Silent Hill (Blu-ray) (2006)

"...will shatter your senses and leave you breathless.  Brian Tallerico, UGO.com
"True horror fans will stand up and clap.  Paul Nomad, The Horror Channel
"...a twisted masterpiece of set design.  James Dyer, Empire
"...comes to a quietly chilling conclusion far more haunting than any bloody mayhem.  Maitland McDonagh, TV Guide

Editor's Note It's always been said that a video game cannot be successfully adapted into a film. With SILENT HILL, director Christophe Gans (BROTHERHOOD OF THE WOLF) and screenwriter Roger Avary (KILLING ZOE) have the benefit of the atmospheric and often terrifying game series of the same name. With a budget reportedly in excess of $50 million, they wisely eschew dense plot in favor of a kaleidoscopic nightmare--culled from several volumes of the game series--designed to give horror fans what they crave. Radha Mitchell (PITCH BLACK) stars as Rose Da Silva, a young mother whose adopted daughter Sharon speaks of the eponymous West Virginia mining town as she sleepwalks. Rose decides to take Sharon there in an attempt to discover why it haunts her dreams--but Silent Hill has been a ghost town since a series of underground coal fires in 1974, and the residents who stayed behind are the stuff of nightmares. SILENT HILL is notable for having a largely female cast (the male characters were reportedly added at the studio's behest), with Mitchell, Deborah Kara Unger, Alice Krige, and Laurie Holden in the principal roles. But the film's real star is production designer Carol Spier (known for her frequent work with David Cronenberg), whose work makes the deserted town into a true vision of hell. Utilizing an effective combination of CGI and latex makeup effects, several of the creatures on display may upset more sensitive viewers, as will some of the carnage, which is strong for an R rating. On the other hand, seasoned horror fans and gamers who have been waiting to see a joystick-free version of SILENT HILL are likely to come away feeling like they've just taken a nightmare vacation to the spookiest town in America.

	Jodelle Ferland
	Laurie Holden
	Radha Mitchell
	Sean Bean
	Christophe Gans - Director
	Dan Laustsen - Cinematographer
	Jeff Danna, et. al. - Original Music By
	Roger Avary - Writer
	Samuel Hadida, et. al. - Producer
	Sebastien Prangere - Editor

Sight and Sound
"With its obstacle-course narrative of abrupt ambushes and perversely hidden clues, and its vividly dimensional environments, SILENT HILL is a striking approximation of the gaming format." 07/01/2006 p.72

Ultimate DVD
3 stars out of 5 -- "Director Gans presents a genuinely disturbing world of peeling paint, raining ash and grotesque blobs of flesh..." 09/01/2006 193

Variety 7 of 10
The sorry track record for vidgame-to-bigscreen translations goes unchallenged by "Silent Hill," though above-average interest is generated for a time by "Brotherhood of the Wolf" helmer Christophe Gans' elaborate visual package...Despite earnest stabs at psychological depth, not to mention pic's impressive gore and design tropes, final effect is negligible. Even more than in gaga genre hybrid "Brotherhood of the Wolf," Gans appears so engrossed by the opportunities for baroque style that he doesn't notice the creeping dearth of content. - Dennis Harvey

Chicago Sun-Times 6 of 10
Not only can I not describe the plot of this movie, but I have a feeling the last scene reverses half of what I thought I knew (or didn't know). What I can say is that it's an incredibly good-looking film. The director, Christophe Gans, uses graphics and special effects and computers and grainy, scratchy film stock and surrealistic images and makes "Silent Hill" look more like an experimental art film than a horror film -- except for the horror, of course. The visuals are terrific; credit also to cinematographer Dan Laustsen, production designer Carol Spier, and the art, set and costume artists. - Roger Ebert