I think we are missing something important that MAY put Homecoming in the Movie Canon: Silent Hill: Revelation 3D.
Literally everything that Homecoming put as "references" of past games can be also put in SH: R, so, it may be not canon after all.
Let’s start with the Otherworld, it is obviously the same "flying paper" - like thing in the SH movie, and possibly in SH:R, too, so that means it could be just tied to those three entries in the series.
Next thing, Lakeside Amusement Park: it appears in SH:R, too and may be just a reference to it, since Robbie also appears in SH:R.
Next thing: The Order. It is going to appear in SH: R, too, and their beliefs in the movie could explain those of Holloway in Homecoming, but, we'll have to wait and see.
Next thing: Douglas Cartland: he is going to appear in SH: R and the things that he said about the Order can be explained in the Movie...but maybe it doesn’t go like that...
Next thing, and the least plausible one, although still possible: The Peter Outerbridge rumors of SH: R: If those rumors are true, then Travis at the Beginning of Homecoming could also be explained. It could go like this: since Outerbridge looks too young to play the Travis we see in Homecoming, maybe he just appears in a flashback, like rescuing Sharon from SH or something in his truck, and then it could explain Outerbridge's young look in SH:R and his older look as Travis in SHH.
However, these two last things are only speculation, since we still don’t know how will their roles play out, but, seeing that they kept Heather's outfit (partially) and her "rude" attitude, and Claudia's beliefs, we can HOPE to see those two characters as they are.

So, we'll just have to wait and see SH: R to see if it can make Homecoming non-canon.


Also, the dumbest of the theories of me is, if James saw Lakeview Hotel as if it was "normal" again, just to see that it was still burned really bad, maybe Alex imagined SH as he thought it would be after hearing things about it, since he didn’t know it before as James did, and he also went to Silent Hill on his own (after the otherworld Shepherd House). Maybe this could explain why the other characters that go to SH see it as it really is, since they don’t know anything nor have heard about it.
So, James can see parts of it as he remembers it (Lakeview, for example), and Alex can see it as he thinks it would be after deciding to go, hearing things about it from her mother, and even going there after finding Joey Bartlett's "Tomb". Also, Heather could have seen SH as it really is because she was Alessa in her past life, and she knew the town very well before the incident with her mother. Alex’s possible imagination of SH as he thought it to be seems unlikely, but seeing some of the endings (not counting Bogeyman nor UFO, obviously), excluding Good one, too, we can think that he was also imagining the entire events all of the time, like in the In Water ending, or, best seen, in the Hospital ending.
That’s my (kind of dumb) theory to make it Canon, since we haven’t seen SH: R yet, we can consider this theory Thanks!

Oh, i forgot Cybil. Wheeler says that she dissappeared. It may be a nod to the first game, yes, but didnt she "dissappeared" in the movie, too? She died, sure, but her corpse was nowhere to be found in the Fog world of the Church, along with the cultists, and that may mean that she dissappeared to the real world officers/people of Brahms.

Plot Hole number 1) The cult in the movie isn't the Order; the director said so.

2) Movie Cybil isn't from Brahams, if I recall.

Not in the first movie, no. But apparently Michael J. Bassett has confirmed that the cult that appears in SH:R is a different cult, namely the Order.


Actually, I think she is. When she can't reach anyone on her radio, she tells Rose that they'll be "hiking back to Brahms."

EDIT: She is from Brahms. Check out this page of Silent Hill props and scroll down to Cybil's costume. A photo of her badge is also found on page 3.

This theory is certainly quite speculative right now, but it's interesting to think about, even if it does rather complicate things when we no longer have just a game universe and a movie universe. Though ultimately, it takes more to prove a game's non-canon status than "the movies based on the games tie in to this game." In other words, Homecoming's fit with this movie makes no difference as to whether or not it belongs in the game universe.

Claudia_Wolf: Please don't double-post. If you want to add on to your latest post, use the 'Edit' button. And please mark your movie spoilers.

Downpour contains enough references to Homecoming that I think it's safe to say it's canon.

Not to mention that the memo which makes reference to Douglas in Homecoming also speaks of Paul Sceible's book containing his interviews with long-time residents of the town, indicating Silent Hill is still inhabited. The first movie makes it clear that in that canon, no one lives there anymore.

Just because the game contains nods to the movie doesn't mean it exists in the movie's universe any more than the current Spider-Man comics exist in the movie canon due to their use of The Lizard.

The developers have stated Homecoming is canon.

Developers of Shattered Memories have said that game is a re-imagining of the first game, and have called Book of Memories a non-canon title set in the canon universe. They call it as it is.

Just because the game is a bit different and the fact that fans dislike it doesn't change the facts. Its like fans of Mass Effect complaining about the ending saying how it can't be right.

I don't wan't to end up being rude, but what's the point of creating a theory based on an unreleased movie title?

First of all, if you are tying Homecoming with Revelation, then you're automatically making reference to the first movie. Why didn't you then present some evidence from the first title? Because, most of the paper I've read was based on: See, this thing too will maybe appear in SH:R, making it self-explanatory. That makes it at the very least a speculation, not a theory.

Moreover, about Alex's town story-based construction- the problem with that thought is that you omitted the fact that Alex went to Silent Hill as a kid. He was rushed to the nearby Alchemilla Hospital.

Meh, it doesnt matter, thanks for the information
I didnt know about those things.
And, for the Alex in SH before thing, he only went to Alchemilla, as a kid, and "ill", so, maybe that means he didnt get to explore the whole town, and only remembers alchemilla well. Alessa, thats another thing. She lived there for 7 years, and her "astral projection" in SH0 and SH1 spent more time in SH.
Anyway, i think that doesnt really matter. Thanks you to all of you!

>Paul Sceible's book containing his interviews with long-time residents of the town, indicating Silent Hill is still inhabited<
If Lawrence were suddenly abandoned, and I was forced to move, I would still be considered a long-time resident of Lawrence. If someone grew up in Silent Hill before the coal fire, and lived there for, say, 30 years, s/he'd still be a long-time resident of Silent Hill regardless of where s/he currently lives.

I'm not agreeing with the non-canonical theory, mind, rather addressing this issue alone—that Douglas' exposé could pertain to the film's Silent Hill if someone were trying really hard.

I suppose that's true. I hadn't really thought of it like that.

Homecoming is in the movie canon because the Hospital Ending is true and thus everything that contradicts the theory is simply made up.

Man, that ending really sucks, doesn't it?

NOOOOOO Alex leaves with Elle just as James leaves with Laura. It has to be true.............

Too bad that ending leaves things suboptimally explained, and Wheeler's not even in it even though you have to save his life to get it.

Bottom line is anybody saying Homecoming is set in the movie's universe is either trolling or clearly hasn't been paying attention to the story in Homecoming, how it relates to other games, the story in the film, and how it relates to the games.

The biggest flaw is of course the fact that the cult in the movie is completely different than the one in Homecoming or any other SH game for that matter. There were also earlier plans in Homecoming's development that further solidified the fact the game was meant to be set in the same universe the rest of the games are since Elle was originally meant to be a grown up version of Laura from SH2 and Alessa was originally going to battle Josh for control of the town.

Those last two comments are no joke either. There's a podcast somewhere interviewing Tomm Hullett who stated those were some of the original ideas of Homecoming. I'm not going to bother linking it because I'm sure others can here vouch for it and all you have to do is type in something along the lines of "Tomm Hullett Whitney CJ Podcast Interview" and you'll probably find it.

Anyway, long story short Homecoming is set in the same universe as all the other games regardless of who does or doesn't like it and nothing will ever change that. Clear?

Hey Augo, you took the words out of my mouth. Are you still on SHCommunity?
Haven't seen you around for a while..
Anyways i also read in an interview somewhere that Akira (while he was working in homecoming), sent some info about the storyline to some of the ex members of Team Silent for approval within the series canon, i can't remember wich one though, i'll have too look around again.

I heard of the second part but the thing about Elle is news to me.

Tomm Hulett mentioned it some time back. I forgot where. It is legit, though.

The Elle thing is true, she was going to be a grown up laura and the jacket she was holding in the boat cutscene would've been Jame's jacket.

That would be so damn stupid and awesome at the same time...