With rumors of a new game circulating on the internet, fans of the Silent Hill franchise something to look forward to after years of rest. At the height of its popularity, the franchise was everywhere, even producing a few films that fell short of expectations.
Although they were panned upon release, some fans believe that the Silent Hill movies have actually done a few things right. While they may not be certified horror classics, viewers’ opinions have started to change lately, and there are quite a few reasons to believe that the movies are better than their bad reviews.
9 Sean bean
Video game movies are rarely taken seriously which is why the cast is usually B-list actors at best. However, Silent Hill managed to buck that trend and cast a seasoned performer in one of its lead roles.
Not only does Sean Bean appear in the first film in a supporting capacity, but he returns once again to anchor the sequel and reprise his role as De Silva. Having an established star like Bean in the movies automatically gives the movie more gravitas and gives its usually decent performance. Interesting, the first Silent Hill movie goes against the grain and is one of the few movies where Bean’s character doesn’t die.
8 real monsters
The video games are known for featuring some really scary monsters, and the movies had a wealth of great options to choose from when telling their story. Made in the mid-’00s, it would have been really easy for the movies to go for CGI monsters, and they could have gone over the top with it. Instead, they chose to go the more subtle route and cast real performers instead.
With ghosts like Pyramid Head brought to life by various professional dancers and physical performers, the film takes on a more realistic edge that makes it all the more creepy. Full CGI would most likely have been a detriment to the final product, and it was downright chilling to see how the heroes interact with creatures in the real world.
7 The score
Horror movies can sometimes be made or broken by the quality of their scores, and Silent Hill has not been beaten in that category. Derived directly from the music in the games, the score heightened Akira Yamaoka’s eerie soundscapes and made them cinematic through re-orchestrations and amplification of the overall sound.
While it’s now recognized as one of the most underrated horror scores, fans at the time were simply drawn to the discordant atmosphere and overall sense of dread the music instilled. When choosing elements of the games to import to the big screen, Yamaoka’s music was arguably the wisest choice.
6 Horror movie first, video game movie second
Toon is something that video game movies struggle with the most. They get caught up in the trap of being too ironic because they feel the need to constantly wink and nod at the fact that they are adjusting a game. Silent Hill had no such qualms and did what it took to succeed as a horror movie, and it put everything else in second place.
Some viewers have criticized the film for what it chose to import from the games, often citing Pyramid Head’s involvement as a corruption of the character’s original intent. While it may not be true to the source material, the filmmakers knew such characters were perfect horror antagonists and worked in the film because it would be scarier. It was clear from the start that the intent was frightening, and not necessarily a word-for-word adaptation.
5 They did their best
Major Hollywood movies should never get a pass if they don’t have quality, but it’s clear that the Silent Hill movies were against the wall as they tried to bring a video game to life. Although the games are celebrated for changing video games forever with their rich and complicated stories, they didn’t always make sense.
Movies don’t get the same rights as video games when it comes to storytelling, and the complicated nature of the Silent Hill mythos is not something that is easy to untangle. Despite this, the movies did a great job of reducing the games to their essence and finding a synthesis between game storytelling and movies.
4 Captured the atmosphere
if Silent Hill since a game franchise is everything, it is overwhelmingly atmospheric. The chilling and terrifying nature of the games is something completely unique, and it wasn’t easy to bring it to life in a movie. The movies, however, have an air of spades and do an excellent job of creating the cinematic equivalent of many of the game’s creepiest vibes.
Seeing the mist-shrouded city of Silent Hill looming up in front of the heroes as they enter the city is the stuff of nightmares, and the games’ dreamlike logic was painstakingly recreated through visuals alone. While horror is so much more than atmosphere, a chilling look can go a long way in keeping the viewer on their toes and ripe for the perfect scare.
3 Accessible to non-gamers
While video games are a huge industry, individual titles usually represent a niche audience that isn’t always easy to reach. Because of this, video game movies struggle to find the right viewers because they try too hard to serve fans of the games rather than a large audience.
The beauty of the Silent Hill duology is that the movies can stand on their own merits and don’t require a deep knowledge of the games. Taking it one step further, the films reinterpret the Silent Hill lore and give it their own twist, allowing it to live on as its own thing.
2 Legitimately scary
It’s no secret that the Silent Hill franchise has produced some of the best horror games of all time, and if the movies could contain even a fraction of the scare, they would be effective horror movies. In many ways, the movies do just that, and there are moments in the movies that are not only as scary as the games, but sometimes even scarier.
Few viewers were not shocked when the first sirens reverberated through the city Silent Hill, and they are moments like those that lent themselves so perfectly to cinema. Where the movies excel is that they accentuate their subtler moments with moments of intense terror, much like the games would come out of left field with a heart-pounding moment.
1 The best video game movie
Although the bar is set quite low, Silent Hill can make an argument for being the greatest video game movie of all time. In a world with a treasure Resident Evil sequels have turned the franchise into a walking joke, the much more subtle horror movies seem to be winning the day.
While it may not be a great movie, Silent Hill is still a great example of a strong video game movie. It’s instantly recognizable to fans of the game, while also introducing new ideas that are completely original to the movie. The games were heavily inspired by works from cinema and literature, and it was refreshing to see a video game film take the time to use the same inspirations in a different medium.
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