<i>Silent Hill</i> scares up $20 million

thats pretty much!

Silent Hill the movie a great movie based on a game. Sure it's not perfect, but look at the other movie games out there and tell me Silent Hill didn't do a really great job. I WISH it was scary, but that is my ONLY complaint.

i admit the movie was good but i feel as if they stretched it a bit because towards the end i felt it was beginning to lose it's touch.

The best game-based movie, but could have been much more scary.

****SPOILERS AHEAD**** I was looking forward to this movie so much, I went and got tickets to the very first showing the day it came out (on my b-day, no less!), and it was FANTASTIC! By far the best and truest to the game movie I've seen yet. The whole thing was just a work of art, from the monsters to the actors to the sets. And who could not love the music? I do agree with Seraphim_24 that the story had some pretty big changes, but I'd like to make one big correction to his/her comments. Most monsters DID have relevance to Alessa's psyche. Nurses= hospital stays, esp. Lisa, who looked in on her and reacted as though horrified. Alessa destroyed her face in retaliation, ergo the nurses' faces being distorted. Also, note that all she could see through the window was her face, so that's all that was distorted. The Grey Children/Claw Fingers= Alessa's student tormentors, or perhaps represent Alessa herself, the anguish of burning alive. The Janitor...well, that one's a little self explanatory, isn't it? The Creepers= if you looked carefully when Rose flipped one over to squish it, you would have noticed that it had the face of a human child. You also would have seen how very similar it looked to a baby in a basket. The Lying Figures= ...this one stumps me. Maybe the whole "armless, faceless" thing represents her feelings of helplessness in the hospital bed. It seemed unable to walk steadily, as though it hadn't for a very long time, maybe Alessa had been in that bed so long, she wasn't sure how to walk anymore, so the manifestation wasn't either? Pyramid Head= maybe the father figure that wasn't named? Had the father done "the right thing" (assuming he was human), none of her pain would have come about. Therefore, it could be argued that this was the representation of the evil father figure that let Alessa suffer, as all it does is go about SH causing pain and then disappearing. Also, remember that in the games, the Pyramid Heads usually represent the executioners in the Order. Alessa *was* almost executed, yes...? I was only disappointed by the ending "boss battle," if you will- too much needless gore. I just felt that was a cop-out. But then again, what can you really do with a video game to movie scenario like SH? Like most games, the whole concept only really works because you, the player, are involved directly. It was working so well up until that last half-hour... the suspense of such agonizingly slow horrors lurching towards the screen really got to me! I guess this was just a movie meant for the gamers.

Roger Ebert is an ass this movie was pretty good if you have time to waste go read his review of SH. He said (basicaly) that he didn't like the movie cause his brain "lit up too much" and that gamers enjoy it and the games cause they don't think as much as him. >.> ((this of course is a matter of my own opinion of his review and i'm sure he and others will explain it differently so go read it for yourself))

I saw the trailer for the silent hill film, and that is enough to put me off wanting to watch it. Specifically there is a shot in the trailer, and overhead shot, and the lady is running with the torch out in front of her, holding it with two arms and sorta waving it left to right, and it looks SOOO much like a videogame shot rather than a shot you'd see in a typical hollywood movie. Doom had it's FPS sequence, and Silent Hill has it's survival horror camera angles it would seem. Forgetting all that, there are thousands of decent horror films out there that you don't really need one based on a videogame.

I want to watch this movie so bad!

I did a blog on this already. But it is true to the games visually, but really strayed way too far from the source material in its story. Also if you understand the context in which the monsters were used in the first place one begins to realize that most of the beasties were used out of context, and inappropriately. Of course Pyramid Head was awesome, but had too little to do to be used effectively in this film. Also, he was highly out of context. I also did not like the changes to the Order. They were the Cult of Samael, a satanic group of sorts, and turning them into a group of fanatic witch hunters. Anyone who would argue that Gans stayed true to the story needs to replay the original trilogy. He strayed quite a bit, and being that he swore up and down this would be true to the story despite the obvious changes (Harry-Rose, which there is no good reason for that to have happened. I don't care that Harry was a wuss, no one would have dared to make Frodo a woman) and he failed to deliver on that promise. That said the film is not un-enjoyable, and like I said nails Silent Hill visually, but I think that there was more focus on eye candy than telling a compelling story, which certainly hurt the film. Believe me, I have studied Silent Hill lore inside and out, and every which way. All the games, all the comics, and so on. There's some really good stuff about it on wikipedia.com, in fact, that delves deeply into Silent Hill. Gans missed out on a lot of important things. He nailed the visuals, but screwed up on the psychological. I shouldn't blame him, the Cinematography was superb, I should blame whoever wrote that script. "We found a witch, may we burn her?"

it was a ok movie. im glad a saw it, but not a movie a would go out and buy!!~!

Alright, so I know plenty of people have already given their opinions here and it's not like mine is needed as well, but after hearing the detractors offering opinions that to me don't really make sense, I have to speak out. I'm a huge fan of the games, not just for game-play or scares, but for storyline as well. Silent Hill has always been known for its great storylines. For the most part the movie, as most everyone knows, is based off of the first game. However, there are enough differences to it to still leave you interested in it, whether you finished the games or not. Is the movie going to scare you? Well let's be honest. The games, first of all, have freaked out most of us for some time now, because, as someone put it above, you experience everything happening to your character and so the atmosphere draws you in and freaks you out. The last time I watched a movie that "freaked me out"...I can't even recall. I may have been like 8 years old or something. If you can't remember the last time a movie scared you, then it's most likely no movie coming out ever will. I for one was never scared or really "freaked out" by this movie, but I wasn't expecting to be either. Does it pay to be a fan of the games when watching this movie? Yes, absolutely. From the opening little tune that plays while the movie/production company logo is showing, to the camera angles you recognize from the game, to the overall atmosphere conveyed in the movie, this IS Silent Hill. Having said that, I don't see why someone who hasn't played the games can't understand what's going on if they actually pay attention to the movie. There is one spot where they throw alot of information at you at once, but everything is explained if you just pay attention. The only ambiguous part, is indeed the ending, which is still in the spirit of the games, since, as it was mentioned, the games had multiple endings to each. Does the movie have ridiculous lines? It does have some. It is understandable in stressful situations for someone to try to comfort/encourage others. If you just finished witnessing some CRAZY real life crap, chances are, if someone said: "Don't worry; everything's going to be okay.", you'd look at them like they were stupid. It's one of those natural reactions a real person would make, but at the same time, I think most of us would think better on what we were going to say and maybe word things differently. There are a few lines like that, but nothing that just screams, Oh man, that was so ridiculous this movie sucks now because of it. For me, my bottom line is this, the movie is awesome. You're not going to leave the theater with a "feel good smile" and say: "That was such a good movie." because you just witnessed some REALLY disturbing looking stuff. However, it is the same type of stuff that makes movies like Saw popular. It is well done, and faithful to the games, and overall is just a great movie...just not a, "Let's all go out for a family movie night to watch Silent Hill!" -type of movie.

SPOILERS Does anybody know why they cut to the bushes in the last shot? A friend of mine asked what the hell that was supposed to mean, and I had no clue.

This could be great stuff

Good news for Game movies. Hopefully this will show studios that they can make a good and profitable game movie. Hopefully this spells the end for Uwe Boll.

im watching SH tomorrow finally!

meh for me.

I loved it, it was well worth the $5.25 I spent to watch it.

Now I really wanna catch it!!

I have never played a SH game, but I loved the movie. I went with a few friends that played all the games, and loved most of them. I was going in the theatre with no knowledge, and I didn't ask for any either....because I wanted to see the 'movie', not what someone was expecting to see. I loved it. I think it's a great film, and has great imagination. Granted a lot of it comes from the games, but as I learnd after leaving the theatre, it's not based on any of the games (except for the character names and the locations). That, to me, means a lot. It says that the director was able to recreate the atmosphere and feeling of a game, without using the game's story at all. And he did a damn good job of it.

I was not disappointed by the film. I had a smile on my face the entire way, with the obvious musical score and so many Silent Hill references. The acting was intended to be awkward and nonsensical like it is in the game, giving a Lynch type of direction. I feel like I was playing a film. I am going to see it again this week.

Also, I noticed that during the movie the sound edinting with the music was pretty bad. The songs were from the SH3 soundtrack, in which I noticed, but the songs literally only last for 10-50 secs. long. The song starts...then just cuts off unprofessionally. Especially during the "police chase" to Silent Hill.DOn't worry, I'm a HUGE fan of the SH GAMES, but the movie could've done better. I liked the movie, but while I was sitting there I was wondering what time it was, and also wondered if I had any weekend homework from school. That shouldn't be running through my mind when I see a movie! T_T

All I have to say it that the movie should've had A CRAP LOAD MORE of gore and action. WTF was up with the movie? O_o I had high expectations for the movie, but it ran short, unfortunately. I guess you can say is that, the games are more interesting than the movie adaptions because it's YOU that goes through the scares and terror, ya know? Instead of seeing it happen to another person and thinking,"Well, I'm glad that wasn't me," it's the player of the Silent Hill games that feels the adrenaline rush because it's happening to YOU! And since with most games, you'd forget the controller is in your hand and become oblivious to the world around you besides the TV screen infront of you, because it becomes a part of your body. The movie should've had more demons/monsters, more gore, more action, more horror, shave down the movie to one hour, make the movie ticket prices a dollar or two less, and the movie should've had a puzzle or two in it., showing that the protagonist isn't COMPLETELY clueless. I'd pay $20 to see THAT then! ;) After playing all the SH games, I know there's not a lot of talking, but A LOT of running around, exploring, and fighting.

This movie is definatly underapreicated. You have to enjoy the game to like this movie. Viewers who haven't played the game usually say that it was a bad movie. However, I completely enjoyed the 2 hours and 10 minutes this movie had to offer. It was pretty precise to the game, maybe a little too precise. I could agree that there were some parts that could of been imporved, such as the acting, lack of action, and lack of scares. However, this movie is still a step in the right direction. If you are a devoted fan to the series, you'll enjoy this movie.

Well there goes Silent Hill's only week at #1. Can't wait to see the flick.

This is definitely the best video game based film by far, and thank the lord for Oooo-weee Bowl not directing the movie.

alot of these critics say this and that...but critics arent gamers. people say this "sucks" they arent fans of the games who actually played the games and beat them. those where the ones too lazy to play so they watched other people play. i believe this is the begining of good game to movie adaptations. mr bowell needs to stop making his movies and start doing something else like janitorial work for mr jack thomson. opinions are there but if you never touched the game then critize the movie then you need to stop watching these movies then.

Something for thoses who visit 1up: They deleted my feedback off their article about the SH movie because I disagreed with them and that I choose "no" in the "Would you recommand this article" question always found at the bottom. I didn't wrote any insults or anything. Just something to think about their integrity.... since they're also very subjective in all they do.

This movie peeked my interest. I will probably watch it and conclude my own opinion.

I'm sorry to say that the critics are kinda right. I am a huge fan of the Silent Hill series and it has become one of my favorite video games because it has such an awesome story. But I was pretty disappointed with this movie. Acting overall was pretty bad. The husband was not needed. The script was really boring and dull which made the movie itself boring. Visuals and monsters are top notch and cool. The scenes during the "darkness" are intense and surprisingly felt like the game. I am happy to see that it is number one even though it wasn't good. I laughed out loud of how they set up for a sequel because it will be like SH2! Pretty genius! But please make a better interesting movie.

Well I don't know how long I have to wait till this movie comes out here where I am in Jpan but I can't wait to watch it. I loved the games (especially SH2) and hope this captures the atmosphere, disturbing images and psychological horror of the game.

By far it is the best video game movie to ever hit the screen. Anyone else find it crazy that the same people who trash this movie for being based off a video game are the same ones who nominated "Hard Out Here For A Pimp" as BEST MUSIC IN A MOVIE?!?! Just a thought. I think movie reviewers need to take a long walk off a short pier. In their minds Gay Cowboys = Best Movie, Faithful Adaptation of an awesome game = garbage.

I thought it was great, worthy of a good rating in my opinion. I do have a few gripes with it, mostly being that there was not much time spent in the hospital. I would have liked to see more exploration of it myself. They did a good job of staying true to the locales making some places EXACTLY the same. Nice setup for a sequel SH2 style. The husband could go looking for his dead wife but the ending would be quite different from the game. I would love to see a sequel going into the hospital, prison/labyrinth, and hotel. It was very nice to hear Yamaoka's music prominent throughout the movie. It didn't sell out and try to target a very broad audience and instead remained mostly for the fans.

dude i saw it and it ROCKS!!! the ending is insane and movie stays true to the game!...GO KONAMI!!!!

why did they kill cybil bennet in the movie she survived in the game.i almost liked it.

The most beautiful and faithfull movie up to date to come close to the video game. It deserves that money and much more, so that way they can start filming part 2.

I thought this movie was horrible, and I love every game in the series. If you think the movie was smart, then you weren't listening to the dialogue. The creature design was good, but EVERYTHING else was very, very poorly done.

I'm a huge fan of the Silent Hill games, but the movie was just downright disappointing. The people that call this film "intelligent" obviously watched it without hearing a single word the characters were saying. The only good thing about this movie was the creature design. Everything else (and I mean EVERYTHING) was mediocre at best, and I'm being nice.

I was never scared or worried while watching this movie, unlike the absolute terror I experience playing the games. That said, I really enjoyed this movie, and it does have the potential of being a cult classic. Rejoice, for the curse of bad videogame movies has been broken, and not a moment too soon!

First hour or so were amazing. The style, the atmosphere, the build-up. All of that means a great payoff is coming, right? Not so. Once the cult got involved, this movie went straight downhill. And when the light flashed and everything was explained to us in voice over...are you kidding me? The creative vision got lost on this one halfway through.

playing the games definetly helped to understand what happened. the only problem i had with the movie was: NOT ENOUGHT PYRAMID HEAD, although, he'll be in the sequel

Sounds pretty good,..I fugured it would be better than Resident Evil..but then again so were the games.

To all those people saying the CG sucks ... the only CG in the film was the fog, everything else was real, yes monsters too. You know what else sucks? Your IQ :) Anyway ... this movie was amazing, it didn't stray from the Silent Hill games which pretty much every other game to movie has before. Now maybe we can get more game to movie translations that stick with the original game concept. That would be amazing. Don't think it will happen .. everything that goes through Hollywood get's deracinated before it touches the ground. Yeah even LOTR got that magic touch ... not as much as they'd like though ;)

Gans and Avary did great, I wish SH had earned more money though.

It was a great move. Can't wait to get a hold of a Blu-ray version later this year.

i liked it... it was actually good

Yes!!! Maybe now people will realize that a video game movie doesn't have to be 'hollywoody' to sell. Thanks Chris!!

this movie was.....kinda gross

Haha, it's amazing really isn't it? It's as if the critics' opinions are the 1-over the public's! (Or rather, the inverse) The way I see it is this: I went on the opening day with 4 friends. One being the biggest Silent Hill series fanatic I know, one avid gamer who likes the Silent Hills, one casual gamer and one non-gamer. I myself am an avid gamer who's never played the Silent Hills before... Upon finishing the film, ALL of us were unanimous in that it was a bloody good film, and (it seems anyway) for generally varying reasons. Personally I loved it. hehe Now I may be wrong, but I'd say that's a pretty decent mixed-interest opinion. *8 )

The movie was sweet. My Silent Hill knowledge only extends to renting SH2, and playing demos of SH3 & SH4. I say that because Roger Ebert said that his low score was probably do to the fact that he didn't play the game. And along the way, I was surprised the plot and how it would morph into a different creature from what I first imagined. And when it's over, no matter what you heard or expected of the movie, you are left satisfied, surprised, and scared.

Everything was great--except for the convuluted plot and confusing ending. IT tried to be too artsy for its own good. The production values and skill were top nothc though--great visuals, great camera work, some pretty good acting, a good premise and backstory. But the actual executution of the plot smacks of pretense. I wouldn't widely recommend the movie, though I wouldn't rail against it if people know what they are getting into--it has some truly horrific scenes. Also, Roger Ebert's constant attacks on games as art are getting old.