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My reaction to Silent Hill - Revelation was pretty much the same as my reaction to the first Silent Hill adaptation. Visually, the film does a really good job of creating the look and feel of Silent Hill. Story wise, it's a mess. It's a mish-mash of elements from several of the Silent Hill games. If you haven't played Silent Hill 3 in particular, you'll have no idea what's going on.
They front-load 30-40 minutes of the movie with exposition because that's the only way they can even attempt to craft a coherent narrative for people who haven't played the games. They did a somewhat better job of this then was done for the first movie, but that's not saying much.
The middle of the film was actually quite enjoyable. Once you scrap the idea that this movie is going to deliver any interesting dialogue or a plot that matters, you can enjoy the brief journey through Silent Hill and the few decent scares that it offers.
The end of the movie was completely lame. Heather defeats the dark host of Silent Hill in a laughable way, and then we watch Pyramid Head engage in a clumsy duel with a new boss monster that was pulled out of someone's ass. A very underwhelming ending, but pretty much what I expected from a 90 minute adaptation.
The plot and ideas that encompass the Silent Hill videogame series are rich, deep and result in an incredibly fulfilling horror experience. Frankly, no horror movie will ever compete with them. A 90-120 minute movie cannot replicate the suspense of a 15-20 hour survival horror game. I question whether a TV series could do it, even under the most competent direction. (The Walking Dead doesn't count. No mystery element, no philosophy or psychology, mostly just short bursts of action in between long periods of melo-drama.)
This is a realm in which games have transcended both film and television, and until a great writer and director work together to create a true survival horror film, it will remain that way.
5/10
