The first Silent Hill video game totally redefined the survival horror genre; however, being PlayStation exclusive it did not reach that many people and is praised only in retrospect nowadays. The second game, a totally stand alone piece with no ties to the first game, made the franchise world famous and it is considered to be the best of the series even today. The third game is a sequel to the first game’s storyline, and it is the most disturbing, scary and violent of these horror games.

In 2004 it has been decided that the world famous game will make it on the silver screen. The first Silent Hill movie was based on the first game; however, it was a very loose adaptation of the game. In fact, many of the changes between the game and movie script are uncalled for, and hard to understand. The most unfathomable change was perhaps the change in protagonist. Whereas we have Harry Mason looking for his lost daughter, Cheryl, in the mysterious town of Silent Hill, we have the same concept with female lead in the film. It was lengthy, more action packed than horror oriented, not so well written adaptation. Will the new Silent Hill movie be bliss in comparison or a total miss like the first movie?

The new Silent Hill movie, which was given the sub title Revelation, was first revealed in a 2010 trailer, and that short video reveals many information concerning the movie. First of all, it is a continuation of the first film, with recurring characters, like Christopher Da Silva, who should have been Harry Mason and the protagonist of the first film. Revelation is again a very loose adaptation and free interpretation of the third video game, like the first film was in comparison to the first game.

After the happenings of the first Silent Hill movie, Christopher and his daughter Sharon try to forget everything and live a happy and normal life, but the Order of Silent Hill hunts them. Sharon’s hair is dyed blonde in order to avoid the cultists who search for them, and under the name of Heather she is also given a new identity. (At least at this one point there is consistency with the video game.) However, even this clever disguise does not last long, as the order founds and kidnaps Christopher to lure Heather into the town of Silent Hill. On the road and through many hardships Heather learns about her past and her connection to the demonic town of Silent Hill.

From the trailer it is evident that this movie falls into the same trap as the first one, as far as character creations go. On more than one occasion you can see a glimpse of the iconic “pyramid head” monster from the second video game, who as part of James Sunderland’s consciousness and the manifestation of his inner demons should never appear anywhere else than the Silent Hill 2 video game. Being a scary, well developed character and enigmatic figure of the Silent Hill franchise however, this character was perhaps thought to attract more viewers. The directors do not seem to know however, that a true fan who loved the games for the hidden deeper messages and the symbolisms they were riddled with, will probably be confused or even outraged by the inclusion of this character.

Another big question is the character of Vincent we can see in the trailer. In the third Silent Hill game Vincent is portrayed as a man in his thirties, crazy, deranged member of the Order, and an antagonist like Claudia Wolf and his father. However, in the movie trailer we can see a Vincent who is roughly heather’s age, nice, good looking, who is trying to help Heather.

This Vincent certainly doesn’t look like an antagonist, what’s more it also seems like there will be some sort of relationship between him and Heather. Although Vincent might have a connection to the Order in the movie, it is not apparent in the trailer, nevertheless this sort of change in both story and character personality uncalled for.

On the good side, the visual effects seem to be top notch, even in this youtube video; watching the whole movie in 3D will definitely be an even greater experience. The foggy world of Silent Hill looks pretty impressive, and the change into the Otherworld looks really frightening and well animated. Another thing to rejoice about is the soundtrack. Right at the beginning we can hear a piano piece composed by Akira Yamaoka for the second Silent Hill game. This could be either an indication that the soundtrack will again be compiled from songs from the first four Silent Hill games, or that Akira himself composed songs for the new film.

Altogether the movie seems not too promising; it will certainly not please the fans of the video games, although it is hasty to come to such conclusions based on a 2 minutes long trailer. Watch the movie and decide for yourself whether it is worthy of the Silent Hill title or not.

The movie can be watched from 1st of November in the Hungarian cinemas!

Words by László Kelemen