Rose and Christopher DaSilva have a major problem on their hands.
Not only is their adopted daughter, Sharon, extremely sick, but she’s also
suffering from nightmarish sleepwalking episodes which threaten her life. She’s
not responding to treatment, and Rose (the marvelous Radha Mitchell), growing
desparate at not being able to help stop her daughter’s declining health,
decides to take matters into her own hands. Whenever Sharon suffers a
sleepwalking incident, she keeps muttering about going home to a place called
Silent Hill. The adoption agency said that Sharon was originally from a town
called Silent Hill in West Virginia. Grasping at whatever straws she can get a
hold of, Rose takes Sharon to Silent Hill--without the knowledge, or consent, of
her husband (the always good Sean Bean).
Rose discovers Silent Hill to be a ghost town, thanks to the underground coal
fires that burn continuously. The regular roads leading to the deserted town
have been closed, and after running afoul of a local motorcycle cop named Cybil
Bennett (very endearingly played by Laurie Holden), Rose rams the barricade and
enters the darkened Silent Hill. And then the fun really begins. Upon entering
Silent Hill, Rose has inadvertently entered a surreal, horrific world where ash
falls like snow and the dead town’s inhabitants look like dreadful beings right
out of one of Clive Barker’s worst nightmares. The film is visually stunning and imaginative--but in
a creepy-crawly sense. It’s based on a video game--which I’ve never played--yet
thanks to the solid script by Rodger Avary (who co-wrote Pulp Fiction) Silent Hill
stands on its own as an extremely effective horror/dark fantasy film.
Radha Mitchell has been a favorite actress of mine since I first saw her in High
Art, and here she gives another engaging performance upon which this entire film
revolves around. Laurie Holden is also extremely sympathetic as Bennett, and
Alice Kriege, perhaps best known to some as the Borg Queen from Star Trek, is
the opposite of sympathetic as Silent Hill’s chief villain. She turns in another
memorable, chilling performance. And Deborah Kara Unger, one of the most
underrated actresses working in films, is very good as Deliah. Even Jodelle
Ferland turns in a great performance as Sharon. Part of Silent Hill’s charm is
that it bucks the standard horror movie trend by having many of its major roles
played by wonderful actresses.
The special features on the DVD are slim, consisting of just a series of
‘making of’ featurettes that you can watch either separately, or all together as
one long documentary. There are no commentaries, either--which makes me wonder
if a "special edition" DVD of Silent Hill isn’t too far down the pike. But
whether the version you buy has special features or not, the film itself is well
worth owning, for those times when you’re looking for a good, creepy scare. Just
don't watch it alone, and NOT with the kids!
--SF
