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DVD Silent Hill: Revelation 3D
 Run time: 95 min Rating: 5.1 Genres: Horror | Mystery | Thriller Director: Michael J. Bassett Writers: Michael J. Bassett, Laurent Hadida Stars: Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Sean Bean |
| Storyline Heather Mason and her father have been on the run, always one step ahead of dangerous forces that she doesn’t fully understand, Now on the eve of her 18th birthday, plagued by horrific nightmares and the disappearance of her father, Heather discovers she’s not who she thinks she is. The revelation leads her deeper into a demonic world that threatens to trap her forever. Written by Anonymous |
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| Plot Keywords: nightmare, alternate reality, on the run, 18th birthday, doppelganger | |
| Details: Country: France, USA, Canada Release Date: 31 October 2012 (UK) |
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| Box Office Budget: $20,000,000 (estimated) Opening Weekend: $8,023,036 (USA) (26 October 2012) Gross: $17,529,157 (USA) (14 December 2012) |
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4 comments
1) A much smaller budget than the original (20 mil vs 50 mil).
2) Jump scares. The original had none because of the great story/plot which gave the entire film a terrifying & unnerving feel. This sequel is so cheesy and pretentious that in order to call itself a horror film there needs to be long quiet pauses followed by doors slamming or monsters making loud noises causing the audience jump.
3) "3D"… throw in some scenes where swords thrust out toward the audience even though this kind of gimmicky nonsense breaks any feel of authenticity the movie might have had, even when watching it without the 3D glasses.
4) Flavor of the week actor(s)… Kit Harrington from the popular HBO series "Game of Thrones" is supposedly a high school student along with the main character, but unfortunately he looks (and is) 26 years old… he just feels out of place throughout the film.
I really enjoyed the original (as well as the games) and wanted this one to be good as well. Unfortunately Silent Hill: Revelation sets out to do two things: A) Continue the story SOMEWHAT from the first film to satisfy Silent Hill fans while having characters reveal story lines piece by piece in "plot dumps" that seem forced and out of place. B) Try to make as much money as the original, but with a terrible script, less money, and MUCH less passion.
The first half of the film was great. It was creepy, it was suspenseful, and it was almost scary (speaking as someone who considers most scary films to be dull and silly). The film did a good job of summarizing the first, and the 3D was generally well-done. So where did this film fail? Well first, the character relationships were extremely superficial, to the point where it felt like they were tacked-on or unrealistic. Some of the character motivations were also underdeveloped and made the characters come off as stupid or just hard to relate to, especially towards the end. The characters take a while to actually enter Silent Hill, and when they do the film quickly devolves from creepy moments to explaining the story, which is not particularly compelling. Obviously, the film makers had to work within the context of the original while trying to tie it into the third game, but so much of the film was devoted to characters explaining the plot that it made the film feel somewhat dull. Think of the old adage "show, don't tell". The film was overly short, and it seemed as though this was the central problem. 20 more minutes to SHOW the plot, interspersed with a few more creepy scenes, and this film could have easily surpassed the original. Alas, the director chose to keep the film succinct, and the result is that it feels rushed and the last ten or fifteen minutes feel more like a cheesy action movie than a horror film. As I said, with twenty more minutes of footage, the film could have easily been one of the scariest movies of the last 10 years, and could have had believable characters and a more expertly revealed plot. Instead, we're left with a decent movie with a few good scares.
Yea, so this movie wasn't exactly stellar, but I can't understand why there are so many 1 star votes for this film. I just got around to seeing this movie last night and it certainly wasn't the worst film I've ever seen, but reading some of the reviews around here (and on the critic sites) one would think this film is just a steaming pile of poop.
Well, it wasn't. The acting was decent, and I thought the lead was reasonably good. There were more "jump scares" than I would've expected, since the real horror of the games stems from atmosphere and a feeling of isolation. The monsters and CGI were passable – not great by certainly not bad by any means. The 3D was actually VERY good (maybe the best I've seen), though there were a couple of times that the use of the 3D was pretty cliché (think knives COMING RIGHT FOR YOU!!!). The only real gripe I had was with the scripting/story. I was impressed that the plot stayed as true to the games as it did, while still meshing well with the story from the first movie. I'm sure this was no easy task, but the amount of story they crammed into this film was too much considering the runtime of the movie. The exposition dialogue was REALLY cheesy at times, but I can understand the need for such when considering probably half of the target audience will have never played the games. I just would've hired a better writer.
TL;DR: Not as bad as the critics say, but certainly not the film I was hoping this to be. Worth the price of admission for 3D, as it's really well done.
I absolutely love the first Silent Hill film. The flashbacks (reminiscent of how one learns the back-story in a video game) were chilling and unveiled a haunting past for little Rose/Alessa. So I went into the sequel with anticipation and an open mind, but honestly…the best part of this movie was the opening credits, which did look pretty awesome in 3D. Everything after that was just boring as heck.
The storyline just seemed to move at a snail's pace. Plus the movie relied more on startle tactics instead of horror and gross out factor like the first. The new monsters did a lot of screaming and little else. The older ones we've previously seen were treated like domesticated livestock. And all I got of my favorite character (Rose) was a 10 second exchange with another character and dialog straight out of a 1.99 Harlequin Romance novel. Ugh! I actually had to wake myself up in the middle of this film. The only other time I've fallen asleep was back in the 90's with Blue Chips. It'd be a toss up as to which I'd be willing to sit through again. Oh, and the gal was NOT as good or creepy as the original Alessa/Sharon kid. Could they not afford to hire that one back again or something?
And I really think it was the wrong move to go with a film so dedicated to the video game. Tossing out things like magical totems and demon gods…it just didn't translate to film well. The first one made sense without having to have played the game. The plot for this one seemed too B-movie, especially if you weren't a player.