 
A disturbed child Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) is having trouble sleepwalking which almost leads her to her death as she constantly calls out for Silent Hill.
Her mother Rose (Radha Mitchell) finds out where silent hill is at and speeds down there but is swerved off the road as she nearly hits a person and passes out with her daughter.
When Rose awakens she realises that her daughter isn't with her and tries searching for her at Silent Hill which is abandoned and haunted by ghouls and deadly insects as she discovers that her daughter has a dark secret that people didn't like about her as Sharon was adopted by them and her mother was apparently a witch.
The film leaves off with a nice start on an innocent little girl named Sharon sleepwalking near a cliff which makes you wonder at the beginning what the hell is going on with all of that. Is she attempting suicide or possessed??? It definetely makes you wonder as to what gives with all of this bringing off a good horror beginning to the story. Very well done I must say.
Then there's alot of mysterious moments with Sharon and her mother Rose driving to a place called Silent Hill and an officer named Cybil seems to stalk them as this seemed like a nice key to what is going on. I thought to myself if she's responsible for the horror that will happen later on. Plus there's nice one liners with locals getting weird when Rose asks where Silent Hill is along with their answers telling them it's been closed making it even more mysterious which is perfect too makinjg you still want to watch finding out why people are keeping the place quiet.
Then the film will psych you out later on when Rose seems to lose her sanity breaking into the gates or swerving with her car as this looked suspenseful for anyone who has had a bad experience by having a car accident and as to why she is going nuts with all of this.
The mystery still carries on after Rose awakens to find out that Sharon isn't in the car with her after they were knocked unconcious from their accident and sees her running away. Right away I thought that there must be a catch to this which will draw stuff together. It does get dreepy when she hears a town alarm and things get dark all of a sudden in this deserted town. Then there's nice imaginitive ghouls approaching her which can really scare anyone with fears of the dark or getting scared easily watching a horror flick.
There's nice special effects when Rose tries to go back to an area to get help and find out that the road has come to en end with a huge cliff in which this looked very spooky.
There's also moments with insects starting to invade people and attack them and they are the creepiest looking bugs that yuo can ever imagine which is a perfect type of terror for others who are paranoid over insects since alot of them are very ugly looking.
There's more stuff that can leave a chill down your spine in which this town alarm goes off again and the locals panick telling them that they have to head to a cathedral for safety before the darkness falls as I found this seems to be an idea from a nightmare a person had and decided to write this in as to why this alarm goes off and something just does happen when they don't make it in to a cathedral in time.
There's many disturbing moments like some goons bashing someone constanly with metal objects in which it looked so brutal you'd think if they did it too much this person is going to be deader than a doornail.
There's a perfect flashback moment which makes you wonder if the film is about to come to an end showing wicked moment on kids abusing poor Sharon or a nasty teacher abusing her making you feel sorry for the poor child but the story still carries on which seemed terribly trite already.
But one of the real exciting moments is when a wicked woman named Christabella doing a ceremony on burning a witch in a cathedral which looked pretty dark twisted as the victim was Sharon which can be disturbing for some seeing an innocent little girl about to be sacrificed along with Rose trying to save her making you wonder if she will succeed or not with the huge crowd being on Christabella's side.
There's terrific and twisted moments with some dynamic special effects on giant barbwire crawling out of the ground and attacking which makes you wonder how this came to be.
The ending was terrifically done though like defeating your fears and nightmares that things go right for you escaping your worst fears.
Bottom line is the film starts off with a great start and it is twisted and very imaginative. A total fanstasy horror flick with things you'd imagine in a nightmare suddenly coming to life on fears of monsters, insects or religious nutcases but the story drags a little too much and the film is way too long for a story like this one. Yet it was well made all the way through with the CGI effects. It's a film you may love or hate.
The acting was pretty well done in which lead actress Radha Mitchell (Rose DaSilva) really brings off a nice protective behavior to her role as well bringing on a good anxious behavior along with being believeably frightened too as she draws all of this together. She performs a nice panicking reaction while speeding with her vehicle as well as her getting out of control while driving her vehicle which looked nice and intense. She seemed to show great aggressions too which shows a great ounce of energy and charisma into her part too making herself to be a worthy character actress. Does a good job calling out to her daughter and trying to catch up to her in a snowy deserted town. Also does a good job approaching someone by trying to talk to her showing her a picture with her trying to get menacing which looked suspensefully performed and well done. A great intense screaming with her by trying to talk to her fellow actress on what she's doing which looked great. Does a great job speaking powerfully and acting strong trying to struggle through the ceremony which looked strongly done too.
Laurie Holden (Cybil Bennett) lived to play a police officer in which she had the great sharp appeal and looks to portray all of this. She was very clear with her speaking and has a great serious attitude along with really knowing on how to get tough. She shows a nice approach towards her fellow actress in her vehicle acting slick. Does a great job acting anxious and aggressive on what's happening with a nice close up shot on her speaking. She was a perfect key to the story by making her role very mysterious. In fact I found that she stole the film with her performance.
Deborah Kara Unger (Dahlia Gillepsie) certainly came across as incredibly creepy in her part in which she studied this role incredibly well with her gruff speaking in which she knew on how to act like someone who was creepy and a homeless type.
Alice Krige (Christabella) certainly brought on a terrific wickedness to her role as she seems mellow at first but then goes into a rage in which she was believeably unpredictable. She also had the perfect looks for this as an old fashioned type who burns witches. Her characteristics came to life big time and was a perfect horror character actress for a flick like this one. There's a moment with her shouting wickedly doing a ceremony which looked gothic and highly energised.
Jodelle Ferland (Sharon / Alessa) was terrific as an innocent little girl who is scared by situations in which she was believeably emotional with everything that is happening. She also proved to be versatile too with her character portraying a dark side to her with her low speaking attitude and acting gloomy as well as being creepy too. A good anxious reaction on her after she spots an artwork that someone shows her which looked well energised. A good blunt reaction in another scene which had nice timing. A good cold reaction with her approaching towards another actress talking deeply to her about the situation of her daughter as this was crisply well done.
There is horror violence in the film like a ghoul with his head blown off
Slaughtered corpses
A strings of barbwire coming to life and tearing people apart in a cathedral
The music sounds nice and dark along with some good mellow piano playing in the spots where it was necessary with plenty of intense sounds too. Also, there's alot of good moaning sounds with sind effects. Of course we can't leave out the loud thumping sounds for the supposed jumping moments all done by Jeff Dana and Akira Yamaoka as all of this sounded incredibly powerful for the movie.
Cybil Bennet: Hey there. Is everything all right?
Sharon: I don't talk to strangers.
Cybil Bennet: Good girl.
Anna: We have to leave, we have to leave! The Darkness is coming!
Anna: Filth and lies!
Rose: Sharon is adopted, but I'm her mother. I knew that the first time I laid eyes on her.
Cybil Bennet: She's lucky to have you. Mother is God in the eyes of a child.
Christabella: Burn her as a witch! Burn Her!
Rose: Burn me? That's your answer... Burn anything you're afraid of. Burn anything you can't control. |
