A mother takes her troubled daughter to a ghost town in West Virginia because while asleep she mumbles the name. Once there the girl wanders off and her frantic mother searches for her, but quickly runs across the denizens of the town, creatures of pure evil that twitch and crawl and hunt the living in what’s left of Silent Hill.

I was truly impressed with this movie, some impressively fearsome images throughout. The movie is the exact same flavor of surrealist horror that the games are. I felt déjà vu so often during the two hours this film had me, it was much like visiting your hometown as an adult. Assuming your hometown is somewhat akin to Hell, though.

Really, the most important thing was how well the game was represented here. Generally basing a movie on a game is a terrible idea, as is the opposite, not so this time.

Silent Hill 2 scared the hell out of me, and this movie reminded me of that. I don’t think a movie can ever be as scary as a great game, because the game was more personal. Just the same, I felt no disappointments whatsoever in this movie, and in some ways I get more out of it. I actually had to put the game away and never finish it, so I can only hope the ending was as cool as this movie’s.

You don’t need to have played any of the games to get any aspect of the story, although it does add much, as I said earlier.

It is a complex story and most the plot takes some thinking. Not that it’s hard to understand, but you don’t get beat over the head with it like in most Hollywood flicks. That the games were Japanese shows in this aspect, I think. The main plot points are all made clear, but could be easily missed, and the ending isn’t explained at all.

If I were to council someone on this, someone unversed in the evil that is Silent Hill, I’d just explain that it’s not a story that‘s gonna end. Silent Hill is a mythos all it’s own that is to be appreciated rather than dissected. There are no monsters you’re familiar with, they’re all original, as is this story.

Although some high-brow dissecting can be done, easily. One might say the film contrasted the place of religion and parenthood. The same might be religion and the future, how as religious people place more faith in the afterlife, they give up their life here. I myself took away the moral that we create our own hell, and we deserve every bit of it.

But let’s not wax poetic, the actual factual is that this movie is truly a roller-coaster ride. I know people say that often about films, but they’re really using it wrong. They’re saying it’s full of excitement. This one is more like a roller-coaster ride because from start to finish there’s creepiness and horror, then just enough downtime you lull you before Pyramid-Head pops out or those twitchy bitches make an appearance.

I think the best acting is like the best directing, if I don't notice it that's usually good. That being said, Jodelle Ferland really kicked ass. Beautiful, innocent, diabolical, she did a great job on the rest.

Anyway, what I liked most is it’s truly survival-horror, rather than a horror movie based on a survival-horror game. The plot unwinds like a game more than it does in a movie. I think that will bug some people, we’re so used to the normal setups, false scares, conflict, preparation, big fight formulas that when they don’t happen, it’s subconsciously troubling. Add to that how the filmmakers were clearly focusing more on pleasing the fans than the general public and you make that even more of an issue.

Just the same, I find it hard to believe anyone can see the magnificent images of creepiness and horror and not appreciate it. The truth is if you have a problem letting go and just being sucked into a nightmare, you'll not love this movie. It's got more in common with Through the Looking Glass than most the torture flick/slashers or remakes we're seeing right now. This one's not a comfortable fit, love it or hate it.

9 out of 10 really big fucking swords