How to fix Silent Hill

Discuss the original 2006 movie.

Moderator: Moderators

Post Reply
User avatar
Tom Servo
Hope House Careworker
Posts: 737
Joined: 17 Sep 2004
Location: Whispering Rock

How to fix Silent Hill

Post by Tom Servo »

If you were given the chance to make any changes you wanted to Silent Hill the movie - story, actors, visuals, anything - to make it a better adaptation and film, what would it be? I'm not talking about what to work on for Silent Hill 2 - just alterations that would produce your dream SH movie, going on the existing work.

This topic isn't limited to those who disliked the film - I know many, myself included, who loved it, yet clearly see room for improvement. All ideas are fair game here.

My ideas:

- Get. Rid. Of. The. Cult. Anything that forcibly calls to mind such MST-worthy heaps as "The Touch of Satan" or "Manos the Hands of Fate" does not belong in the same hemisphere as Silent Hill. I'm not averse to the cult storyline in general - I play SH1 and SH3 regularly - but it's very, VERY easy to cross the line from "a town with a dark old secret" to "THEY SACRIFICED VIRGIN YOUTHS TO THEIR FIREBREATHING DEMIGODS ZOMGWTFBBQ!!!!!!@." I'd prefer that they be limited to a few desperate holdouts, maybe even Christabella on her own, callously disregarding her followers and trying to save her own skin - which, come to think of it, would better her characterization as a psycho bitch. Plus, the less exposition the better; the cult in the games is close enough to cheese with the little explanation it's been given.

- Toss out the plot contrivance that gets Rose from A to B. Personally, I'd have preferred that SH remain populated and fairly normal, and that Rose and Sharon simply be traveling there on a vacation at Sharon's creepy-kid insistence. If Christopher had to stay in the film, he could be planning to meet them there after handling a business meeting or something, allowing all the characters to move into play without this ridiculous melodrama about sleepwalking. Cybil could essentially play the same role as in the game - getting a tip that sent her into town.

- I like Sean Bean too much to totally snub him out of the film - in my version, he would be trying to find Rose and Sharon in the fully populated SH, dealing with evasive creepy small-town folks. My idea was to have the former cult members inexplicably slaughtered in the real world one by one (not on camera - it's not a slasher), with its leaders (Alessa's most hated) brought into the foggy/alternate world for some serious revenge; Chris could get involved in that plotline somehow.

- Please...fire Roger Avary. I had real hopes when I heard he was being brought on, but I guess 2006 has been an off-year. Surely there's someone who can serve the movie better. And confine Gans to directing while you're at it.

- It's been said too many times but there is NO PRECEDENT for that ending. The horror of Silent Hill is all about what you don't see, blah blah but it's true. I might be okay with it on a smaller scale - that monster design is too good to waste - but I honestly believe it'd be far more effective if done in classic subdued SH fashion. (And I'm not totally sure what I mean by that, honestly, but you know...)

As you can guess, my main goal would be to cut out the witchburning cult as much as possible - they really left me with a sour taste, even though there's so much in the movie to love. Well, hopefully SH2 will be more like the real SH2...I don't know if the Order is prime film material. What are your ideas?
[img]http://www.losttv-forum.com/forum/images/smilies/lost2/DeadHorse.gif[/img]
Watch n rate [url]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=08uJanZEeMo[/url]
User avatar
ValtielInvoked
Just Passing Through
Posts: 112
Joined: 29 Jul 2006
Location: West Virginia.

Post by ValtielInvoked »

The only thing I would add to it would be to somehow work Pyramid Head into the final killing spree,so that it would be Alessa killing some of the cult members,and Pyramid Head killing some,keeping the balance.
Plus it would of been a perfect spot to let one of the most popular creatures in the movie have one last big scare,that creature being PH.
I was kinda dissapointed that he didn't have very many scenes,I know alot of people think that adds to his mystique,but I would of rather seen him join in on the slaughter near the end,seemed fitting.
I reject your reality and substitute my own :]
[img]http://img243.imageshack.us/img243/6540/vat1psdjf6.jpg[/img]
Ethos

Post by Ethos »

Though I liked the idea of an adaptation, and I thought the film was pretty nice and am looking forward to the dvd release, I think if it hadn't followed the events of Silent Hill 1 it would have been more interesting. Mainly because it would be something new.

I also would have liked more walking around, and more tension and less A to B as well. Give off that feeling of the original game where you're walking around, confused to all hell and getting attacked.

The movie needed more tension and less Christopher too. I liked Rose and Sharon, and I liked the idea that something was wrong. I also liked the new characters, though I think the Cult thing brought way too many people in. They could have kept it as long as they didn't make it so cliche. Also, there wasn't much justification on Cristabella's decisions. I thought they were kinda silly at times.
pink_isnt_well000
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 7464
Joined: 09 Jun 2005
Gender: Female
Location: Kentucky

Post by pink_isnt_well000 »

*Sigh* okay from now on keep to the thread topic, post things YOU would have liked to seen changed. If you don't want anything changed or think people shouldn't want anything changed, don't post it here.
User avatar
December Man
Cafe5to2 Waitress
Posts: 175
Joined: 24 May 2006
Location: At this point I really don't know

Post by December Man »

If I could foresee the future, I would tell Gans not to simplify the plot for the wider audience and critics, because most of them didn't understand it even with that.
[img]http://img156.imageshack.us/img156/5149/smallershsig8jd.jpg[/img]
Sippan
Just Passing Through
Posts: 10
Joined: 20 Aug 2006
Location: Stockholm
Contact:

Re: How to fix Silent Hill

Post by Sippan »

Hooray, I'm so glad there was a thread like this. I thought the first half of the movie was quite promising, and the second half was so bad that I almost left the theater. Here's how I'd magically fix it:

* Cut the burning of Cybil and the massacre. This is supposed to be Silent Hill, not Resident Evil. It's supposed to be Psycho, not Braindead. Frightening, not disgusting. (Same goes for the Pyramid Head skin thing, by the way.)

* What was up with that stupid symbol? The Mark of Samael or Seal of Metatron or whatever was awesome, why not use it? Too many lines for the mainstream audience?

* Lower the volume. Some scenes that were otherwise perfect, like the first transformation into Dark Silent Hill with the grey children, were ruined because the sound was so loud that you couldn't think.

* Clean up the script. It was full of really, really stupid and cheesy horror movie lines.

* Has Akira Yamaoka retired or something? Insert an original SH movie soundtrack instead of the SH1 music.

Other than that, I thought the casting, the visuals and the directing was perfect for Silent Hill. Too bad the other stuff made me not like the movie so much that I'll never see it again. I hope the inevitable sequel has learned something from the first movie and is less gory and more psychological, but keeps the distinct SH look. (Which worked very well in a movie, too.)
User avatar
NovaAngel19
Just Passing Through
Posts: 34
Joined: 23 May 2006
Location: CA, USA

Post by NovaAngel19 »

firstly, i wasnt happy with the cast

Rose was good, but everyone else i did not like.

personally, i think the movie would have been 10x creepier if most of the monsters would have remained unseen by the audience ... think about it, hearing the roar of a lion in the dark is much more frightening than the bark of a poodle in broad daylight ... seeing the monsters in CG was pretty cheesy to me, and took away alot of the scare-factor

i HATED the cult thing ... the movie went straight to the sewers once they were introduced. the ending was a bit dissapointing ... and what's the deal with horror movies and weird little kids (girls mostly)? it's become quite a cliche in horror films and it's very annoying ... if i see another horror movie with a strange little kid in it, im gonna snap.

i think the movie would have also been a bit better, had it centered solely on Silent Hill ... it was hard to sense a feeling of isolation and hopelessness for Rose, when here Husband and cops knew where exactly she was the whole time.

i was just thinking ... if they make another Silent Hill movie, why couldnt they make the entire movie in CG? i know that it would probably be an expensive and lengthy project, but if they made the SH sequel along the same lines as a movie like 'Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children' the movie would be killer! in my opinion.

anyone else agree?


hopefully they learn from these mistakes, if and when another Silent Hill movie comes out.
pink_isnt_well000
Historical Society Historian
Posts: 7464
Joined: 09 Jun 2005
Gender: Female
Location: Kentucky

Post by pink_isnt_well000 »

Don't double post, use the edit button.
Gwenfloor
Cafe5to2 Waitress
Posts: 157
Joined: 19 Aug 2006

Post by Gwenfloor »

Blue Moth wrote:Also, there wasn't much justification on Cristabella's decisions. I thought they were kinda silly at times.
Religious fanatics and cult leaders in the real world are not known for being rational and reasonable. I think it makes perfect sense for her to make crazy off-the-wall decisions. That's what cult leaders are known for.
Two wrongs don't make a right, but it sure as h*ll makes it even!

Silent Hill RPG: www.silenthill123.proboards50.com
User avatar
Ruinous
Just Passing Through
Posts: 4
Joined: 05 May 2006

Re: How to fix Silent Hill

Post by Ruinous »

Tom Servo wrote:If you were given the chance to make any changes you wanted to Silent Hill the movie - story, actors, visuals, anything - to make it a better adaptation and film, what would it be? I'm not talking about what to work on for Silent Hill 2 - just alterations that would produce your dream SH movie, going on the existing work.

This topic isn't limited to those who disliked the film - I know many, myself included, who loved it, yet clearly see room for improvement. All ideas are fair game here.

My ideas:

- Get. Rid. Of. The. Cult. Anything that forcibly calls to mind such MST-worthy heaps as "The Touch of Satan" or "Manos the Hands of Fate" does not belong in the same hemisphere as Silent Hill. I'm not averse to the cult storyline in general - I play SH1 and SH3 regularly - but it's very, VERY easy to cross the line from "a town with a dark old secret" to "THEY SACRIFICED VIRGIN YOUTHS TO THEIR FIREBREATHING DEMIGODS ZOMGWTFBBQ!!!!!!@." I'd prefer that they be limited to a few desperate holdouts, maybe even Christabella on her own, callously disregarding her followers and trying to save her own skin - which, come to think of it, would better her characterization as a psycho bitch. Plus, the less exposition the better; the cult in the games is close enough to cheese with the little explanation it's been given.

- Toss out the plot contrivance that gets Rose from A to B. Personally, I'd have preferred that SH remain populated and fairly normal, and that Rose and Sharon simply be traveling there on a vacation at Sharon's creepy-kid insistence. If Christopher had to stay in the film, he could be planning to meet them there after handling a business meeting or something, allowing all the characters to move into play without this ridiculous melodrama about sleepwalking. Cybil could essentially play the same role as in the game - getting a tip that sent her into town.

- I like Sean Bean too much to totally snub him out of the film - in my version, he would be trying to find Rose and Sharon in the fully populated SH, dealing with evasive creepy small-town folks. My idea was to have the former cult members inexplicably slaughtered in the real world one by one (not on camera - it's not a slasher), with its leaders (Alessa's most hated) brought into the foggy/alternate world for some serious revenge; Chris could get involved in that plotline somehow.

- Please...fire Roger Avary. I had real hopes when I heard he was being brought on, but I guess 2006 has been an off-year. Surely there's someone who can serve the movie better. And confine Gans to directing while you're at it.

- It's been said too many times but there is NO PRECEDENT for that ending. The horror of Silent Hill is all about what you don't see, blah blah but it's true. I might be okay with it on a smaller scale - that monster design is too good to waste - but I honestly believe it'd be far more effective if done in classic subdued SH fashion. (And I'm not totally sure what I mean by that, honestly, but you know...)

As you can guess, my main goal would be to cut out the witchburning cult as much as possible - they really left me with a sour taste, even though there's so much in the movie to love. Well, hopefully SH2 will be more like the real SH2...I don't know if the Order is prime film material. What are your ideas?
Silent Hill is fine the way it is. Your ideas take so much away from what the series is.
Ethos

Post by Ethos »

Gwenfloor wrote:Religious fanatics and cult leaders in the real world are not known for being rational and reasonable. I think it makes perfect sense for her to make crazy off-the-wall decisions. That's what cult leaders are known for.
Before the film came to dvd, I'd only seen it once in theaters, and I thought Alessa's purification was due to her "not having a father", and not "Dahlia isn't naming the father, so it's probably the demon". Had it been the first, it would have seemed to me like a caricature, but one that had been stretched all out of proportion that it didn't make sense. You can only take in so much when you're fidgeting with your popcorn and your mother keeps poking you, asking you what all that meant.

I would have added more monster instances too, I suppose. Not necessarily fight sequences, but more sightings, and I think things should have moved where the tension kept piling up and up. Some of it went really fast, despite the length of the film, or Rose's screaming made me laugh a very little bit to myself.

Only in bits though.
mintman
Just Passing Through
Posts: 11
Joined: 06 Nov 2005
Location: Eileen's FACE!

Post by mintman »

I actually agree with "Tom Servo's" ideas completely -- except for maybe the inclusion of Sean Bean. I'd have cut that character entirely, and told Sean to find a better role. Other than that, the way the cult was presented was the worst part of the movie. That scene where Rose actually teams up with the ... "darkness" to kill all the cult members ruined any suspense that the movie had at that point.

I know this is a little off topic, but one other thing I didn't like was Gans' reasoning for adapting Silent Hill 1 instead of his (and my) favourite, Silent Hill 2. He said that there needed to be more background information given before he could adapt Silent Hill 2, or something to that effect. I played Silent Hill 2 first, and I still enjoyed it, even though I didn't understand everything that was happening. Actually, I liked it more because it didn't answer the questions I had. Finding out about the cult and Alessa actually cheapened the experience for me. The character-centric story of Silent Hill 2 was much more interesting than learning about the town.

There's me rambling. From all that I guess I can just say that I would have preferred to learn less about the town and care more for the experience that the characters were going through.
Fredrick2003
My Bestsellers Clerk
Posts: 357
Joined: 10 Jun 2006
Gender: Male

Post by Fredrick2003 »

My main complaint was that there we're just too many freaking people there.

Think about Silent Hill 1-4, you had like 5 characters in a gigantic town, whereas in the movie you have... I want to say around 50 nutty people who are more funny than scary.

Thats really my only complaint though, I thought they did a good job with the rest.
User avatar
Prinny
Just Passing Through
Posts: 75
Joined: 18 May 2006

Post by Prinny »

Fredrick2003 wrote:My main complaint was that there we're just too many freaking people there.
.
Agreed...the audience actually giggled during the scene when, all of sudden, all those people came running up the church steps.

Other than that, some cleaner, clever, more subtle script writing would've been nice. Let the audience guess more, rather than having everything explained to them. Especially during Rose's "enlightenment" scene....Harry, James and Heather saw memories by TV, perhaps a similar story device could've been used for Rose.

I also agree with what others said that the monsters should've had more symbolism, with Rose or Alessa's fears manifested. I liked the direction they went when adding the Janitor...despite their reasons for adding him, the monster(?) was relevant to Alessa's past. Though I can understand wanting to show PH in all his glory....man did he look cool :D
Fredrick2003
My Bestsellers Clerk
Posts: 357
Joined: 10 Jun 2006
Gender: Male

Post by Fredrick2003 »

I think to most non-SH playing people Pyramid Head is the most recognizable monster, thats probobly why he got put in there.
User avatar
Blue Jester
Just Passing Through
Posts: 19
Joined: 30 Aug 2006
Location: What do you care? Cuz I don't

Post by Blue Jester »

Take out Christabella and use Dahlia in her role. Make Dahlia evil like in the first game, playing off the good mother vs. evil mother themes.

Course you'd have to come up for a reason why she'd immolate her own daughter, and change the cult's beliefs....
"Without rules, we'd all be up in trees throwing crap at each other."
User avatar
walterhunt
Just Passing Through
Posts: 3
Joined: 16 Nov 2006

Now I don't wanna get off on a rant here...

Post by walterhunt »

Personally, as a gamer and a SH fan, the whole film was a mistake. I was nothing but offended. The film was sacrilidge, it's as if they made a movie of the bible that was about Moses collecting gold coins.
1. Cheryl, not Sharon
2. Pyrmaid Head, not Red Pyramid
3. There are not that many people in Silent Hill
4. Cybil is not that masculine
5. The Order is complete misrepresented in the film
6. Where's Dr. Kaufman?
7. Keep all of this garbage about Brahams out of the film
From the stuff in the film, I can tell that Roger Avery knows a little about the game, which is why I can't understand what went wrong. I remeber watching the pitiful excuse of "Special features" that was included on the DVD, and in a Making-Of featurette, Roger Avery talks of the necessity to "recreate the wheel". There is no reason the recreate anything. Silent Hill had an excellent story that would of (and should of) been a great film. The fact that it was transformed into a summer slasher 'flick" disgusts me. If they aren't going to make a Silent Hill movie for Silent hill fans, then what's the freakin' point?
David Lynch should have made this movie.
User avatar
overachiever547
Gravedigger
Posts: 452
Joined: 22 Apr 2006

Post by overachiever547 »

Give everyone assault rifles and make everyone a SWAT type team member with ultra cool karate moves.

Make all the girls run around in barely anything.

Make Pyramid Head this big ass dude with staple in his head and a machine gun that owns everybody and a rocket launcher that blows shit up.

Make Sharon an amnesiac who has latent altered-genetics super powers, like being sexy and kicking ass and being pale at once.

Oh yeah.
Hire Uwe Boll.




:shock:
Hurm...
Post Reply