I Saw It! Post Your Reviews Here! (Mark your spoilers, too!)

[DistantJ]

I agree. If the team behind a Silent Hill movie aimed to do a psychological thriller (or even psychological melodrama), I think there would be a better end result.

The thing is, psychological melodrama has been done before and done better. Silent Hill 2 pulled it off well by video game standards, sure, but an accurate adaptation into a movie would be forgotten in no time underneath the shadows of the Shutter Islands and Black Swans out there. The thing that Silent Hill DOES do better than anything else is the hellish worlds, the surreal monsters, the atmosphere, and I don't think they should cut back on what makes it memorable. We can moan all we want about Pyramid Head and boobalicious nurses outside of James' fantasies, but nobody ever forgets these things. Any time I mention Silent Hill to non gamer friends they all say "Oh wow, that one with the huge triangle helmet guy, frightened the shit out of me", not "The one with the mum looking for her adopted child."

And I know you didn't bring it up yourself, but i'm just going to say for anyone else wanting to make a comment about it just because they hated the movie. Someone who likes this film, or any film considered mindless or horrible for that matter, does not mean that person is somehow less intelligent than you nor does it mean that they are too ignorant to see the faults in it.

I agree 100 percent. Not only are taste and intelligence in no way related, but also different people go into films (or any other media) looking for different things. Some people want art, and some people simply want entertainment. Obviously it's a lot more complicated than that, but that's the gist of what I mean.

In the case of Revelations, if you are looking for an entertaining (albeit cheesy) cliffs-notes adaptation of SH3 with a shit-ton of references for the fans to pick up on then the movie absolutely delivers. That's why, despite my overwhelming disappointment with the film, I voted for the second option in the poll above. I would never say Revelations is a good film, but I also can't say I wasn't entertained. I just felt SH3 (and the entire series, really) deserved something more cerebral and skillfully crafted than what we got.

Agreed, with both of you, but also, a lot of the complaints about this film are about bad dialogue and exposition, as well as fast pacing, but these things are all so subjective. I wanted to contest your 'some want art, some want entertainment' sentence though; art is subjective, and is a hard thing to define. Many forms of art are as controversial as film, stuff like Damien Hurst get some people drooling whilst others are offended by the very idea that it could be considered art, who wax lyrical about how the medium is being destroyed. I personally hate the idea that films should all fit into such a mould, where the pacing has to be a certain way or characters have to talk in a certain way.

A lot of my favourite films get berated for having poor dialogue but I personally like when a script is a little 'pantomimey', some of my favourite lines in SH1 were ones which a lot of people on here laugh about (the whole 'mother is god' thing, Dahlia's ramblings, Christabella's speeches), and I love when a movie does things differently (e.g. faster or slower pacing than standard, ignoring the 3-act structure...), and I don't apologise for this or use silly terms like "guilty pleasure". People always act like there's such an objective 'good' and 'bad' for films, using this unnecessary criteria to judge them by, when some of the best films of all time threw these rules of pacing and such out of the window and did their own thing.

Critics do judge by a criteria, almost like a teacher grading homework for how much it 'gets right', but art can't be judged in such a way, and no piece of art could ever be deemed subjectively bad, no matter how qualified or experienced the person attempting to label it is. Sure, there's 'bad art' in the sense that somebody may have attempted one thing and made a complete mess of it, failing to meet it's intention, but at no point did anybody promise that SH Revelation would be a film with realistic dialogue, nor did anybody express any intent of giving it traditional pacing.

Some of my favourite horror films of the last decade have been Rob Zombie's Halloween 1 & 2, Human Centipede 2, Friday the 13th 2009 (no, really), House of 1000 Corpses and Wilderness, and some of my favourites in other genres this same period have been Watchmen, Sucker Punch, Rampage and The Imaginarium of Dr. Parnassus... Pretty much all of these had similar responses, a lot of hatred and a lot of love but very little inbetween, so this pattern is giving me really good feelings about Revelations, but if it does go down well with me, I'm not looking forward to having to explain myself the way I often do with the movies I listed above.

I'm saying all this, for all I know I could hate it as much as half the people on here did, but hey, I'm having fun discussing this.

[NanayaShiki]

The thing is, psychological melodrama has been done before and done better. Silent Hill 2 pulled it off well by video game standards, sure, but an accurate adaptation into a movie would be forgotten in no time underneath the shadows of the Shutter Islands and Black Swans out there.

I strongly disagree.

The thing that Silent Hill DOES do better than anything else is the hellish worlds, the monsters, the atmosphere, and I don't think they should cut back on what makes it memorable. We can moan all we want about Pyramid Head and boobalicious nurses outside of James' fantasies, but nobody ever forgets these things. Any time I mention Silent Hill to non gamer friends they all say "Oh wow, that one with the huge triangle head guy, frightened the shit out of me", not "The one with the mum looking for her adopted child."

Exactly, when you ask your non-gamer friends. As in, the people who watched the movies and didn't play the games. Maybe if the movies had done the stories and drama better then they would have been more memorable. Like the games were.


Not that I'm saying a Silent Hill movie shouldn't do the hellish nightmare world and monsters, but those things have more impact when they have meaning and when they were built up to properly. You need to show restraint, you need to be subtle, you need to be psychological, and you need to make it so when things turn into a hellish nightmare it's something that will make us uncomfortable and scared, not grossed out. But even if you want to throw gross-out horror and jump scares into the Otherworld, you have to build up to it properly. If you are throwing them into the movie AT ALL TIMES ala this movie then none of it is going to be meaningful or impactful or memorable.

If we spend the first 30 minutes of this movie having POPTART JUMP SCARES and sudden shifts of CREEPY CLOWNS EATING PEOPLE then it puts us in a frame of mind that not much is going to shock us or give us a reaction later on. The Otherworld works in the games because we spent a good amount of time walking foggy abandoned NOT GROSS OR IN YOUR FACE streets before it happened. If the movies want to be scary, they need to be more subtle and show more restraint.

I'm no fan of the first Silent Hill movie, but even that one did this better than Revelation.

[DistantJ]

Don't get me wrong, if they did this with an adaptation of Silent Hill 2 I'd be PISSED (though an accurate SH2 adaptation would have me wanting to be watching Lost Highway instead if I'm honest), but I always thought the first movie did the first game's story better than the game did. It's only when we bring SH2 into the equation that I have a problem with the style of the movie(s), I can't say I felt very much characterisation or buildup in game 3 beyond the superficial. As long as I know who Heather is and why she's going to Silent Hill, I'm happy to watch her descend into a trippy nonsensical hell for a while.

[Siaye]

I thought about making a thread for "Your favorite parts of the movie".
But whatever, I'll just post here.

Here's the parts I really liked:

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Robbie Moved!
The nightmare school scene.
The mall scene starting from when she runs down a hallway.
The car ride with Vincent.
Monster drawings in Harry's notebook.
The screaming mannequin.
The "steel cage motel room"
The mannequin spider.
The first monster encounter in Brookhaven.
The entire nurse scene.
Both Pyramid Head scenes: Lost Arms & Kickin' Boss' Ass.
Leonard's "Many Silent Hills" line.
All of Brookhaven.
Every single POV shot.
The carousel sinking into the ground.
Heather and Alessa catfight.
Ending references to SH2, Origins, & Downpour.

[McG]

Just got back from seeing it.

Some people here just don't seem to get that Silent Hill movies need to be adapted for the mainstream to have any sort of success. If you go into the movie with this mindset, you will enjoy it.

I enjoyed the hell out of the movie. I appreciated all the little easter eggs Bassett threw in.

My wife didn't care for the first Silent Hill. She liked this one. Not knowing the back story, she'd be a prime example of a mainstream movie goer.

[KoRn_Child]

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Apparently they missed the memo that Heather didn't even exist yet when Travis went to Silent Hill...

Did you miss the memo that the movies are in a completely different universe than the games?
Really, I have plenty of qualms with the movie, but come on now.

The character in question mentions that they "haven't been through here in a long time" or something along those lines. So I'm pretty sure this person is simply passing through and isn't there for the first time.

[NanayaShiki]

Some people here just don't seem to get that Silent Hill movies need to be adapted for the mainstream to have any sort of success. If you go into the movie with this mindset, you will enjoy it.

Those are two huge assumptions right there.

[Lawlzy]

I assume they are confused and referring to

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When Heather talks to Dahlia.

Oops my mistake, I meant Dahlia not Rose!

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Apparently they missed the memo that Heather didn't even exist yet when Travis went to Silent Hill...

Did you miss the memo that the movies are in a completely different universe than the games?
Really, I have plenty of qualms with the movie, but come on now.

Of course I didn't, as I said, the movie on it's own is awful and can't even follow it's own story that it tries to set up.

[Patchwork_Heaven]

I think if they *deep breath* cut out the Christopher/Harry x Rose conversation and the Heather/Sharon x Dahlia conversation, made the dialogue between Heather/Sharon x Vincent a lot more believable, had Douglas survive and drive Heather/Sharon to Silent Hill, instead of her randomly teleporting there, replaced the brain monster with a SH3 monster, replaced the Lying Figure in the school with another SH3 monster, treated the Memory of Alessa fight like it was in the game, and lengthened the Mannequin Spider and Leonard scenes, this film would actually be good.

[teosoleil]

^ Lol. So if Revelations was basically a walkthrough of SH3 played out by actors, you'd give it five stars.

[Patchwork_Heaven]

^ Lol. So if Revelations was basically a walkthrough of SH3 played out by actors, you'd give it five stars.

Other than adding a few SH3 monsters and Douglas being the one to drive Heather, I didn't say I wanted any other scene from the game included.

[TerryRed]

I went into this movie expecting to be entertained, but not expecting an amazing Silent Hill experience compared to the games. I wisely knew there would be ALOT of changes, and did not EXPECT anything in particular from this movie.

That said, overall I actually liked the movie despite its flaws.

I liked:
-the visuals. Pretty good considering the low budget of the movie.
-the mannequin monster suprised me. My favorite monster scene easily.
-the explanations of the story that were clearly trying (a little too hard maybe, and yes there were inconsistencies) to bridge the SH1 movie story with the SH3 game story.
-the pace compared to the first movie. Yes it was TOO fast, and I wanted a longer and more fleshed out movie, but I never ever felt bored.
-acting actually wasn't that bad. Yes there were some bits that were bad (Rose was WAY too stiff, and she's a good actress), but it was more the dialogue that was the problem.

I didn't like:
-the whole end battle scene
-more SH3'ish monsters instead of just re-using the old ones
-length of the movie should have been longer to allow more build up of everything
-inconsistencies with the first movie's ending.
- no real "WOW, that was cool!" moments like in the first movie. ie. Christabella and Annas death scenes.

I always felt SH3 had the worst (but not bad) story compared to the other games, so I didn't go in with high expectations. I however loved SH3 for its otherworld, and how disturbed and isolated it made me feel. Easily my favorite looking SH game.

It seems Revelations for me corrected the things I didn't like about the first movie (not many things), but fell short on the things I REALLY like about the first movie. The things it did on its own I liked.

It's by no means a bad movie, but it's not a perfect movie. I expected flaws, but was not as angry I was with the first movie's 2nd half. I was NOT dissappointed with it, but wished it was better.

The 3D was pretty good, but would have been better if they used a 16:9 ratio for the film instead of the wider ratio that most movies use. I had fun and want to see it again.

[teosoleil]

^ Lol. So if Revelations was basically a walkthrough of SH3 played out by actors, you'd give it five stars.

Other than adding a few SH3 monsters and Douglas being the one to drive Heather, I didn't say I wanted any other scene from the game included.

My bad, I was just poking fun. It just seemed like you were listing a lot of things from the game (on second glance you really weren't) and I was just being humorous about it. My apologies if that seemed blunt.

[Silent Fantasy]

I think if they *deep breath* cut out the Christopher/Harry x Rose conversation and the Heather/Sharon x Dahlia conversation, made the dialogue between Heather/Sharon x Vincent a lot more believable, had Douglas survive and drive Heather/Sharon to Silent Hill, instead of her randomly teleporting there, replaced the brain monster with a SH3 monster, replaced the Lying Figure in the school with another SH3 monster, treated the Memory of Alessa fight like it was in the game, and lengthened the Mannequin Spider and Leonard scenes, this film would actually be good.

I pretty much agree besides the MoA scene. That scene done what it needed to and showed a struggle for control as they merged again. Shooting her wouldn't have accomplished anything. Plus, this isn't so much MoA as it is Dark Alessa, so she is going to act differently.

[NanayaShiki]

Every time I see someone say something akin to "you just want it to be exactly like the games, if you don't have that expectation then you would like it", it makes me shake my head. For one, I don't think anybody is suggesting they just shoot the game with actors shot for shot. That obviously wouldn't work. But I still say if they are going to adapt a story, they should do their best to stay true to it's overall plot, characters, and themes. This movie did a pretty poor job of that, but it actually did it better than the first movie. On a basic level, Revelations is closer to SH3 than the first movie was to SH1.

This is just a bad movie. No amount of changing expectations would make it better.

Poptart Jump Scare.

[Kenji]

My requirements are actually, I think, fairly lenient. That so few moviemakers (amid a sea of media, old and new) want to fulfill them isn't really my problem. Why should I lower my expectations, just because they're too "tough" to keep up with? Again, how is the inadequacy of others my problem?

I don't particularly care if it adheres to SH3 (I've played SH3 so many times, a straight adaptation would bore me to sleep). I just want it to be smart, to treat me like I'm smart, and, in the case of a Silent Hill film, to be scary. From what I've been hearing, it does none of those things. How can I be interested in that?

[Droo]

You can't.

[Yuki]

Why do so many people have problems with

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the Memory of Alessa encounter? Heather's supposed to accept Alessa so she can use her powers and stop the mess that's going on (although as we know this is a retcon); her shooting MoA would be the opposite of that. It wasn't "killing Alessa with hugging"; it was her absorbing Dark Alessa into her and becoming whole again.

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I think different people have different problems with it.

People who were big fans of the first movie probably dislike it because it's been done already. The two already became whole again at the end of that movie, we are never given any explanation as to how they are separate once more, and most importantly we've simply just already done this. It's repetitive.

People who loved the game and wanted the movie to be closer to it probably dislike it because the "good Alessa" and "evil hatred of Alessa" thing is stupid. Memory of Alessa is just that, a memory of Alessa, not the hateful dark side of her. It's taking the imagery of a classic SH3 scene but stripping away everything BUT that imagery and putting the SH Movie plot over that it.

And people who just dislike the scene in general probably dislike it because it's just plain stupid. Sure, the hugging may make more sense than shooting her (given that this is actually Alessa and not a memory), but it's portrayed as like a sort of hugging battle. Heather and Alessa are struggling within this hug, one sometimes beginning to overpower the other and take on their properties, and then Alessa just vanishes into Heather without them really explaining what the fuck just happened. Add on top of that the fact that, like with the whole movie, the dialog was TERRIBLE and the CGI just as bad, and yeah it's a pretty dumb scene.

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I understand it's a retcon, and I dislike that, but the problem isn't that; I see people going "OH A HUGGING BATTLE THAT IS SO LAME" except... it's not a fight between Alessa trying to turn Heather evil or anything. In fact, Alessa flat-out says she doesn't want that. It's Heather struggling to accept Alessa into herself so she can put an end to the mess with the Order.

Frankly, I thought the dialogue was fine except for "WE'RE ALREADY HERE".

- there are so many things wrong with Vincent, but overall he just is a completely different character than in the game. I can't tell if they (the filmmakers) didn't understand his character in the game and tried to rewrite him or not. Anyhow, they made him

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the son of Claudia and an ex-member of The Order (called The Order of Valtiel in the movie lmao). His "relationship" with Heather is the most forced I've ever seen.

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Bassett clearly understood that Vincent existed to not only confuse Heather--"monsters? are you sure they're monsters?" in the game versus trying to get her to stay away from Silent Hill in the film--but also to tell her where she needed to go to get things done. Although he has a switch in his mood toward Heather really early in for my tastes, he's still clearly ambiguous for a while. Changing his relationships with other characters doesn't change his purpose.

Besides, keep in mind that due to the very nature of adaptations, they're not going to be the same. If you want a film that's the exact same as the source material, you're delusional... not to mention there are quite a few things in the game that wouldn't fly in a movie. The scripts would be considered mediocre at best, some characters would be completely useless--Vincent's pretty damn one-dimensional, I feel--and the majority of the backstory is told through found notes in most games.

I agree. If the team behind a Silent Hill movie aimed to do a psychological thriller (or even psychological melodrama), I think there would be a better end result.

I completely agree. I enjoyed this film for what it was, but I DEFINITELY agree. Using the Otherworld and stuff can create more fear, but the focus needs to be on atmosphere and setting as well as characters, not on scary moments.

Some people here just don't seem to get that Silent Hill movies need to be adapted for the mainstream to have any sort of success. If you go into the movie with this mindset, you will enjoy it.

Those are two huge assumptions right there.

I'll add to McG's sentiment: if you go into the movie with that mindset and can excuse some cheesy lines and areas, chances are you'll like it. Hell, audiences loved Transformers, didn't they?

Every time I see someone say something akin to "you just want it to be exactly like the games, if you don't have that expectation then you would like it", it makes me shake my head. For one, I don't think anybody is suggesting they just shoot the game with actors shot for shot. That obviously wouldn't work. But I still say if they are going to adapt a story, they should do their best to stay true to it's overall plot, characters, and themes. This movie did a pretty poor job of that, but it actually did it better than the first movie. On a basic level, Revelations is closer to SH3 than the first movie was to SH1.

Again: not everything in games will fly in films; it's not just about shot-for-shot scenes. Games tend to have rather poor characterization and script; as wonderful as the Silent Hill games are, I highly doubt they'd ever win any award for scripting in any Hollywood awards.

And as for you not thinking anyone wants them to just recreate the game... people were already complaining when the movie was filming that Heather's costume was changed to look more realistic.

[NanayaShiki]

Again: not everything in games will fly in films; it's not just about shot-for-shot scenes. Games tend to have rather poor characterization and script; as wonderful as the Silent Hill games are, I highly doubt they'd ever win any award for scripting in any Hollywood awards.

You ignored the last part of my post, which was important and the conclusion to the thoughts I was expressing in the part you quoted...

My point was that the movie was just bad in general, regardless of the expectations we went into it with. Poptart Jump Scare.

That being said...

And as for you not thinking anyone wants them to just recreate the game... people were already complaining when the movie was filming that Heather's costume was changed to look more realistic.

Fair enough, that did happen, and back then, I was right beside Lain defending her stance on that. So, let me say then, MOST people didn't go into this movie expecting it to be exactly like the games (and again, the follow-up to that is that the movie is bad anyway), but yes some people obviously wanted to see the games recreated on screen more faithfully.

And you know what? What's wrong with that? If someone really cares about a story or a character, then you want to see it represented right in a new medium where new people will experience it. As I said, I was on Lain's side during that costume argument, because to some people it DOES matter. And why should we be expected to change how we feel just because you don't feel the same way? Why should we change/lower our expectations or be satisfied with a completely different story/character when we loved the original? Just saying, if we wanted it to be like the games and are disappointed it isn't, telling us "well you have to go in expecting that and then you'll like it" is pretty much telling us "make yourself feel differently than you do and you'll like it".

[resevil80]

I took the poptart as a JOKE.....Not a jump scare...