note to self; religion: freaky.
Apr. 23rd, 2006 11:45 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
orangerfulSo, we saw 'Silent Hill' friday night. And I have to say, it really made me think about where the fear comes from.
I guess I need to talk to people who have never played the games and see what they thought of the film, because I found it tense, but not particularly scary. Though, I sorta knew what was coming the whole time. I might not have played the first game, but the Silent Hill 3 connects to the first game so I had a very good understanding of what happened in the first game. Silent Hill 2 is seperate plot wise, though the main bad guy from that game, called "Pyramid Head" because...well because "Conehead" doesn't strike fear into anyone's heart, is in the movie.
But anyhow, when you're playing the video game, you're in control of the main character. You have to make them walk into the scary room, and it's up to you to get them by the monsters. It's you that has to shut off the flashlight to keep the monsters from seeing you. It's YOU that has to run away. So, while watching it on the big screen was fun, it wasn't as scary as the game. In the game, I run away from the TV screaming. During the movie, I ended up flinching a lot.
My only complaint with the film was the ending. I enjoyed the big monster, but I thought it got a little bit too gruesome. It was like the director had a little pad and pen and was tracking the gore factor, and when he added it all up, he realized he was short by 200 points. So the last few moments of the film are just nasty. People being burned alive, blood everywhere, and some barbed wire going into a very uncomfortable place (and not the back of a Volkswagen, if you get my meaning). So that bugged me.
I think the back story could have been handled a bit better. I think they should have done more puzzle pieces, like in the game, when you find little notes all over with freaky "clues" as to what happened in Silent Hill. I mean, the husband (played by Sean "Boromir" Bean, what the heck was he doing in this movie? I wonder if he plays the games...) was sorta useless. I would have liked to have seen him reading notes, and then having the flashbacks to what happened in the town. Instead, we get this sorta clunky exposition all at once when the mom finds Alessa.
Still, the movie was fun, and if you've played the games at all, there's a lot of fan service to go around. It's icky, and creepy, and a lot like the game. About the level I expected, on par with 'Resident Evil'.
And the nurses...oh the nurses, they were as creepy in the movie as they are in the video games. Probably the most disturbing and intense part of the movie right there. (though if you start humming 'Thriller' in your head when they start to move, that alleviates the tension a bit).
Also, be on the look out for Brokeback Mountain/Silent Hill parodies. The lady who played the cop looked like an Annie Lennox impersonator and there were lots of scenes that just needed that sappy 'brokeback' guitar music over them and they would have had a huge laugh.
Oh, and if you're making a horror movie, having a mob yell "WITCH!" is a bad idea, as it will induce a giggling fit into any Monty Python fans in the crowd.
AIEEEE! THUNDER! I'm going to post this and then go hide under the covers!
I guess I need to talk to people who have never played the games and see what they thought of the film, because I found it tense, but not particularly scary. Though, I sorta knew what was coming the whole time. I might not have played the first game, but the Silent Hill 3 connects to the first game so I had a very good understanding of what happened in the first game. Silent Hill 2 is seperate plot wise, though the main bad guy from that game, called "Pyramid Head" because...well because "Conehead" doesn't strike fear into anyone's heart, is in the movie.
But anyhow, when you're playing the video game, you're in control of the main character. You have to make them walk into the scary room, and it's up to you to get them by the monsters. It's you that has to shut off the flashlight to keep the monsters from seeing you. It's YOU that has to run away. So, while watching it on the big screen was fun, it wasn't as scary as the game. In the game, I run away from the TV screaming. During the movie, I ended up flinching a lot.
My only complaint with the film was the ending. I enjoyed the big monster, but I thought it got a little bit too gruesome. It was like the director had a little pad and pen and was tracking the gore factor, and when he added it all up, he realized he was short by 200 points. So the last few moments of the film are just nasty. People being burned alive, blood everywhere, and some barbed wire going into a very uncomfortable place (and not the back of a Volkswagen, if you get my meaning). So that bugged me.
I think the back story could have been handled a bit better. I think they should have done more puzzle pieces, like in the game, when you find little notes all over with freaky "clues" as to what happened in Silent Hill. I mean, the husband (played by Sean "Boromir" Bean, what the heck was he doing in this movie? I wonder if he plays the games...) was sorta useless. I would have liked to have seen him reading notes, and then having the flashbacks to what happened in the town. Instead, we get this sorta clunky exposition all at once when the mom finds Alessa.
Still, the movie was fun, and if you've played the games at all, there's a lot of fan service to go around. It's icky, and creepy, and a lot like the game. About the level I expected, on par with 'Resident Evil'.
And the nurses...oh the nurses, they were as creepy in the movie as they are in the video games. Probably the most disturbing and intense part of the movie right there. (though if you start humming 'Thriller' in your head when they start to move, that alleviates the tension a bit).
Also, be on the look out for Brokeback Mountain/Silent Hill parodies. The lady who played the cop looked like an Annie Lennox impersonator and there were lots of scenes that just needed that sappy 'brokeback' guitar music over them and they would have had a huge laugh.
Oh, and if you're making a horror movie, having a mob yell "WITCH!" is a bad idea, as it will induce a giggling fit into any Monty Python fans in the crowd.
AIEEEE! THUNDER! I'm going to post this and then go hide under the covers!
