As a longtime fan of the video games and of Silent Hill 2 especially, I could only react to this very loose adaptation with disappointment. I don't want to pick on fans unfairly, because I realize that the Silent Hill series is about a multitude of things. However, this is a prime example of what's wrong with the western interpretation of the franchise. Maybe that's an unfair statement, because Silent Hill was always intended as, among other things, a love letter to western horror. But that still doesn't justify completely half-assing any attempts to understand what it's really all about. Even as a standalone short, this movie is a mess.
James Sunderland's gruff voiceover and behavior don't fit the character one bit. Regardless of the source material, we're talking about a lonely, tormented man who killed his wife either out of mercy or hedonistic selfishness (depends on who you ask) and forced himself to forget that he did it to begin with. Regardless, the man is not a badass who can manhandle vicious monsters and stab them to death with their own knives while fending off a monster with a bigger knife. He's just a regular person who did something bad and ended up in a nightmare he wasn't expecting or prepared for. And that's part of the early entries' charm, is that the protagonists aren't one-dimensional hunks or cops or soldiers or anything of the sort, just people you'd meet in everyday situations and identify with.
The movie also comes across as someone who just watched the first movie, listened to the games' soundtracks (seriously, we get it, Akira Yamaoka is an amazing composer, no need to play his music every few seconds right after one track has ended), and did minimal research on the game series, especially the entry it's supposed to be based on. Like, come on. James getting in a car wreck (and one that would look more fitting in an action movie, at that!) over an apparition he saw? That's the movie, and by extension, the first game. The fog being ashes and monsters being reduced to embers? The paint peeling off the walls, the Lying Figure attacking Cybil (who really has absolutely nothing to do with either this short film or its alleged source material) with acid? You get the idea.
Also, what is up with that ending? James gets a concussion at the very worst from Pyramid Head (annoyingly enough credited as the "boogeyman", an obvious nod to Silent Hill: Homecoming, which is commonly seen as the runt of the franchise including by yours truly), and the cops don't find him by his car? So what, did they just give up searching for him? Though Silent Hill has never TRULY made sense, it's SUCH a stretch they wouldn't at least search the town. And THEN comes the reveal that he killed Mary, set to a butchered rendition of the peaceful music of two of SH2's endings. Which really doesn't fit at all, as the track is literally called "Making Peace". So apparently James made peace with Mary by smothering her. Okay. I can understand ironically used music, but that's also really pushing it.
I won't knock the CGI. I've seen worse and far less convincing in feature-length movies with bigger-named stars. The Lying Figure looked pretty decent and ALMOST realistic enough. I'll also give props for making Pyramid Head actually look more like his video game counterpart than he does in most incarnations. The flashback sequences with James and Mary were also a nice touch and beautifully shot.
Once again, not trying to hate on Jay Ness for being a fan and wanting to make a fan film, and I understand there were some obvious constraints, namely it being a short film, and a "proper" SH2 movie being difficult to make. Indeed, Christophe Gans initially wanted to make one initially, but decided against it because he thought it would be a 12-hour movie. But it could have been done so much better. At the very least, Anniversary could have tried to capture the atmosphere of the Team Silent games and built the bricks up from there. This just seems like an action movie with "Silent Hill" in the title, even more than the much-reviled Homecoming.
James Sunderland's gruff voiceover and behavior don't fit the character one bit. Regardless of the source material, we're talking about a lonely, tormented man who killed his wife either out of mercy or hedonistic selfishness (depends on who you ask) and forced himself to forget that he did it to begin with. Regardless, the man is not a badass who can manhandle vicious monsters and stab them to death with their own knives while fending off a monster with a bigger knife. He's just a regular person who did something bad and ended up in a nightmare he wasn't expecting or prepared for. And that's part of the early entries' charm, is that the protagonists aren't one-dimensional hunks or cops or soldiers or anything of the sort, just people you'd meet in everyday situations and identify with.
The movie also comes across as someone who just watched the first movie, listened to the games' soundtracks (seriously, we get it, Akira Yamaoka is an amazing composer, no need to play his music every few seconds right after one track has ended), and did minimal research on the game series, especially the entry it's supposed to be based on. Like, come on. James getting in a car wreck (and one that would look more fitting in an action movie, at that!) over an apparition he saw? That's the movie, and by extension, the first game. The fog being ashes and monsters being reduced to embers? The paint peeling off the walls, the Lying Figure attacking Cybil (who really has absolutely nothing to do with either this short film or its alleged source material) with acid? You get the idea.
Also, what is up with that ending? James gets a concussion at the very worst from Pyramid Head (annoyingly enough credited as the "boogeyman", an obvious nod to Silent Hill: Homecoming, which is commonly seen as the runt of the franchise including by yours truly), and the cops don't find him by his car? So what, did they just give up searching for him? Though Silent Hill has never TRULY made sense, it's SUCH a stretch they wouldn't at least search the town. And THEN comes the reveal that he killed Mary, set to a butchered rendition of the peaceful music of two of SH2's endings. Which really doesn't fit at all, as the track is literally called "Making Peace". So apparently James made peace with Mary by smothering her. Okay. I can understand ironically used music, but that's also really pushing it.
I won't knock the CGI. I've seen worse and far less convincing in feature-length movies with bigger-named stars. The Lying Figure looked pretty decent and ALMOST realistic enough. I'll also give props for making Pyramid Head actually look more like his video game counterpart than he does in most incarnations. The flashback sequences with James and Mary were also a nice touch and beautifully shot.
Once again, not trying to hate on Jay Ness for being a fan and wanting to make a fan film, and I understand there were some obvious constraints, namely it being a short film, and a "proper" SH2 movie being difficult to make. Indeed, Christophe Gans initially wanted to make one initially, but decided against it because he thought it would be a 12-hour movie. But it could have been done so much better. At the very least, Anniversary could have tried to capture the atmosphere of the Team Silent games and built the bricks up from there. This just seems like an action movie with "Silent Hill" in the title, even more than the much-reviled Homecoming.
