Raining Ashes

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 08 May 2006

I thought the canary, or any birds, could sense when the 'darkness' was coming, that's why they carried the bird.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 09 May 2006

I love Cybil wrote:I thought the canary, or any birds, could sense when the 'darkness' was coming, that's why they carried the bird.

I think zadok is referring to the fact that miners used to use caged birds (like canaries) to detect noxious fumes in mines. The fumes would kill the birds before the miner's body was affected, and they could escape unharmed. This is mentioned in a lot of other threads.

Spong wrote:I dunno whether I missed a bit of the plot or something, but I left the movie 100% convinced that the whole "mine fire under the town" thing was just a cover-story, perhaps dreamed up by someone who'd witnessed the firey depths of the otherworld before escaping (Gucci, perhaps?)
Am I wrong? Were the mine fires ever actually substantiated?

It seems that there is in fact a mine/coal fire burning under the city. but I think it was actually started by Alessa (or the "demon") after the burning. She was granted powers by *something* and she used these powers to create her own personal hell and ignite a fire that swept some of the townspoeple into it. There's a few other threads that go into more detail on this forum.

But it does seem that Gucci knows more than what he is letting on. I dont think it is really a cover-up. I think he just knows about the cult history and possibly what Alessa has done to the town. I think he knows that Silent Hill holds a lot of evil secrets, and he would rather not interfere with something that has been quiet for so long.

Post by **DaneCrystane** » 09 May 2006

Would you like to be reminded of the evils that fanatics can do? to an inocent child, burning her, torturing her, leaving her charred. Knowing that there is nothing you could have done, but still wishing you could? To wake up every mornning and see the scars from an old case that you just want to let go?... and now, 30 years later some big city fancy pants wants to come in and dig it all back out, bringing back what you want to put away, and flat out distrubing the rebuilt lives of the survivors of the fire he wants to protect. personally i wouldnt handle it as calmly, i may have just snapped and yelled " go away its none of your dang busness, we will call you if we find anything! stop assaulting old nuns and just GO HOME!"

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 15 May 2006

I think, the canary was somewhat symbolic. It was to remind us that the men were miners at one time; and also may have hinted at what the ash or miasma (dark silent hill) was.

Miners used to carry canaries with them in the old days. (long before the fire would have ever happened in the mine fyi) These birds would be checked periodically to make sure they were alive. If the canary died, the men would evacuate the mine because of poisonous gas. It's curious then, that when the bird panics due to the darkness coming back, that the men behave exactly as they would have in a darkened mine with gas.

One interesting little side note here:

The cult didn't actually burn Alessa or Cybil at the stake as is so commonly put forth. Rather they were baked alive. By placing them above the coals (or wood in cybils case) they caused the victims to experience a very long and painful death. It's interesting in a way, that this method was chosen for the movie, which makes me wonder if there's not more significance in the mine fire than previously thought. The thing is, a mine fire would cause a city to...well, bake. It'd be a slow and painful end one that would take ages to finish.

Anyone else notice a pattern here?

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 15 May 2006

repsac wrote:The cult didn't actually burn Alessa or Cybil at the stake as is so commonly put forth. Rather they were baked alive. By placing them above the coals (or wood in cybils case) they caused the victims to experience a very long and painful death. It's interesting in a way, that this method was chosen for the movie, which makes me wonder if there's not more significance in the mine fire than previously thought. The thing is, a mine fire would cause a city to...well, bake. It'd be a slow and painful end one that would take ages to finish.

Anyone else notice a pattern here?

Actually, the flashback shows that they burned Alessa in a different way than was used to burn Cybil (and attempted to burn Sharon with). I don't remember her being strapped to a ladder like Cybil and Sharon. I think they restrained her, and burned her in a large alter-like bowl with oils. During the burning, this alter tipped, releasing some of the burning oils into the room which caused the fire.

Correct me if I am wrong on any of this, as it has been a while since I saw the movie. I do agree that Cybil's death seemed to be more painful than being immersed into a fire; that was one of the hardest scenes I've witnessed in a film before. Don't get me wrong, I've seen horrible sceness like this before in movies (saw/hostell/etc). But this was probably different to me because of the audience's emotional connection with Cybil.

Post by **Phantom Allure** » 15 May 2006

yep. they baked Alessa alive in a similar manner as Cybil's, only with that circular iron grid instead of a ladder. Remember? the one with the modified crucifix on it? It was suspended over the coal-bearing brazier in the middle of the floor.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 15 May 2006

Phantom Allure wrote:yep. they baked Alessa alive in a similar manner as Cybil's, only with that circular iron grid instead of a ladder. Remember? the one with the modified crucifix on it? It was suspended over the coal-bearing brazier in the middle of the floor.

Oh yeah, right. Like a bastard child BBQ. I guess what flowed out of the alter was just a mixture of coals/fuel/burned Alessa. Thanks for clearing that up.

Anonymous · Post by **Anonymous** » 16 May 2006

It looked like coal, which may point to a possible reason why the mine fire got started...

Post by **The Adversary** » 16 May 2006

>the worlds in SH2 are created by james, not mary. am i correct on this?
Depends on who you're asking. I believe that Mary has a lot more suasion on Silent Hill 2 than James does.

Post by **samddmas** » 07 Nov 2006

I think it's just that it's a Silent Hill frozen in time since the mine disaster and as such will still be feeling the effects.

Post by **wadup ripsta** » 09 Nov 2006

i think i should stop smoking :[

Post by **substitute_reality** » 10 Nov 2006

i dont understand why it was ashes in this movie but in the game it was snow... Why would they change it like that? I personally like the ashes idea better but.. i dunno. just sortof mad they didn't really stick to the games all that well and sort of generalized it so that EVERYBODY could understand. Sure they made more money off of it but what about us die hard fans? COmmoN!! LOl

Post by **Evil_Someone** » 11 Nov 2006

no idea why but can you imagine SUNNY SILENT HILL!!!!!!!!!

Silent Hill Heaven

Raining Ashes

xxxxx