Silent Hill website up

[Shawn]

http://img507.imageshack.us/img507/8711/silenthill8xo.jpg

Website (http://www.sonypictures.com/movies/silenthill/site/index.html)
Teaser Trailer (http://flash.sonypictures.com/movies/silenthill/site/silenthill.mov)
Full Trailer (http://www.apple.com/trailers/sony_pictures/silenthill/high.html)

The teaser sealed the deal for me - this is going to be THE movie of '06 as far as I'm concerned.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

It looks as scary as hell. >_<

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Oh heavens, I don't care if it makes me wet my pants. I'm going to definately see this.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

I do feel like entering that poster contest though... ^_^;

[Dasquian Belargic]

pyramid head?

[Shawn]

Originally posted by Dasquian Belargic
pyramid head? Click for animated:

http://img436.imageshack.us/img436/7607/silenthill9yu9ro.th.gif (http://img436.imageshack.us/my.php?image=silenthill9yu9ro.gif)

[Droo]

http://playlist.yahoo.com/makeplaylist.dll?id=1401398&sdm=web&qtw=640&qth=400

New trailer online. It looks great. :D

[Kyle Krogen]

Wow, it looks awsome.

Now, is it based completely on one of the games, or just on the general idea? I've only played the beginning of SH4 so I really have no idea what the story is.

[Shawn]

Just got back from seeing it. I absolutely loved it. It was faithful to the game yet, at the same time, went off in completely new directions. And hearing Akira Yamaoka's score in surround sound was just brilliant.

It's definitely not a movie for everyone. It is, however, a breath of fresh air in the horror genre.

[Morgan Evanar]

Want to see it again? I'm in Atlanta right now :|

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Was it really gruesome? I heard it would be, so I stayed away. :x

[Shawn]

There are two scenes which could be considered gruesome: One brief, and one not. The movie relies much more heavily on its imagery to create feelings of dread than having someone get chopped up every few minutes. Here's my mini-review from another forum:
Silent Hill is not scary, and I'm not sure it was ever intended to be. The only reason for it to be called a horror film is because that the closest nomenclature that can be given to it. I don't mean this as any sort of a negative remark against the film - I say it as a warning to those who expect to go into this movie and have the crap scared of of them. It's just not going to happen.

Instead, what you will find is uncomfortable, vaguely dream-like movie rife with symbolism and lots of hellish imagery. It has its flaws, but as someone who was looking forward to being enveloped in the movie's fantastic atmosphere while watching a surreal retelling of Alice in Wonderland, I was not disappointed.

The sometimes awkward dialogue didn't detract from the film at all for me. Perhaps it's because I'm accustomed to even more stilted, bizarre dialogue from the games, but I was able to accept it as the rambling of people either completely insane, or well on their way there.

What did hurt the film for me was the huge chunk of exposition somewhere around 3/4ths of the way through the movie. Up until that point, dialogue had been sparse and sprinkled through the more intense scenes. Then the movie literally takes a break to sit down and explain everything to the audience. I think this could have been handled more elegantly, but I suppose the majority of the audience would have been even more confused than they already were.

The ending was a bit of a surprise, refusing to neatly wrap everything up for the viewer. Despite my complaint about the movie over-explaining things, it still leaves plenty of elements deliberately vague, provoking thought and discussion even after the credits have finished rolling. Second and even third viewings will be necessary is you want to dissect all the nuances of the movie.

I generally try to avoid using clichés, but I genuinely felt that Silent Hill was a breath of fresh air for the horror genre. We need more movies that try to break away from the tired formulas we've seen over and over. If you're willing to forgive the compromises it makes, Silent Hill is a fantastic trip. It stays faithful to the spirit of the game it's based on, while carving out a niche for itself. Chris: Sure, if it's a matinee showing. I'm not paying $9 again just to be stuck with a bunch of idiots who will take their crying baby to an R-rated horror movie and then yell out dumb comments during the movie while their little snotbag wails away. http://dark_god7.home.mindspring.com/emot/emot-ssj.gif

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Originally posted by Shawn
There are two scenes which could be considered gruesome: One brief, and one not.

are we talking Pyramid Head ripping someone's skin off? My brother told me I shouldn't watch it, ^_^;, but I sort of want to. I'm just a chicken!

I think it's interesting that the original script had only female characters and was sent back by the studio for a male character to be added: Sean Bean.

[Shawn]

That's the very brief one. I don't think it's that bad. The one towards the end may be what you'll want to avert your eyes for, if you're squeamish.

[Droo]

I saw it and absolutely loved it. What a visual feast it was and what I was most pleased with is how they didn't try to throw in any cheap scares but instead remained faithful to the spirit of the game. I think I'll go and see it again sometime.

[Morgan Evanar]

Ok when are you free later this week after 4?

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

I'm seeing this hopefully on Friday, since I was away at Gooncamp when it first came out. I've kept away from any spoilers aside from the previews, and can't wait.

[Sanis Prent]

Not a bad film. It drug in spots and had some crap dialogue, but the style and the music were spot-on.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Well, if the aim of that film was to totally creep me out, it worked :uhoh

[Nathanial K'cansce]

It was alright. Definately creeped me out for a few hours after the movie (I went to a friend's house afterwards and had to step outside during the night to get some fresh air.. since she has 4 cats living in the house with her. She lives out in the middle of the country, surrounded by a forest and a train track that is very active - lets just say it was pitch black and I decided I could live withthe cats longer than I could to kill my allergies.)

I think it was better than some of the other scary films I've seen. But then again, I just don't believe in the horror/gruesome genre.

[Shawn]

Like I said: Even if the film had its weak spots, the horror genre as a whole could do with more movies like this and fewer slasher/monster films.