playing the game, but watching someone else search long, dark corridors is like watching someone play a computer game. Limited appeal. I also have to say that Sean Bean’s character is very clichéd, and there’s not much he can do with it. In fact, I’d argue that his scenes are unnecessary and maybe even detrimental to the film. They certainly slow things down a bit (Apparently his character was only added because someone told the director that the film needed a male character. Says everything, really). Laurie Holden’s typically wooden and unlikeable performance is also an issue. Linda Hamilton she ain’t, try as she might. However, Radha Mitchell is rock-solid in the lead and the film really does look amazing at times.

 

On the production design side of things, it’s so well-done that you wish the story could match it. I also enjoyed seeing Alice Krige here, doing her skin-crawlingly evil thing. She’s probably a lovely woman in real life but she’s been giving me the willies since “Sleepwalkers”, and her final scene here is the damndest thing you’ll ever see. It’s kinda awesome, actually.

 

Ultimately a great look and solid lead performance can’t quite make a film work when the narrative is so familiar and one-note. It nearly works, but nearly isn’t quite good enough. Still, you’ve seen a lot worse computer game adaptations out there, that’s for sure.

 

Rating: C+