The 2006 Silent HIll movie is a somewhat notorious chapter in the lengthy history of video game movies, but the film’s biggest problem is that it’s too much like a video game. The legendary horror game series began with the release of the eponymous тιтle in 1999, and would be followed by a slew of sequels that expanded the frightening lore. Unlike previous horror games which relied heavily on action, Silent Hill was so effective because it had a cinematic atmosphere and a philosophical approach to storytelling. Dashes of the surreal and absurd also elevated it above contemporary horror games.

Naturally, a Hollywood adaptation seemed like a simple prospect, but it would take until 2006 for the first Silent Hill film to finally reach theaters. Unfortunately, the final product was met with widespread derision from critics, though it fared much better at the box office. Early video game movies were almost always poor, and Hollywood constantly struggled to interpret what made the games so popular in the first place. Often, game adaptations are too different from their source material to be recognizable, but the first Silent Hill movie actually has the opposite problem.

The Silent Hill Movie Copies The Worst Parts Of Video Games

Movies & Video Games Have Very Different Story Structures

Though storytelling in video games has evolved in recent years, the way a story is told in a game is distinctly different from the structure of movies. This has often caused Hollywood screenwriters to struggle when adapting popular games, and 2006’s Silent Hill was no different. The franchise’s atmospheric and haunting gameplay is often enough to frighten players out of their wits, but the Silent Hill series uses storytelling shortcuts that are very common in video games. Showing, and not telling, is a big rule in film, but sometimes video games have to tell when they can’t show.

Unfortunately, the movie adaptation is guilty of copying those same shortcuts, and it is far less excusable in a film. The plot has very little motivation, and is instead pushed along by Rose’s (Radha Mitchell) exploration of the eponymous town. In a game, players can explore, fight enemies, and learn more about the lore of the story, but it is quite boring to watch a movie character stumble along without a clear moment-to-moment goal. Rose is looking for her missing daughter, but the search doesn’t have an obvious build like a traditional film structure dictates.

The movie feels a lot like a video game in some sequences, such as when Rose visits the school and spends a wasted moment looking for a key to unlock a drawer which contains a flashlight. It’s never shown that she needs it, and it’s never explained how she would even know that the item is there. In games, players are forced to interact with the environment to gather supplies, but movies need more motivation. Moments later, she climbs across a dangerous chasm, and it resembles a platforming segment in a game, and the scene doesn’t advance the plot.

The final conflict in the film is arbitrary, and the confrontation with the villain is inevitable but not very motivated. Alice’s journey to the heart of Silent Hill is essentially a backstory dump, and she doesn’t overcome anything or accomplish her own goals. The villain simply lets her move on to the next phase, much in the same way that video games arbitrarily limit what the player can do until it is time for the next part of the story. The Silent Hill games can get away with such lazy storytelling, but it utterly fails on the big screen.

Silent Hill Has Too Many Other Flaws To Be As Good As The Game

In The End, The Movie Just Isn’t Very Good

Despite the best efforts of the filmmakers behind Silent Hill, the 2006 adaptation just has too many flaws to be a good movie. Story structure aside, the movie’s script is quite poor, and features stunted dialogue and verbose monologues that don’t really serve any purpose. Sean Bean’s entire arc feels like a non-factor in the larger story, and he learns nothing before finally just going home. In the end, the script simply invalidates itself by implying that all the events were controlled by the supernatural enтιтy within Silent Hill, but even that falls apart under scrutiny.

Visually, the movie captured the fog-drenched streets of Silent Hill, and some of the character designs were a nice upgrade from the games. However, the 2006 era CGI hasn’t aged well, and it is downright cartoonish at key moments that are supposed to be scary. The practical sets and costumes were impressive, but the film gilded the lily by slapping computer-generated fluff on top of the excellent work by the production designers. Silent Hill came from a place of love for the games, but some distance from the source would have served the movie better.