Director Christophe Gans had tried for five years to gain the rights to a Silent Hill film and finally succeeded after sending a video interview to Konami (the game publisher) explaining his plans for adapting the games. Gans had originally wanted to adapt Silent Hill 2 because it was the more "emotional" Silent Hill game, but felt the titular town itself was too much of a background element and the origins of the town would need to be explored. Konami required the movie to retain the game's plot and setting, and rejected the initial script for not having enough male characters. Konami approved the script with the addition of the Christopher Da Silva subplot, which Gans used to highlight the peculiarities of Silent Hill's reality.
Opening Song: N/A
Credits Song: You're Not Here (by Akira Yamaoka)
Spoiler Warning: I am going to give a synopsis and my opinions at the very end.
Synopsis:
Late at night, a sleepwalking little girl named Sharon Da Silva (Cheryl in the games) nearly falls from a cliff before being rescued by her adoptive parents, Rose Da Silva and her husband Christopher (Jodie and Harry Mason in-game). Disturbed by her daughter's nightmares of a place called "Silent Hill", Rose decides to take her daughter to the town of Silent Hill in West Virginia; a place that was abandoned in the 1970s because of a massive coal seam fire that never went out. Christopher disagrees with his wife's decision, insisting that they find new doctors and medication instead.
The real life coal mine fire burning beneath Centralia, Pennsylvania (burning since 1962) was one of the inspirations behind Silent Hill in the video games. While the games used heavy fog, everyone perceives the town differently, such as Angela Orosco (from Silent Hill 2) who saw the town aflame.
During their drive, a police officer named Cybil Bennett becomes concerned with the mothers behavior and attempts to pull them over. Rather than stop, Rose speeds into Silent Hill, at which point her car radio starts screeching unexpectedly. Momentarily distracted by the noise, Rose swerves to avoid a humanoid figure in the road, crashing the vehicle in the process. When Rose awakens from the crash, she realizes Sharon is missing and sets out on foot to search the town. Although the air is clouded with ash, Rose manages to make out a small humanoid figure through the haze and gives chase. The world then slowly peels away, rusting and rotting, to reveal a mangled corpse on a fence and several small "grey children" monsters that claw at Rose until the world reverts back to its original form.
Rose returns to her car to find children's drawings scattered about, all pointing her towards the school. An injured Cybil then arrives to arrest Rose, explaining how a man kidnapped a 12 year old boy several years ago (a nod to a 1981 incident in Centralia) and stashed the kid in Silent Hill; she never wants that to happen again. Because Cybil's own vehicle also crashed, the two are forced to walk to the police station, only to discover that the road has collapsed making it impossible to leave. Their radio and cellphone then start to go haywire as a "straightjacket" monster emerges from a junkyard and spews acid over Cybil. Rose uses the opportunity to run.
At the school, Rose learns of Alessa Gillespie, a young girl burned as a witch by the Brethren (called "The Order" in-game) - the town's fanatical cult. She chases a small figure to the school bathroom where, in a stall with sobbing sounds, she discovers the janitor Colin tied up with barbed wire. Rose retrieves a hotel tile from the mouth of the corpse just as the world transitions to its "other" state. Colin springs to life, summoning a horde of "creepers" that devour three cultist miners in the school hallway. Cybil then arrives to save Rose by barricading themselves in a small room. A "pyramid head" tries breaking in but is forced to give up when the world reverts back.
At the hotel, the duo find a woman named Anna stoning an outcast called Dahlia. Anna claims that Dahlia is a heretic so foul that even the darkness of Silent Hill wants nothing to do with her. Rose then finds another drawing that leads them to a painting of a witch burning, behind which, is a hidden door. The room behind the door contains evidence of a fire and the symbol of the Brethren religion. An alarm sounds suddenly, signaling the world's shift. As the trio run to the safety of an old church, Anna is caught by pyramid head and has the skin ripped from her body.
"You run not towards sanctuary but from your own fears. They brought about their own Hell. They'll take you with them." -Dahlia
Christabella, the high priestess of the Brethren, has everyone pray and reminds her congregation of the dangers of lingering in the "Devil's playground". She then leads Rose to the basement of a hospital, claiming that only the Demon below knows where Sharon is. However, upon seeing a photograph of Sharon, Christabella accuses the two of being witches on account of Sharon's likeness to the Demon Alessa. Cybil is taken captive while protecting Rose, allowing her to escape into the depths of the hospital where she encounters a group of "nurses" and uses their attraction to light to sneak past.
"Are you a person of faith? Because our faith has never failed us. Our faith keeps the darkness of Hell at bay." -Christabella
Rose enters Alessa's hospital room where she learns that Sharon is a part of Alessa's soul (or a sort of reincarnation). Alessa was reviled by the town for having been born out of wedlock, and after being raped by the school janitor, was sent off by her mother Dahlia to be purified by the cult. When Christabella immolated Alessa, the cult accidentally caught the hotel on fire which later spread to the rest of the town. Rose allows Alessa to enter her body so that she may gain access to the church. Rose arrives too late to save Cybil from the cultist's pyre (Cybil is never burned in the games and survives), however, Sharon is still alive, having been captured by the cult. Rose is beaten and stabbed by the congregation for calling out their deplorable behavior and denying their faith. The blood from the stab wound opening a pathway for Alessa, allowing her to shred the cult members with barbed wire.
"You burned in the fire you started and nothing can save you because you're already damned! You burn anything your afraid of, anything you can't control. Your faith brings death... and your God is not here." -Rose
Rose calls her husband Christopher to let him know she is coming home. Rose and Sharon then return to their car and drive out of Silent Hill using a roadway opened by Alessa. They drive through the haze, past empty buildings and streets, to their home. Meanwhile, Christopher receives a phone call badly broken up by static. After a quick nap on the sofa, he awakens to find the front door open and no sign of anyone in the house or driveway.
Final Thoughts
While not a replacement for the games, I like the movie as its own
thing. The story is relatively coherent, not 100% inline with the lore,
but considering they mashed two plot-lines together and had to cram
several hours worth of gameplay into a two hour film, I think it's
forgivable. That said, not all of the writer's alterations can be
justified, such as changing the protagonist from Harry to an original
female character because a "father shouldn't display feminine traits"
such as caring for their child. Or how they transferred all of Dahlia's
negative traits onto their original character Christabella in order to
make Dahlia into a more sympathetic figure. It's like they were afraid
to acknowledge that not every mother is a good one, or that it's possible
for a father (especially a single parent) to be a positive, caring, and
influential figure in their child's life.
It is worth noting that the monsters in Silent Hill aren't just there to kill people. They exist because of the people in
Silent Hill - their fears, thoughts, and history are reflected in the
town and its demons. By combining the first and second game together, a
lot of the subtlety and symbolism of the video games was lost. Pyramid head
for example, was James' (Silent Hill 2 protagonist) monster and was
meant to resemble an executioner/butcher representing James' desire to
be punished for his crimes. The large knife pyramid head drags along is
often interpreted as a physical representation of the guilt James
carries. The things Pyramid head does in-game, especially to the other
monsters, tells the player all they need to know about James' state of
mind and his past deeds. The movie fails to reflect this.
While the movie may not be a true Silent Hill
experience or a replacement for the games, it can still give its viewer
the look, sound, and general atmosphere of one. The effort and artistry
that was put into this movie is evident. The animation for the world
transition as everything peels and sloughs off is grotesquely beautiful.
The creature designs resemble the game versions and the sound is on
point. The cinematography work is also very well done; odd camera angles
create a sense of unease, and shots through windows give the feeling of
being watched.
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