It's hard to say where it's going next. Whether it tries something new, like creating a totally new story arc, or, making an attempt at translating another game into movie, I don't think it's going to be pleasing to most either way. It's one of those situations where nobody is going to be happy. Too many conflicting opinions on what people want and even the end result might not be what you originally expected if it goes in your favour. I've always seen it as 'Western film trying to regurgitate a finely detailed Japanese psychological horror video game into a movie'... already sounds difficult, no? Think of the culture clashes and business aspects to make the movie actually sell and the changes needed to make it so, etc.
I love the fact they tried their best at adapting the first Silent Hill in their own way. Now when the first movie came out I thought it was literally a stand alone, fan influenced, film(just because the game franchise was popular, I assumed), and with no sequels on the horizon my view was as such. They didn't get everything right and nor was it THAT bad that it was unwatchable. Although not needed and out of place it was nice to see ol'Pyramid Head dragging that sword on the big screen as well as other familiar sights(from what seemed to be more Silent Hill 2 references). The breaking of specific iconic/symbolic motifs and lore just increased my view of how this movie was probably going to be the only Silent Hill movie to be made.
And of course over time the sequel gets announced and genuinely I'm really looking forward to it! Like, it's another Silent Hill movie, who wouldn't be if you're a fan of the games? So then it becomes obvious this movie is going to tackle Silent Hill 3. Now, after seeing it, you have to agree the acting was pretty damn terrible, even for Sean. I wanted to like it so so so so so so so so much but it ended up being cringe worthy in some places. Pushing passed the bad acting however, you do start to compromise, but I feel only fans of the game franchise would be able to do that so god knows what people who weren't fully aware thought.
I agree with a lot of comments in this thread, it was heavily rushed, the story bounced around so much it was the end before you knew it so I do hope the next movie is at bare minimum 1h30 + mins long. Although with a whole new story line maybe they won't need it to be so long? This is Hollywood after all..
Complaining about Pyramid Head being in most Silent Hill...'anything' nowadays also comes down to the fact he/she/it was glamourised by Western cinema(most notably by the first Silent Hill movie and additionally the appearances in games post Silent Hill 4 which were made by western devs, I think?), it's getting old to whine about it but I think it's still OK as long as you know it's not going to stop the inevitable.
All in all what I thought was the best thing about both Silent Hill movies were the nurses. They were done perfectly, more so in the first film. That scene where they're all crowded together and all move at once and turn to face the woman. Got goosebumps at that bit because it was almost like a direct transition of them from the games, from how they were acted out to what they looked like and ESPECIALLY the noises they made. I couldn't help but sit there and smile because I was probably one of the 10% in the cinema that really knew the real reason why they made such erotic groaning noises(nod to Silent Hill 2).
Regardless of what route they take I see this movie spree going down the road of the Resident Evil ones, that's if future movies continue to gross on profit(some how o.O). But what I find interesting is that the animated movies of Resident Evil are actually REALLY good in both animation and story, at least compared live action ones(maybe because they're developed in the East). Animation also preserves a world that was created in fiction to begin with as you have more freedom to be creative with the original art of the game more importantly the main aspect which is the psychological horror, something I feel the films we've already seen seem to lack heavily which is disappointing. Also directors only have to find voice actors, and what better than to hire the original actors from the games? That kind of continuity is what brings any partial fan in. I feel like animation is definitely under played in film today or at least in the realm of adaptations. I mean cgi cut scenes today in games are brilliant(Assassin's Creed 3 launch trailer for one example(the one where he kills the Templar on the horse)) and could easily be fine tuned and turned into a full length feature film.
So in saying this I think if they ever thought about it, especially over in Japan, an animated Silent Hill game movie adaptation, I think, would land SO well. The attention to detail and not having to worry about having to blend live action and CGI surroundings would prove to work in dev's favour to create a more convincing and loyal movie. I'm not sure how animated movies budgets compare to major Hollywood blockbusters but I could see it taking longer to produce maybe even being more expensive, but would be worth the wait.
I'm literally just going to wait until this Silent Hill movie franchise dies out and hope for a more close artistic reboot and hope that it's animated haha( Only saying this because even the Resident Evil movie franchise is said to be rebooting in the future).
This comment is unnecessarily long but I had to wait a couple of days to get my account activated so I thought I might as well
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