Silent Hill is one of the best video game adaptations ever made. Why I personally don't think it was difficult to achieve (the past failures are mostly due to a lack of knowledge of the producers) I must give credit to Christophe Gans for giving us a faithful adaptation to the atmosphere of the game. Even while not considering the game, as a horror film Silent Hill is more than satisfactory. Brought up by a filmmaker in full possession of his faculties, Silent Hill is a large-scale horror movie that, failing to do in subtlety, hits hard. For those who are not familiar with the universe of the popular video game, the film is full of reversals, completely unpredictable and very nebulous. Playing with parallel universes, witches, monsters and ghosts all kinds, the scenario depicts a surreal world where everything with a logical sense is set aside.
The strength of the film lies in the manufacture of different worlds of Silent Hill. Each universe has its visual, music and atmosphere. There is the "quiet"universe, in which the city seems covered with snow, which turns out to actually be ash. This universe is characterized by its whiteness and its apparent tranquility. When the siren sounds, everything becomes black and the monsters come out of hiding. The dark world of the city seems straight out of hell. Different creatures who inhabit are all more bizarre than the other. Not being familiar with the game, I struggled not to be amazed by the man with a pyramid head with a giant knife attack. If the beginning of the film seems stingy with hemoglobin, the last half hour redeems itself. The finish is particularly bloody, where appears a madness that could have turned into ridicule, but emphasizes the effectiveness of the film.
However, the transition from video game movies do not come without a few shortcomings. I loved the fact that the story leaves the viewer into nothingness for the first hour of the film. Unfortunately, screenwriter Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction) felt compelled to make everything clear. The last hour is lost in explanations, which contributes nothing to the sound quality of the film. It was much more effective in its ambiguity. In addition, we have several explanations made by the character of the father of Sharon, who is looking for his wife and daughter. Every scene in which he appears considerably slows down the pace of the film. His discoveries are mostly interesting, but poorly developed. The film would have been better if the story had been limited to the search for Rose. The film would also have benefited from a less lame introduction.
This does not preclude Silent Hill from being a horror movie that will certainly be a significant model for adaptations of video games to come.
The strength of the film lies in the manufacture of different worlds of Silent Hill. Each universe has its visual, music and atmosphere. There is the "quiet"universe, in which the city seems covered with snow, which turns out to actually be ash. This universe is characterized by its whiteness and its apparent tranquility. When the siren sounds, everything becomes black and the monsters come out of hiding. The dark world of the city seems straight out of hell. Different creatures who inhabit are all more bizarre than the other. Not being familiar with the game, I struggled not to be amazed by the man with a pyramid head with a giant knife attack. If the beginning of the film seems stingy with hemoglobin, the last half hour redeems itself. The finish is particularly bloody, where appears a madness that could have turned into ridicule, but emphasizes the effectiveness of the film.
However, the transition from video game movies do not come without a few shortcomings. I loved the fact that the story leaves the viewer into nothingness for the first hour of the film. Unfortunately, screenwriter Roger Avary (Pulp Fiction) felt compelled to make everything clear. The last hour is lost in explanations, which contributes nothing to the sound quality of the film. It was much more effective in its ambiguity. In addition, we have several explanations made by the character of the father of Sharon, who is looking for his wife and daughter. Every scene in which he appears considerably slows down the pace of the film. His discoveries are mostly interesting, but poorly developed. The film would have been better if the story had been limited to the search for Rose. The film would also have benefited from a less lame introduction.
This does not preclude Silent Hill from being a horror movie that will certainly be a significant model for adaptations of video games to come.