Silent Hill Discussion

[Ezio]

I swear they played Promise (Reprise) about three fucking times.

Oh no! Not THREE times!

[herograw]

I went to see it with a friend who had never played the game. He was far less disappointed than I.

[Jenga]

I swear they played Promise (Reprise) about three fucking times.

Oh no! Not 561612 times!

That's what it felt like. In a slow movie like this, you'd notice when they keep playing the same fucking song over and over.

[flipsideshooze]

*SPOILERS SURE TO BE ABOUND*

i enjoyed the movie a lot... i'll preface this with that... i thought it was an entertaing movie...

but here's my gripe:

i feel like every game, you eventually find out that the main character is crazy... Silent Hill is a very psyche intensive game... you slowly find that things aren't what they seem...

i felt like the movie didn't do this... The movie was more about a real-world (though supernatural) phenomenon... a woman loses her girl in a hellish nightmare of a macabre world... but never did it come to light that it was all in her head... like, if it had come to light that she had killed her daughter 10 years ago... that would have seemd more silent hill-y to me...

i dunno.. just my two cents...

[Raenok]

I think the problem is that some people were maybe just putting too much trust in a movie. A movie could never re-create the atmosphere and speed of the game, but it can get pretty darn close.

Remember: Movies are meant to entertain you, games are meant to entertain and immerse you.

[Jenga]

I think the problem is that some people were maybe just putting too much trust in a movie. A movie could never re-create the atmosphere and speed of the game, but it can get pretty darn close.

Remember: Movies are meant to entertain you, games are meant to entertain and immerse you.

k

Still dosen't excuse this movie for being a piece of shit.

[RazorOutlaw]

Edit again: Razor, you seem to be assuming that everyone in the theatre had played the games.

Wrong, I only made the assumption that the movie wouldn't have the theater laughing at it. That they may not have played the games does not factor into this point which bothers me so much. I can't hold the movie to blame for all parts that were laughed at, the crowd may have just been expecting something else...

[Ezio]

Still dosen't excuse this movie for being a piece of shit.

And your main reasoning behind this is because it used too much good music and didn't have enough bullshit action.

[RazorOutlaw]

Silent Hill 2 didn't use the very same music more than twice...the reptition in the movie is annoying, but minor in my opinion.

[Jenga]

Still dosen't excuse this movie for being a piece of shit.

And your main reasoning behind this is because it used too much good music and didn't have enough bullshit action.

Where did I say that? The plot is awful. The acting is awful. The dialogue is awful. This movie is beautiful...but that's all it has going for it.

[Calpis]

I swear they played Promise (Reprise) about three fucking times.

Oh no! Not THREE times!

No fucking shit. Do you complain when you hear the same piece of music in the game more than twice?

**SPOILERS**

For those who are nitpicking, like I said earlier, you have to take these things as a 'take' on the series and not as a literal direct transltation of it.

I think that the reason you don't quite feel the same horror watching this is the fact that it's a movie and not a game. When you're playing the game, you are the main character, and the game focuses on what you would feel in a certain situation, being why the main character rarely emotes. But, this is a movie and you can't do that, so it must focus on what the main character feels, and it did just that. The first time Rose goes to the other world, she laid down and bawled her eyes out. But it doensn't show that in the game because that takes the focus off of your emotions and transfers them to the character on the screen. Games don't translate to movies well because you have to take the interactivity out of it. If you wanted to watch a videogame, then you should have done that instead of going to a movie based on a videogame.

I do agree with the comments about characters saying stupid lines, and bad acting, and plots that go nowhere.

I'm sorry, I can be a harsh movie critic but nitpicking stupid points about the ages of characters isn't exactly like the game just is dumb. **END SPOILERS**

Still dosen't excuse this movie for being a piece of shit.

And your main reasoning behind this is because it used too much good music and didn't have enough bullshit action.

Where did I say that? The plot is awful. The acting is awful. The dialogue is awful. This movie is beautiful...but that's all it has going for it.

So... do you like Silent Hill at all? That's what the series is about.

[Monobrow]

I PUT THIS REVIEW IN WHITE OKAY? OKAY!

I liked the intro, I liked the re-make of the alley scene, I liked PH's appearances (though they still don't really explain why he is there, even if it is feasable)

I liked Cybil's character, and Rose wasn't bad as well. I hated Dahlia being the good "mother" and the cult turning into a makeshift version of Salem Quaker mining town. And wtf, Christabella? Why even have a good Dahlia? Just have Dahlia as Christabella and forget there being any sort of "mercy". Lisa was pretty cool, but uncessary. (except in terms of cameo) Also, I thought there was some funny stuff with Anna's lines. I liked the school somewhat, but yeah, Sean Bean's whole thing was just stupid, because they leave nothing to wondering. Also, I absolutely HATED THE FLASHBACK VOICE-OVER. Cheesy, even if it shed a lot of light on things. I loved some of the music, some of the orchestrated versions...And the sound was okay. Anyway, that's about it for now. This movie from me gets an even C, which makes me very sad, but what did I expect?

[Your Good Twin]

I didn't much care for it. I didn't like the pacing or much of the acting. Nothing really surpised me. And there weren't near enough freaky creatures for my tastes.

I went with 3 other friends, none who had played the games. One didn't like it because he didn't really know what was going on. One thought it was fucked up and didn't really know what to think because he didn't quite know what was going on either. The other really enjoyed it. So there's some outsider views.

Finally, I was SOOO happy they used "You're Not Here" for the ending music. I think it is perfect movie credits music and was really pulling for it to be played. I sat there singing while we watched the CG montage.

[ifirit]

For pete's sake, white out your spoilers, jackhats.

I agree. Like or dislike the film, please be considerate enough to prevent spilling the beans on content or events from the film. (Just replace the TEXT with what you wish to say.)

Spoiler Tag:

[color=white] TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT [/color]

Alternatively,

[quote="Spoilers"] [color=white] TEXT TEXT TEXT TEXT [/color] [/quote]

You may also wish to add a heading that informs other readers that spoilers lie ahead.

Spoiler Heading:

[color=red] [b] SPOILER HEADING [/b] [/color]

Anyway, with that out of the way...

Warning: Silent Hill Spoilers

Well, I just saw it, and it was pretty good..

I have to agree for the most part that this is both an incredible, outstanding film and a campy, hair-pulling movie both at the same time. There are times when I was on the edge of my seat thinking "OMG, OMG, OMG, OMFG...." or "That was so freakin' awesome!" However, there were also several times when I was so disappointed at the writing that it really drew my attention to the weaker aspects of the film. >.> <.< Such as... Alessa saying "Look, I'm burning." or the Bubble-Head Nurse Shuffle "Now, jazz-hands!!!" But, I digress.

I was a bit disappointed with the way that the audience is seemingly spoonfed the exlpanation. The explanation definitely did not need to be narrated

The end, though cool, was less cryptic than I'd expected.

Actually, that explanation part would have been great had the plot not been reiterated constantly thoughout the film, though without the cliche video-gamey "Congratulations, here's an explanation!" introduction. As much as the film explained certain aspects a little too thoroughly, it failed to mention other aspects of the film as well. The elimination of the god (or mention of) from the film raises the question of how a little girl gained the power to create the world (or the Dark World) on her own. It shows that Alessa was tormented and hated because they thought she was a witch, but it fails to justify the reason by informing the audience that she had a special power within her. So, it will be difficult for the general audience to understand how the world is created, and why Alessa has the power to do what she does.

In addition to this, the film doesn't make a point to explain that creation of the Misty World/Dark World was created by this power (be it that it comes from Alessa's power or from the power of the god). If the Dark Alessa is to be considered the source of her power and not simply a split-personality/manifeastation of her pain, then it appears such that she is actually a demon, which then leaves the question of where did such a demon come from, i.e. from what mythology did it appear? (I ask this because the religion of Silent Hill, as portrayed in the film, does not believe in such things. Yet, it acts to drive them out and destroyed, contradictive to the series, which makes the "demons" a part of the religious beliefs, as based on Native American mythologies.)

Oh, yeah, this movie is more like "Silent Hill Lite" than an addition to the series. It's more like an introduction to the series than an installment. (By series, I mean the games, obviously.)

Unfortunately, because of the way that Gans and company set up the story for the film, it eliminates the possibility for SH2 and SH3 to exist as sequels, in this universe. Having Silent Hill exist as a smoldren, toxic fume-spewing ghost town prevents it from existing as a peaceful, serene vacation spot used to establish the loving, emotive relationship between James and Mary, which without greatly hinders that story. (Sure, it could be set in South Vale, but Brookhaven and Pete's Bowl-O-Rama were placed in downtown Silent Hill, suggesting that Paleville and South Vale are non-existant in the Toluca Lake area.) Also, since the memebers of the cult all burned in the accident (except for Alessa) and were drawn into her world, it is unlikely that there is anyone left to seek out Alessa's reincarnation (if Sharon is even a reincarnation), or anyone who would be interested. SH4 could be used for material for a sequel film, but without the establishment of the religion of Silent Hill as seeking to bring God into the world, it wouldn't make much sense.

As such, the film will branch into its own universe and will exist from now on as its own entity, much like the comics. I was really hoping that the film would have coincided with the series, because I really, really, really, REALLY like the visual style of the film, but you can't always have your cake and eat it, too. (I plan on purchasing the film on DVD simply for the closing credits montage; dis-embodied lights rock!)

It's pretty scary, but if you've played the games, and if you're desensitized to violence, you'll be pretty 'meh' about it. The girl I was watching it with probably only saw a fraction of the movie I saw, what with her face being buried in my armpit (Which I can only hope smelled like sexy man).

For me, the scariest parts of the film weren't even the gory ones. The scariest parts were created by the fear of pain or death. Rose's close-call in the alley and with Cybil in Midwich, inspired greater fear within me than when the Red Pyramid tore Anna apart or when Alessa raped and subsequently killed Christabella with her barbed-wire tentacles. Sure, those aparts were hard to watch, but I wasn't afraid for the characters, for whom our concern was established (as opposed to what was mentioned by Eccles, that many people felt the characters deserving of their fate). Even in the basement of the Brookhaven Hospital, the nurse encounter was still terrifying because of the nature of the encounter, which was plagued with doubt as to whether she would survive it. It seems to me, that scenes where there exists doubt about whether the characters will survive such encounters much scarier, mostly because it adheres closer to gameplay where a person's ability to survive is their own. But, also, because the characters must have a certain degree of freedom involved that makes their responses and resulting actions harder to predict. [/non-sequitor]

I did not like the heavy emphasis on using Akira's original soundtrack throughout the movie.

I agree that I was hoping for an all new music composition for the film which could have been used seeing that Akira Yamaoka was officially tied to the production, but what are you gonna do? As such, I also agree that the cues were just too obvious and cut-&-dry, but the dynamics and expressions used to build up the tension within the music itself were phenomenal. Jeff Danna did a great job of re-orchestrating many of the different songs. Of course, Promise [Reprise] was used many times (acting as a sort of Theme of Alessa), but each time there were varied additions. Such as the additional strings and orchestral accompaniment during the latter stages of the film, when Rose catches up with Alessa, to the synthetic and pad accompaniments used during the chase to the bathroom in Midwich. The remastered version of Magdalene with it's changes in rhythm, really exposes the vulnerability of the piece. These changes helped to add a human touch to the mostly 4/4 time scales that Akira Yamaoka uses so often. I even enjoyed the way Danna mixed versions of the original music together in adding scale and tension during the dark world parts. I really hope an official motion picture soundtrack for Silent Hill is released at some point.

[RazorOutlaw]

For what it's worth, it's not like the music they chose was bad. Hell, I liked most of what I listened to...

But to me it was like sitting down to watch Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade and hearing the Star Wars soundtrack instead...

Yes, it felt that jarring and out of place. Similar to the time I saw the Japanese version of Godzilla 1985 (Godzilla Returns). Same movie, but Japanese version was the original uncut version. So many things felt out of place to what I was used to...(and yes, the American version switched scenes around from different parts of the movie beginning, end, middle, whatever suited the needs of the editors).

Of course, like I said in my previous edits, the music is jarring and somewhat boring only because of my familiarity. Removing that, and the fact that the crowd laughed at the movie (), I've only got some clunky dialogue, suspect acting in some scenes, as well as some other things that I forget...

I mean, really, the story is fine...

Mmm reading your review Ifirit I remember that they laughed at the Nurse dance step scene.

[Ezio]

Where did I say that? The plot is awful. The acting is awful. The dialogue is awful. This movie is beautiful...but that's all it has going for it.

I believe it was somewhere around where you complained it was boring and played the same song three times.

[Aetherius]

Speaking of music, we need to remember that we are a video game music community. We know video game music. The crowning disappointment in terms of music should be that the music was not original, and not that it was used more than once. If you pay attention in almost any film, you'll notice that the score music is often used more than noce, or is at least thematically similar. The problem with us, is that we recognize the soundtrack as 'songs' because we listen to them outside of the game, or we are too familiar with them. Songs are more foreground material than background material, and so, rather than the drones and whines of typical horror movie crud, we get real music in Silent Hill, which is so easily recongizeable, that it annoys us.

So basically, we suck, and if we'd never played the game or heard the soundtrack, we wouldn't care. (though, apparently we might giggle at some cheezy organ music around the end, which was pretty cheesey as it was.)

Edit: speaking of bad acting (of which, Anna seemed to be the least good at line delivery)...

I found the voice acting in Silent Hill 2 to be FAR worse than the voice acting in Silent Hill 1. Silent Hill 2 made me cringe almost every time James or Laura said anything. Harry's only groaner was 'radio...what's with that radio?'

[RazorOutlaw]

I can accept the opinion that the voice acting in SH2 is awful. I have a hard time accepting the opinion that the voice acting in SH4 is the most solid out of all of them (that's what some other strange little man said to me on another forum)...but that's off topic. We're supposed to be ranting and raving about the movie.

[The Instrument of GAWD]

Ehhaaah, I dunno guys... I'm torn. There were points when I was gapping in awe and times when I just rolled my eyes.

Just like Razor, I had to listen to people laugh as well but for me it was anytime some one said "fuck".

Spoilers:

I felt the cult and witch burning was a tad bit unnessesary. Yeah, they we're important behind the scenes durning the games but their pressence just kind of ruined it for me. Maybe it's because the games had very few encounters with other people. If they would've stuck with the 'birth of god' plot, it could've worked out... but this being the US, they probably would've frowned on that.

As for PH, I think MAYBE he was something that Allesia made up, just like she did with everything in the actual game.

However, I did like it when Rose was alone. Because that's what made it feel more like the game. And yeah, they played the shit out of Promise(Reprised), not that it bothered me too much.

Squeals? Well they could definately fit Chris up as James, but I can't see them using Sharon as Heather... at least not in the same way as SH3. Maybe that's why they kept Dahilia alive? Guess we'll see.

Over all, I felt it started off very strong. I liked it but I didn't like it. I'll have to go see it again with someone else other than my friend's who are quick to put anything I like down.

Now I wanna see what Ifirit has to say...

EDIT: didn't realize Ifirit already posted. and LOL THE NURSES WERE DOING THRILLER!

[Calpis]

Now that you mention it, I did laugh pretty good when Cybil yelled "What the fuck?!"

Don't know if it was intended humor or not though.

[ifirit]

Warning: Silent Hill Spoilers

Over all, I felt it started off very strong. I liked it but I didn't like it. I'll have to go see it again with someone else other than my friend's who are quick to put anything I like down.

I was a little luckier in terms of audience participation. As diverse as the group was (1:15pm showing, so mostly devote fans and interested viewers with an afternoon to spare ranging from 18 - 50 year-olds and various personas), they were well behaved and genuinely interested in seeing the film. The only laughter I heard was after the Dark World returned to Misty in Midwich and Cybil says, "What the f**k was that?" A chuckle was released among the crowd suggesting a shared sense of confusion and relief as did the characters. A few gasps were heard every now and again, but almost everyone stayed silent and focused on the screen the whole time. Well, expect once the credits began, everyone got up and left as soon as they played, almost like the nurses, which was quite freaky.

As for PH, I think MAYBE he was something that Allesia made up, just like she did with everything in the actual game.

The origins and influences for the monsters is something I'd like to discuss at some point. Though some monsters originate the same as in the games, such as the Mumblers and the Creepers (though the exact origin is not mentioned in the film; and which also have faces ???), others need to be re-evaluated considering the new context. I'd like to think about the Nurses, the Red Pyramid and the Janitor "Colin." Lisa was awesome avoiding looking directly at Rose and cowering from her touch, portraying a subordinate role; it added to the mood that Rose was still somewhat intimidating to Sharon/Alessa, even in the depths of the Dark World. Though I didn't like that she ended up as a Shibito (Yea! for Siren references), but considering that her death is unknown in the film it's understandable that she was bleeding from her eyes instead of her forehead.

EDIT: didn't realize Ifirit already posted. and LOL THE NURSES WERE DOING THRILLER!

Well' date=' at least there weren't any machine-gun-toting teenager girls with short shirts in the film. You know, 'cause they would never do that in a Silent Hill; it could never work. Still, I'd love for the DVD to have an alternate crazy fun ending, maybe a UFO Ending or a strange one like the DOG Ending. Bloopers and goof-ups would be cool as well.

[ZeLLfAN666]

Hmm, there are some very queer opinions about the movie here, lol. I definitely left the theater quite overjoyed to be honest. After seeing all the bullshit remakes, not to mention the whole Uwe Boll thing movieland has going, I feel that this is as close as to a near perfect VG to film conversion as we get. Don't get me wrong I actually liked RE and RE:A and don't let that be an indication for you to go "ZOMG n00b, the RE movies sucked" I enjoy movies genuinely without retarded dissection of every single angle of every single corner and I enjoyed the hell out of Silent Hill. I think that they just took a whole bunch of important concepts from the series and just applied it to an alternate universe SH storyline, which I think means that there's no room for a direct game to movie conversion only more of the same use of concepts from the games to make something similar. I think that they did this brilliantly because I was overjoyed to see and hear many things that I'm familiar with from the games in the movie. You can't say that with any other VG movies which already puts SH in front. Also about the direct use of Yamaoka's pieces I think its much better to hear the same thing we've been hearing for years in the movie than listening to some half-assed, lazy, boring, and cliched-to-hell film score, I was actually surprised to hear familiar music, it sorta made me feel I was actually watching a SILENT HILL VIDEO GAME MOVIE which is what we want in the first place a goddamn VIDEO GAME MOVIE or else no one would be bitching about how badly any other VG movie sucked. I actually predicted that the credits would have "You're Not Here" right before the ending, I was just waiting for the beginning to start up, when I heard the first few notes I just screamed "FUCK YES!" to the surprise of those around me. It almost made a single tear come out of my eye as I sat there and sang along. Bottom line, you can sit there and nitpick or "analyze" the story/plot/dialogue/acting/music/whatthefuckever all you want but you can't change the fact that this was pretty damn close to portraying Silent Hill in film form and hell that's good enough for me.

[Israfel]

I watched it a second time and I gotta say, I really love this film. The things that bothered me the first time around, while still the film's weakest aspects, just didn't distract me much on the second viewing.

I tend to have a very visually oriented approach to appreciating horror movies--to me, horror films are less about plot and characters (indeed, I think focusing on these elements can weaken a horror film) and more about experiencing a nightmare world; they're not stories, they're rides.

And for people with my aesthetic, Silent Hill is a truly amazing experience. I've seen lots of horror films and this may go down as one of my favorites.

[BocoDragon]

This movie was excellent. I loved it.

I could tell some fans would dislike it from the moment I heard "OMG BUT PH CANT BE IN IT!!!! HES TIED TO JAMES!!!!".

Fundamentalism kills.

[Aetherius]

Well, Pyramid Head ended up being out of place.

I thought MAYBE they'd tie it in, but since there was no explanation whatsoever, it doesn't even leave room for any LOGICAL speculations.

So, essentially, "nice to see you PH. Thanks for making a Cameo in our movie."