Paperjam

Silent Hill

Film // Vanessa // 17th May 2006

I remember watching my computer-crazed husband playing this game a few years ago. I’ve never been into the whole nerdy computer games fad, but I was drawn to this game because it scared me senseless.

When I saw the trailer for the film I had no reservations about it whatsoever. Here was a great plot (woman loses her child in an American ghost town and has to find her, but come up against all kinds of ghoulies and gory things in the process), fantastic scene and a chilling atmosphere. It just has to be frightening…doesn’t it?

Well…not really. I like my supernatural horrors to be really spine tingling and this just didn’t do it for me. And I was really annoyed. It actually put me in a bad mood for the rest of the day.

Don’t get me wrong it wasn’t by any means a terribly made film. The atmosphere was perfect and the scenery exactly like the game. The first alarm bells started ringing when I realised that the dad was Sean Bean. I had watched Sharpe’s Challenge earlier that week so that Yorkshire accent was stuck in head like superglue. Plus, it was Sean Bean in an American accent (better than Leo di Caprio in his pseudo-Irish accent in Gangs of New York, but still it wasn’t convincing me).

Then it was the mum (Radha Mitchell), who wasn’t convincing me as the terrified mother who has lost her child in a weirdy wilderness…

The little girl (as little girls in horrors always are) was brilliant. Playing two roles (as the lost girl Sharon and the bad alter-ego Alessa), Jodelle Ferland put her co-stars to shame.

But I think the thing that really got me was the ending. It’s always the ambitious ending. I was told by computer-game-playing husband that the ending was pretty much faithful to the game. But for me it was a ridiculous show of blood, gore and nonsense. And if you ask me, quite rude and gory for a 15 certificate – I wouldn’t be happy for my kids to see that at the tender and impressionable age of 15 (go with me on this one…)

And can I add pointless to that list. And confusing. And there’s no closure. You need closure.

Anyway, it’s worth a watch but you won’t lose anything by watching it on video/DVD instead of on the big screen. In fact, it might even be better and scarier in your own home.