|  by
MIKE FURCHES
Depending on who you listen to, video games are
bringing in more revenues now than movies. Thus, movies over the
last few years have as a starting point, video games. From Mortal
Combat to lesser known movies like The Mario Brothers, the genera
has come around.
Many
have claimed the Konami game Silent Hill is the scariest role
playing game ever. With some reluctance I decided to attend the
picture. I had tried to play the game in the past, but quickly
came to know, that outside of sports games, I just don’t
get into the gaming world. I hadn’t thought much of movies
in the past made from games, and wasn’t expecting much from
the movies screenplay written by Roger Avary.
The basic storyline of Silent Hill is that parents Rose, (Radha
Mitchell) and Christopher, (Sean Bean) Da Silva have a daughter
that sleepwalks and has nightmares. The episodes are dangerous,
even life threatening. They nightmares have another common occurrence;
the words Silent Hill continue to come up from their daughter Sharon,
played with haunting beauty by young actress Jodelle Ferland.
Seeking to find out what is going on, both Rose and Christopher
discover that Silent Hill is an old town that was vacated due to
dangerous underground fires. Many people in the town died, and
the fumes and ash continue to provide a toxic environment so the
town has become a ghost town, a ghost town in more ways than one.
As Rose takes daughter Sharon to find out what is going on, things
start to happen and happen fast.
The town is shut down barricaded. Many of the locals have had
nothing to do with the town for years and do all they can to keep
outsiders away. Rose decides to flee after a traffic stop by police
officer Cybil Bennett played by Laurie Holden. The next thing you
know Rose has an accident, has lost her daughter and she and policewoman
Bennett start on a journey filled with horror and mystery to try
and relocate Sharon.
From the opening scenes the concept of good and evil is presented.
From images of the cross to Bible verses that provide ongoing clues
the viewer is drawn into not only the search for Sharon, but the
search for spiritual significance and meaning. We are told several
times that to a child their mother is as if they were God. One
of the beautiful things of the movie though, is the mystery as
to what is from God, and what is from demons.
I hate spoilers and will do everything I can to keep from giving
any. It is interesting that the one place that seems to provide
sanctuary and safety is the church in Silent Hill. One has to be
careful though about perceptions. We never quite know the story
of what has occurred until the conclusion of the movie, and even
then there are questions. It is quite certain though, that the
battle that Rose, Cybil, and Sharon face is spiritual. Sure there
are actual concerns and dangers, but the real battle takes place
in the spiritual realm. At times it is difficult to determine who
is good and who is evil. People are not always as they seem, not
until the end is there any level of certainty, but even then, the
viewer will walk away with questions.
I liked the fact that Silent Hill is open-ended; it forces one
to think about what they have seen. It is amazingly scary, and
amazingly real. This is impressive when realizing there is very
little CGI in the film. With the exception of fog, the film depends
largely on actors. These actors will scare the Hell out of you.
There are several sequences in the movie that give indication
it is based on a video game. With the exception of those sequences
the movie actually flows along well and holds its own as a scary,
mysterious story.
The
viewer will leave with questions, questions of what is evil and
what isn’t? What ways does society and religion in particular
bring about evil? Who can we trust and not trust? And, how does
one distinguish what is influenced by God and what is influenced
by Satan? There are many other questions. Questions like what about
life after death? Are there spiritual realms that we don’t
know exist?
It has been stated before that few genres address good and evil
in the way horror does. Silent Hill delivers. It delivers in ways
that have you silent and mesmerized one moment, and jumping in
your seat the next. Squirming one second, and holding your breath
the next. Not in a long time has a horror movie delivered in such
a scary way.
While
not perfect, Silent Hill is very good. Well worth watching for
those that love the genera, and the video game enthusiasts will
not be disappointed. It isn’t for
everyone, but it will do well at the box office. It may just
be the movie needed to kick off the spring and summer season
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