I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Discuss the original 2006 movie.

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J. Quinzelle
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I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by J. Quinzelle »

I love the atmosphere of Silent Hill movie. It's damn near perfect. And the monster effects are great. Gans did great there. But the writing and overall story are just laughable at times. It's like polar opposites in the same body. I mean, the way the music goes with the scenes, the angles and shots, effects, even actors were great. But they butchered the story into some measly witch hunt. I really want to love this movie, even watched it over half a dozen times, but afterward, I feel disappointed.

I would love it if Gans directed another Silent Hill with a different writer. One that has a firmer grasp on what is Silent Hill.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by phantomess »

I feel similarly. I enjoy the atmosphere through a lot of the movie, and the monster encounters and otherside transitions. And Cybil. :)
But those cult scenes... and that scene with dark Alessa talking... ugh.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by J. Quinzelle »

I broke and bought the BluRay. And Revelations. They're are far from good, more so Revelations, but they make great background movies. I play Silent Hill movies when I write as I love the ambient sounds and music. Yeah, I could listen to the music, but I love background movies.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by Mephisto »

Dark Alessa is the worst character of the first movie hands down. Never liked her.

Once upon a time I didn't even liked the Alessa from the videogame, believe it or not. But I learned to like the character and it's one of my favorite characters from the series. The one from the first movie? No. Just no.

At least they corrected that mistake with Revelations. Memory of Alessa (it's Dark Alessa REBORN go to Hell) was awesome.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by Tabris »

I really love the movie for the atmosphere and music. Before the movie came out, I was expecting the worst, so I pretty happy with what we ended up with. Which isn't necessarily a good thing.

But man do I ever agree about the 'witch hunt' aspect of it. I wish they just stuck with the damn story of the game but that always seems so much to ask.

It's a flawed as fuck movie but it still has a lot more to love for me than hate. Revelation is a lot harder to love bleh.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by tbonesays »

Last weekend on tv I caught just the 15 second march Christabella leads from the church to the hospital. I remembered why I loved the movie. It's bemusing how Gans mussed major points while doing the minor things so well.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by Jonipoon »

I rewatched it the other day for the first time in like 10 years, and I think the film works wonderfully in terms of both visuals and story... up until the scene where Rose encounters Dahlia, and from that moment on the story takes a deep dive into the nastiest toilet you could think of.

As others have mentioned; Dark Alessa and puritanism were indeed the two worst story decisions, but I'd also like to add the fact that they turned Silent Hill into an abandoned "ghost town" which goes against everything the series stands for. Every player with at least some knowledge knows that Silent Hill is a normal resort town to most people's eyes, and one of the most appealing aspects of the series was always the feeling of being lost in a surreal reality. While there is still some sort of "Otherworld" in the film, it's mostly there for show and when Dark Alessa explains how it works you realize how stupid it is.

I don't know if we should blame mostly Avary or Gans for those decisions, but it feels like they wanted to tell their "witch hunt in a ghost town" story yet at the same time incorporate all of those surreal Otherworld shifts and nightmare stuff as a visual homeage to the games. But the two concepts clash since they removed all of the occult stuff and the psychic powers of Alessa from the video game. So instead they came up with whatever version of the Devil or the Grim Reaper that Dark Alessa is supposed to represent. So then you watch the movie and start wondering stuff like:

- Why does Dark Alessa, with all her insane power, allow for Sharon to exist in the first place if her presence is necessary? And if they wanted the good part of Alessa to live on happily far away, why call her back?
- If Dark Alessa is supposed to help Alessa take revenge on the townspeople, why does it trap them in this nightmare world for 30 years and then suddenly decide to annihilate them? Wouldn't it be better to kill them all at once? And why even kill them at all, wouldn't it be a better revenge to let them suffer for eternity?
- Why go the extra mile of burning the coal beneath the real town to make it uninhabitable in the normal world? If Dark Alessa traps them in this nightmare world isn't she technically "saving" them from death? Or was that just a side effect?


Nah, they should've just approached David Lynch for the film. I'm sure he would've at least considered it, because he isn't an ignorant fool who walks around saying s**t like "video games are not art". To those that don't know, Lynch was actually involved in a video game in the late 90's together with Japanese developer "Synergy", but the project was cancelled.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by The Adversary »

>Why go the extra mile of burning the coal beneath the real town to make it uninhabitable in the normal world?<
I feel like that was just a side-effect of the ritual going awry, sort of like in SILENT HILL how Dahlia inadvertently burns her house down. It's not like they wanted the coal mine to set fire, it just happened when the chains broke.

Maybe I'm misremembering but that's always what I took from that.

>Every player with at least some knowledge knows that Silent Hill is a normal resort town to most people's eyes<
I dunno, I see this brought up a lot—the thought the town is just abandoned. But, well, I kinda blame the film for that, too.
Last edited by The Adversary on 10 Jan 2023, edited 1 time in total.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by phantomess »

Jonipoon wrote: 07 Jan 2023 - If Dark Alessa is supposed to help Alessa take revenge on the townspeople, why does it trap them in this nightmare world for 30 years and then suddenly decide to annihilate them?
Maybe I'm sort of misinterpreting your question, because I'm sure you know this, but Dark Alessa explained that she couldn't do anything to the cult members inside the church until they were faced with the truth. Their "blind conviction" blocked her out from the church, and she needed Rose to confront them first.
Maybe it's also possible she wasn't exactly in a rush if, in the meantime, she liked having the cult members living in fear of the "darkness" and being picked off one or a few at a time when the darkness caught them outside the church.
- Why does Dark Alessa, with all her insane power, allow for Sharon to exist in the first place if her presence is necessary? And if they wanted the good part of Alessa to live on happily far away, why call her back?

She wanted to preserve the good part of Alessa, I'd say, but it may have indeed been necessary for that half of her to also be present for the whole confrontation/revenge to work (maybe?). I'm not sure why else she would be called back unless it was only a way to draw in Rose (to help facilitate the confrontation of truth and the ensuing revenge). Actually, Rose may not have been eager to help, even once she as already there, if it weren't to also help save her "daughter"/the good half from the hands of the cult.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

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>Dark Alessa explained that she couldn't do anything to the cult members inside the church until they were faced with the truth.

That's her explanation, but it doesn't really make sense since she unleashed the nightmare at a random time - was everyone really inside the church at that precise moment? Also, we are not shown exactly when Sharon was created, but let's say it was at the same time - which brings us back to the other issue about the reason for Sharon exisiting at all.

I think the problem is that the logic behind Dark Alessa's decisions is flawed and changes too much depending on plot convenience, and therefore is no coherent plan from the get-go. Comparingly, in the video game Dahlia knows exactly what she's doing - her motives don't change depending on what the plot demands.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by tbonesays »

Jonipoon wrote: 07 Jan 2023
- Why does Dark Alessa, with all her insane power, allow for Sharon to exist in the first place if her presence is necessary? And if they wanted the good part of Alessa to live on happily far away, why call her back?
Dark Alessa tormented the townsfolk for years. Eventually the good part of Alessa revolted against all the hate and split away from her. But the evil dominates this world, and it drew Sharon back to Silent Hill.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

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Jonipoon wrote: 08 Jan 2023That's her explanation, but it doesn't really make sense since she unleashed the nightmare at a random time - was everyone really inside the church at that precise moment?
Hmm, what do you mean? The revenge scene wasn't at a random time. It was after Rose confronted them with the truth, which allowed Alessa to enact the full revenge. As for whether everyone was in the church, they likely were since they were having some important purging going on of their two captives at that moment. However, I'm not sure why it would be terribly important for every cult member to be inside the church for the revenge. They would at least be nearby since they don't venture far from the shelter of the church, and there's no reason the darkness and vengeance could not also take place outside the church at the same time. The only reason the darkness never entered the church at the same times it engulfed the rest of the town was because of Alessa being held at bay for the reasons mentioned. I would think any outside stragglers would be picked off.
tbonesays wrote: Eventually the good part of Alessa revolted against all the hate and split away from her. But the evil dominates this world, and it drew Sharon back to Silent Hill.
What? That's not how it was explained. Dark Alessa explained that they hid what was left of Alessa's goodness in Sharon. What would the point of that exposition scene be if we're not to believe the explanation? I don't see any reason to disbelieve it and come up with an alternate explanation.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by tbonesays »

phantomess wrote: 09 Jan 2023
Jonipoon wrote: 08 Jan 2023That's her explanation, but it doesn't really make sense since she unleashed the nightmare at a random time - was everyone really inside the church at that precise moment?
Hmm, what do you mean? The revenge scene wasn't at a random time. It was after Rose confronted them with the truth, which allowed Alessa to enact the full revenge. As for whether everyone was in the church, they likely were since they were having some important purging going on of their two captives at that moment. However, I'm not sure why it would be terribly important for every cult member to be inside the church for the revenge. They would at least be nearby since they don't venture far from the shelter of the church, and there's no reason the darkness and vengeance could not also take place outside the church at the same time. The only reason the darkness never entered the church at the same times it engulfed the rest of the town was because of Alessa being held at bay for the reasons mentioned. I would think any outside stragglers would be picked off.
tbonesays wrote: Eventually the good part of Alessa revolted against all the hate and split away from her. But the evil dominates this world, and it drew Sharon back to Silent Hill.
What? That's not how it was explained. Dark Alessa explained that they hid what was left of Alessa's goodness in Sharon. What would the point of that exposition scene be if we're not to believe the explanation? I don't see any reason to disbelieve it and come up with an alternate explanation.
I believe Jonipoon was asking about the beginning of the nightmare, not the end. The answer is that it takes a little time for the nightmare to draw energy and the survivors naturally ran into the church. By the time Rose arrives they know how it works.

It's not an alternative explanation, I inferred it only from the film. My interpretation answers questions like Junipoon posed that aren't given in the story.
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

Post by Droo »

I just want to point out that in the year of the Lord 2023 people are actually having an honest debate about the plot of the 2006 film. Crazy! :lol:
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

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Imagine what will happen when multiple games are released!
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

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tbonesays wrote: 10 Jan 2023
It's not an alternative explanation, I inferred it only from the film. My interpretation
Saying "Eventually the good part of Alessa revolted against all the hate and split away from her" does differ from Dark Alessa's explanation of them hiding the good part of Alessa away in Sharon, but okay.
Droo wrote: 10 Jan 2023 I just want to point out that in the year of the Lord 2023 people are actually having an honest debate about the plot of the 2006 film. Crazy! :lol:
That's quite expected in this fanbase! :P
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Re: I want to love this movie but, damn, that story...

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phantomess wrote: 11 Jan 2023
tbonesays wrote: 10 Jan 2023
It's not an alternative explanation, I inferred it only from the film. My interpretation
Saying "Eventually the good part of Alessa revolted against all the hate and split away from her" does differ from Dark Alessa's explanation of them hiding the good part of Alessa away in Sharon, but okay.
How? Dark Alessa tells us that Sharon is and why she moved her. Dark Alessa does not say one word about why or how Sharon was created.
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