Silent Hill

Ashes to Ashes

Main Cast: Radha Mitchell, Laurie Holden, Sean Bean, Jodelle Ferland

Director: Christopher Gans

The balance between a gore-fest and a suspense-driven horror film is a fine one. Many movies don’t even try, offering either a “drizzly” suspense drama with little blood, or the shock-o-rama bloodfests, usually with a teem screaming while their blood flies from a maniac. Silent Hill successfully walks the balance between the two extremes. There are plenty of gallons of blood, as well as hideous creatures and pretty gruesome deaths. There’s also a haunting drama lying beneath the tale, one with many logical holes, but worthy of attention.

The movie begins with a sleepwalking young girl. Treading perilously close to the edge of a large cliff, she is rescued in the nick of time. This leads her mother Rose (Mitchell) to a desperate act: bring Sharon (Ferland) to the one place that has been foremost in her dreams. A town called Silent Hill. Her husband Chris (Bean) does not agree, and in a sub-plot does his best to get them back. Along the way he provides some background to the town and what secrets it holds. Obviously they are not pleasant ones.

Meanwhile, Rose and Sharon arrive at Silent Hill… in a car crash. Rose wakes up to find her daughter gone, and meets up with a cop (Holden) who, at first, is distrustful. But the town is good at beating down doubts. The two women join up and are off, looking for the young girl, and trying to avoid the nasties that come out, both supernatural and human alike.

All told, this is pretty good as these things go. A few bumps, most especially the beginning, but of course you have to get the characters from A to B in a hurry. Could have been done better, but the look, feel, and pacing make up for the lapses.