Available at Amazon.com

Starring Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Kim Coates Tanya Allen and Jodelle Ferland.
Directed and Story Written by: Christophe Gans, Screenplay by: Roger Avary.
Cinematography by: Dan Laustsen
Based on the video game Konami.

A mother’s love is what drives her to do whatever it takes to protect her child. There is no exception for Rose Da Silva, whose daughter Sharon has drifted into a delusional state in search for the place of her birth. Away from the rest of the world and deep beyond the human capacity of reality, lies a deserted and eerie town.

Welcome To Silent Hill.

Director Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) has once again tackled a visually rich project and taken a challenge. Anytime a film is derived from a video game, skeptical thoughts cross my mind. Gans delivers with a mind-blowing product, but contacts a few aspects, which caused me to ask questions.

The film requires some thought and insight to capture exactly what is going on. What would seem to be a basic concept from all the teasers actually turns out to be a bit more complicated. The story left me with many questions, which was effective in keeping me entertained, but threw me for a few turns. There are moments when too much information is thrown on the table at once without setting records straight. Eventually things come together, but I was still left with a perplexing point of view towards the film as a whole.

Despite the moments in which dropped into a zone of confusion, the film contains the some of the most impressive visual effects to date. Cinematographer Dan Laustsen (Brotherhood of the Wolf, Darkness Falls) brings to the table his signature style, but also helped to reproduce aspects of the game in which inspired the film. Several visual effects teams added their own touches to the film, resulting in whirlwind of special effects. There were quite a few scenes that were a bit over the top on the gore department. The film wasn’t too scary for the average thrill seeker, but is not for the weak of heart.

The combination of extreme visual and gore with a multifaceted plotline was a bit too much to handle in one sitting. For the first time in awhile, a video game based movie has risen from the dust from which so many have completely failed. In a world where video game based movies have taken a turn for the worse, Silent Hill may have broken through to survive. As a film, Silent Hill is a visual masterpiece, with a dark, tortured overtone that will leave chills up your spine for hours.

Review by Jeff Jacobs

Tags | ghost stories, silent hill, video-games