Silent Hill

February 06, 2007

Silent Hill (2006) starring Radha Mitchell, Laurie Holden, and Jodelle Ferland is an incredibly stylistic movie based on a video game.

Silent Hill is the story of a mother, Radha Mitchell, who takes her daughter, Jodelle Ferland, to the town of Silent Hill trying to find answers to why her daughter is sleep walking, drawing demonic images, and screaming "Silent Hill" in her sleep.

The film came recommended to me by a friend, when the film first came out I had desire to see it since I had never played the video game. The film was a huge surprise. Stylistically it was one of the best films I had seen in a long time. There did tend to be a lot of CGI effects but the real world was intricate and had an amazing amount of finite details. There are two worlds of Silent Hill. One is a town that has been abandon for thirty years because of an underground coal fire. The town is obscured from the sun but it has a new fallen snow look to it because of the ash that is constantly falling. The other world of Silent Hill is the one of a hell that has been unleashed with rusty metal, slime on the walls, and your worst nightmares walking around.

Radha Mitchell is excellent as Rose, a mother that will do anything to find and protect her daughter. However Jodelle Ferland who plays her daughter, Sharon, was the real surprise. Here is a young actress that is going to give Dakota Fanning a run for her money. Ferland is both scary and endearing her in performance and holds her own against the other actresses and all the special effects.

Laurie Holden was another surprise as the police officer who aids Rose in her quest to find Sharon. Starting off as a hard nosed bitch, she makes an incredible and believable transformation into the film's other hero. This transformation of her character makes Holden's fate in the film unbearable.

So if you haven't played the video game don't worry about it. Silent Hill is a visual treat for the eyes that will make you scared with wonder and keep you thrilled up to and past the ending.

Click here to read the staff review by Mania.