I’m a huge sucker for the original Silent Hill 1 on the Playstation. Its direction, soundtrack and wealth of ideas set the bar for supernatural horror, merging fantasy, madness and the obscure to create an obscene simulation of bewilderingly surreal terror. The second and third ones are fantastic entries too. Not so keen on the forth. Yeah, now that’s a controversial opinion.
Its greatness is also its flaw, sadly; the 2nd installment, Silent Hill 2, is an incredible achievement and arguably one of the greatest video games made, so consumer expectations are incredibly high, hence the hostility and outcry when inferior sequels are produced, not to mention the infamous Pachislot machine. For fairness and to prevent myself writing an essay, this reviewer would try and give a purely neutral review, as if it stood by itself. (Not an easy task.)
Initiating with her banal existence in college, Heather Mason is suddenly sucked into a nightmarish realm of hellish creatures and extremist cultists. Lost in a world of warped darkness and fearing for her own life, she begins her adventure to find her father while trying to survive within a labyrinth of unreality containing all manner of wicked abominations whom possess a curious desire to wear a vast amount of leather.
This starts out dumb as fuck and it doesn’t get any better. The insistence on a style of action and quick thrills rather than slow suspense or construction is poorly arranged and constructed. The fan service is everywhere, the constant need for jumpscares is miserable, the actors fail to deliver, with Adelaide Clemens looking the part but they sure can’t play it, radiating a pitiful meekness and dependency which thwarts her image as a heroine.
That’s not to say there’s nothing new. For a horror, everything is about the monsters, and there’s a fair grab here. The monstrous evil dimension is suitably demented, diverse in corruption and impressively executed, with generally competent special effects. There’s a few moments of shock which are alright, and the Hellraiser inspired creations are interestingly designed. By far the best scene is the cruel nurses at around the 65-minute mark which perform an excellently robotic yet organic coordination and could well have been utilized further to produce more mayhem.
Still, it’s a mess. So much is unfaithfully borrowed or directly facsimiled with little in the way of originality or watchability, with the viewer spending their hour treading upon jumpscare after jumpscare, ever meandering through an unsatisfying plot and questionable acting which altogether fails to pass the grade. A very poor incarnation of a good, well used to be good series.
3/10
Possession Media 