31 Days of Horror: Silent Hill

Posted by Robert Fure (robert@filmschoolrejects.com) on October 8, 2008

Silent Hill (2006)

Synopsis: A concerned mother goes looking for her daughter after she walks off into the strange town of Silent Hill, an abandoned and dreary place that sits on top of a still burning fire, coating the town in ash. Simultaneously, her husband is looking for her while a cop also searches the town. What follows is a spooky trip through a creepy ass area.

Killer Scene: The climax is righteous, but to prevent spoilers I’ll say when Pyramid Head, a metal head butcher, pursues Rose and makes Swiss cheese out of a metal door with a gigantic sword.

KILLSHEET

Violence: There is some pretty messed up stuff in this movie; those of you familiar with the game will know that. Skin is torn off, people are burned, ripped, cut, all sorts of bad things. What we don’t see is pretty awesome too, with dead bodies and lots of blood.

Sex: While it isn’t sexy nudity, we do get a glimpse here and there. Now, the faceless nurses are totally sexy, but not really in the kind of way that I’m allowed to admit to.

Scares: I thought this was a pretty creepy flick. The sound design slinking out of the surround sound speakers was spooky as all hell, with great atmosphere. The movie looks great too – dark and foreboding. I say pop this one in alone, in the dark, and you’re in for a bumpy ride.

Final Thoughts: Silent Hill doesn’t get too much respect from many people and it went unseen by most as well, but I find it to be a great example of atmospheric horror. I never played the video game, but there are definitely some odd and scary characters that look fantastic and disgusting, alongside some potentially disturbing imagery. Definitely worth a look this Halloween.

What are your thoughts on the Silent Hill movie?


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  • A good, creepy, underrated movie. And I'll admit to it... the nurses were sexy as hell.
  • I agree, this film was incredibly creepy and underrated. I remember watching it for the first time and really digging the strange stmosphere of the whole film. The ending really is a great twist on things.

    This would be a great flick to watch on Halloween for sure.
  • Sam
    I've seen this one a few times, and what I always come away with is that I'm way more interested in finding out more about the town, than I am about what happens in the story. I also found it really slowly paced. I guess I'm not really the target market as I'm not a huge horror fan, at least not like, super serious high budget horror. It was watchable, I have no real complaints about any of the acting, and the cinematography/costume design/stage design was great. It was just one of those 'ok' movies.
  • I think this movie just came at the wrong time...people were on the downswing of the new horror trend, and it looked a lot like every other trailer out there. But it's definitely a solid movie, worth repeat viewings and definitely better than most of the horror that followed right after.

    And yes, the nurses were the creepiest thing for me. Creepy. Hot. I felt conflicted. I still do.
  • David G
    This movie creeped the heck outta me! It reminded me of when I was 5 and saw Freddy Krueger. Anyone who says they arent scared of movies they watch nowadays are just a bunch of liars. They come out of the theatre acting like they didnt enjoy it. Yet they are the same ones crounched in their seats and reminding themselves it is only a movie.
  • D Train
    I've had my old man sit through some sick sh*t, and this is the only movie I've seen him give up on. He went and watched Sex and the City with my mom after Pyramid-head tore a woman's skin off.
  • Silent Hill aced the art direction and atmosphere portions of it's report card.

    But it failed miserably in the Screenwriting portion, and unfortunately that's a large chunk of your grade.

    It actually literally had a moment where they said, "Now we're going to explain everything with a large chunk of dialogue." That's just poor form no matter which way you slice it.

    With a better screenplay it could have been an amazing movie, and it only really fell apart in the last act. Which is a huge shame.
  • J
    The best parts of the film were lifted from the games -- the setting, monsters, and overall ambiance (ash, fog and all) are all distinct aspects that made the SH games so creepy cool. However, the film also lifted the stilted expository dialogue and sometimes incomprehensible story straight from the Konami series, but I'm willing to forgive it (I've been playing the SH series since the first installment back on the Playstation).

    The movie added a few original and very cool flourishes not found in the games, an example being the "peeling" effect that occurs whenever the normal Silent Hill transitions to the dark/otherworldly version of the town.
  • Mandabule
    Its was a pretty good film but the some of the dialogue and common since was kinda emberacing.Remember the scene when Cibil shot down a demon?Why the hell would the other chick just run off like that,in handcuffs knowing damn well theres monsters all over place while Cibil is the only one with a weapon?
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