Silent Hill is one of the most visually stunning films I've seen. It is simply mesmerising to look at. The atmosphere is wonderfully dark, dingy, weird and creepy. A dreamlike (or more accurately a nightmare-like) serenity shrouds the deserted town, while just below the surface a terrible darkness lurks. The monsters encountered are truly disturbing, especially the Janitor, and the design of these creatures demonstrates the high level of creativity that has been lavished on the visuals. The effects are top-notch; you will never look at peeling paint in the same way again. Five stars so far, then, no question about it. So it's a real shame that the script lets the production design down. Up until the third act the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the little girl is deeply satisfying in its spookiness. Silent Hill is such a strange place you want the reason for all this suffering and evil to be equally unexpected and bizarre. Instead we learn, during a very long piece of… more »

Silent Hill is one of the most visually stunning films I've seen. It is simply mesmerising to look at. The atmosphere is wonderfully dark, dingy, weird and creepy. A dreamlike (or more accurately a nightmare-like) serenity shrouds the deserted town, while just below the surface a terrible darkness lurks. The monsters encountered are truly disturbing, especially the Janitor, and the design of these creatures demonstrates the high level of creativity that has been lavished on the visuals. The effects are top-notch; you will never look at peeling paint in the same way again. Five stars so far, then, no question about it. So it's a real shame that the script lets the production design down. Up until the third act the mystery surrounding the disappearance of the little girl is deeply satisfying in its spookiness. Silent Hill is such a strange place you want the reason for all this suffering and evil to be equally unexpected and bizarre. Instead we learn, during a very long piece of exposition, that the town's terrible past is in fact a rather predictable, and disappointing one. Suddenly the eerie atmosphere is destroyed and the film becomes derivative. Even the spectacular finale can't recapture the mystery that the first two-thirds of the film so effectively created. Anyone who enjoys the work of David Lynch will know that weirdness can be used to great effect and doesn't always have to be completely explained away. If Silent Hill had left more to the imagination of the viewer it would have been a much better movie.