Just saw Silent Hill, starring Radha Mitchell. Mixed feelings all around.
I have to begin by saying that I have played the games this movie is based on, and have completed the first game, so I do have a fair grasp of the series' backstory. (I have achieved the "bad-plus" ending, thusfar.)
So you know, the backstory was changed drastically so as to be acceptable in a mainstream Hollywood feature. (I cannot say how, as I do not wish to spoil the movie.) This was wrong...the story of Silent Hill should not be "acceptable"...it is disturbing. It is haunting. It is everything one would expect from a brief glance into a nightmare, or perhaps from Hell itself.
This was captured superbly in the visual affects. Certain images and camera shots made famous by the game did appear in the movie, though the subtle slivers of a world gone wrong were often overlooked. (A mummified doll, for example.) I was also thrilled with the director's addition of the ashfall, provided as a fitting explanation to the constant drifting whiteness from "fog mode".
There's more I'd like to say, changes or consistancies that I do and do not agree with, but I am going to hold fast to my rule about not spoiling movies. I will reiterate, however, that "acceptable" is in no way synonomous with "good".
It bothers me immensely that the Scientologists and vampires among the Screen Actors Guild got their grubby little paws on the sinister beauty that is Silent Hill. Here's hoping that Hollywood's rendition inspires some gifted Japanese director to do better.
