I think as long as you can relate to the protagonist's story, it's a good enough story. I want to feel engaged when I play a silent Hill game, and while Homecoming is flawed, that's how I felt when I played it.

I actually was pleased to see some of the torture stuff in Homecoming. The SAW-inspired contraption which Alex's Mum was put in particularly, if only because it actually showed the nutters having some balls and actually doing something. Parts of some of the original games start to get to the point where the extent of the threat is something like... "Oh no, they might BE SCARY NEAR TO ME!". That drill through the leg was a moment of "shit, that's not just villain talk, she means business".

There were parts where it got a bit iffy though. For instance I can't see any reason why that one feller's weapon of choice was a bigass angle grinder, though it did make the fight more visceral than, say, running around a room shooting at Eddie from a distance until he falls down.

I think it was interesting to have, like you said, a real threat for once. The dudes from the order were really agressive, and they were as scary as the monsters. which is interesting, because it shows that in the end, humanity is the real monster, and people can do horrible things in the name of their beliefs which is consistent with the story.

I think the title should be changed to "Silent Hill Homecoming feels like an American SAW film"