Silent Hill

Director: Christophe Gans

Starring: Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Jodelle Ferlnad, Laurie Holden, Alice Krige

When Rose Da Silva (Mitchell) finds her daughter Sharon (Ferland) inexplicably sleepwalking to high cliffs and murmuring the words "Silent Hill", she is understandably concerned. After a particularly harrowing episode and disagreeing with psychiatric opinion, she decides to take matters into her own hands and take Sharon to visit the West Virginia ghost town she has been naming, to try and understand the trauma she may have suppressed since being abandoned as an infant. They are pursued through the night by Rose's husband, Christopher (Bean), and motorcycle cop Cybil Bennett (Holden). Upon reaching the town, a zombie-like little girl appears in the headlights and there is a crash.

Knocked out in the car accident, Rose awakes to find Sharon missing and sets off to find her, joined by the motorcycle policewoman. It turns out that Silent Hill has been “shut” since 1974, when a charcoal fire killed most of the inhabitants. As a result of the fire still smouldering beneath the surface, grey ash falls from the sky like snow. Initial panicked searching reveals something very odd - emergency sirens announce periodic reality-shifts into a subterranean world of mutant grotesques, devouring cockroaches, and a nasty demon called Pyramid Head. They also discover a group of witch-hunting fanatics led by Christabella (Krige), who may hold the key to help Rose find her daughter and solve the mystery of Silent Hill...

The cast show themselves to be able actors and actresses, but the star of the show is Silent Hill itself. The labyrinth of streets and collapsed buildings is the result of outstanding production design and superb location work. Rather than gore, the computer game on which the film is based was lauded for its striking artwork and chilling atmospherics; something that could be transferred to the cinema screen. Indeed, Silent Hill is an incredible visual feast, with computer graphics and special effects used to create the town in both "modes" to brilliant effect. The addition of surreal imagery and grainy, scratched film furthers the experience. Silent Hill is a wonder to behold; especially on the big Warwick Student Cinema screen!

Alex Coe