Silent Hill (www.the-usher.com)

"Welcome to Silent Hill"

With her daughter Sharon (Ferland) having nightmares and sleepwalking, Rose (Mitchell) decides to take her to the place that she keeps screaming during her dreams, Silent Hill. As she drives to the town, Rose swerves to miss a child in the road and crashes. When she awakes, Rose finds that Sharon has gone and as she heads into Silent Hill to find her, she realises that this is no ordinary town and she might never be able to leave.

Basing your movie on a video game is usually the kiss of death for any production but can 'Silent Hill' be breath new life into the genre.

With most video game adaptations either been completely awful like 'Super Mario Brothers', 'Mortal Kombat', 'Streetfighter' or anything directed by the worst director working in film at the moment Uwe Boll or not really capturing the essence of the game like 'Tomb Raider', 'Doom' or 'Resident Evil', the jury is still out on whether there is any point in using a game to make a movie. Konami's 'Silent Hill' already had the premise and cinematic look to make the transition to the big screen with ease but can another survival horror game bring anything new to two genres that really need an injection of creativity and revitalisation.

The man changed with this monumental task has a very good pedigree. French director Christophe Gans made a real splash in 2001 with his period action horror picture 'Brotherhood of the Wolf'. With a real sense for visuals, action and getting the most out of his actors, he is a director that can bring a lot to both of the genres.

'Silent Hill' is one of the most visually stunning horror movies for many years. As soon as Rose enters the town you are transported into a visual feast. From the ash covered streets to the blood soaked basement of the hospital, Gans and his creative team have recreated the world that has tormented games for many years. The production design is outstanding, with the sets and lighting creating an atmosphere of dread and foreboding that will have you cowering with fear.

They have also captured the strange and bizarrely horrific characters that occupy the hellish darkness of 'Silent Hill'. As soon as the siren sounds and the darkness rolls in, you know that something is coming. From maniac miners to scalpel welding zombie nurses, each is more terrifying than the last but the one that will scare you senseless is the relentless pyramid masked, sword wielding madman that is totally unstoppable. Fans of the game will rejoice as they see Rose and Officer Bennett running for their lives after been chased by these fiendish, horrific apparitions.

Capturing the look of the game is the film's major strong but it has one major flaw, the plot is a little confusing. With the screenplay written by Roger Avary, the man behind films like 'Rules of Attraction', 'Pulp Fiction' and 'Killing Zoe', you might have been expecting a little more but the film lacks any real coherency and feels like a way of getting to key elements from the game.

The performances are good however, even if the actors are struggling to comprehend what is going on. Australian actor Radha Mitchell continues to make inroads into Hollywood with another fine performance. As a mother who will risk everything to save her daughter, the actress is on her way to becoming the new horror scream queen and an action horror star in her own right. Alice Krige always plays a great villain and this time she is no different. Laurie Holden is good as Officer Bennett but Sean Bean struggles with his American accent, which detracts from his character, Rose's husband Christopher.

'Silent Hill' is one of the best video game adaptations to hit the silver screen when it comes to capturing the look and generating the fear of the source material. Even though the plot does let down the astounding visuals and production design, this is still a frightfully enjoyable horror movie and one of the scariest Hollywood has produced in years but with a great story it would have been a classic.

PICTURE & SOUND

Presented in Anamorphic Widescreen 2.35:1 with Dolby Digital 5.1, the movie is presented well.

BONUS FEATURES

Making of (47.52 mins)
Director Christopher Gans, producers Samuel Hadida and Don Carmody, writer Roger Avary, executive producer Andrew Mason, production designer Carol Spier, costume designer Wendy Partridge, creature effects supervisor Patrick Tatopoulos, stunt coordinator Steve Lucescu, makeup effects supervisor Paul Jones and stars Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Deborah Kara Unger, Alice Krige and Jodelle Foreland come together to talk about the origins of the story, the casting, creating the town, the stars and the stunts. The history and influence of the game on the look and feel of the movie is analysed, as the featurette covers all aspects of the film's production.

Theatrical Trailer (1.37 mins)
Watch the trailer that previewed the movie in cinemas

TV Spots
Watch the three TV spots that supported the films theatrical release

Photo Gallery
View publicity shots from 'Silent Hill'

OVERALL

While the fifty-minute featurette covers most aspects of the films production, the lack of a commentary track is a little disappointing. Fans of the film will enjoy the featurette however but there could have been more background about the game.

DVD

Brotherhood of the Wolf

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2006