Controversial Movies Poll #19: Silent Hill

[Bartwald]

Many liked it a lot, some didn't at all. What would be the opinion on Silent Hill here on The Board?

Here's why I hated the film:

- the CGI effects were overused making the film look like a computer game (and when I go to the theatre I want to see a film),
- the plot was totally by-the-numbers with no real surprises, next to no suspense and at some point incoherent as hell,
- the main story - of the dying girl - was gratuitously shocking, without making me care for the character,
- the ending was another example of Very Bad Filmmaking: lots of noise, blood and cruelty with no emotion at all; just a bland demonstration of "look how much money they gave us for CGI!",
- why hire Sean Bean and then let him just wander aimlessly?

It's not getting 1/10 only because the main actress is a beauty and one or two scenes looked okay.

[ZapRowsdower]

Meh. It was a very stupid movie. Good cinematography elevated this from a 3 to a 4, but that's about the movie's strongest aspect.

What filmmakers don't seem to get is that it's called an ADAPTATION for a reason. Books have to be dumbed down a little bit in order to be translated, why can't they make video games smarter?

[Pulpmariachi]

I'm gonna give it a 3 because the cinematography and sound were really good, but everything else was ridiculous.

I agree about Sean Bean. I mean he's Sean Bean! Use him right!

Oh, let's not forget the funniest scene, where they enter the church after battling Pyramid Head and there's a slight pause before total Pythonesque screamings of: "It's a witch! Burn her!"

[ZapRowsdower]

Or my personal favorite, when that one chick warns them about how unsafe they are in the church, someone else throws a rock at her and screams "LIES AND DECEIT!" Laughed my ass off at that.

[Bartwald]

...I was just rolling my eyes there - the two scenes you guys have mentioned were hardly bearable for me, a horror fan. And you know what's terrible? On my Polish forum this film is constantly called "the greatest adaptation of a game so far"! It is rated 9/10 AVERAGE there - even with my 2/10 thrown in... Anyway, glad to see you agree with me on this.

[Gabriel]

I gave it a 6 purely because it captured the essence of the game. The cinematography was excellent and the sound as said above was really good.

The films downside was

a. While capturing the essence and tone it never quite managed to be scarey.

b. Roger Avarys script was lacking. Plain & simple.

These criticisms may be down to the fact I am/was a fan of the game and it just doesnt switch mediums well. Or it could be because as I said, evrything was good, script wasnt.