100% loved it. This IS Silent Hill to a tee. The sets are 100% identical to the game. As soon as that title screen hits with SH2 music – I knew I was in for an amazing treat. The opening scenes really caught me off guard. I loved loved loved their slow pace. And once they got to the town I was locked in.
This movie is NOT for everyone. It’s very slow and very quiet in a lot of the scenes. The overall story has a David Lynch-like vagueness to it. There’s a lot of room for personal interpretation here. There’s an incredible sense of dread throughout. It’s dark in all the right ways. I don’t really recall any pop-out scare moments. I fucking love it for all of those reasons. Aren’t these the reasons the Silent Hill games are so good in the first place?
I thought they did a decent job making the story fit the movie format. It’s handled choppy in spots, and i can see the average Joe finding it a little too far fetched. It will go over the top of a lot of people’s heads. Pretty much the same way Silent Hill 1 did the first time I played it. I could never see a mainstream reviewer like Ebert recommending an insane flick like this. That said I’m glad they made a movie that doesn’t cater to the masses and goes for its fan base. It you like the games, you will be in heaven.
P.S. One old fat redneck dude left the theater about an hour into the movie and said loudly, “Have fun watching THAT one!” What a fucking dumbass. But I guess that goes to show what an acquired taste this movie is.
Also, I sat through all of the credits and people were coming into the theater for the next showing. A family sat behind me, looked like a Dad with three 12-16 year old kids. When I was leaving they asked if I liked it. I asked if they have played the games. They all go “uhhh this is a game?”
