Wednesday 11 September 2013

Silent Hill Revelation

"Silent Hill Revelation" (2012, Michael J. Bassett, Open Road Films, Lionsgate, Universal Pictures) is the sequel to "Silent Hill" (2006) also based on the famous horror game franchise from Konami. This time taking plot from the third game. It was also made for 3D, so be prepared for some obvious jump attempts aimed 'through' the camera...

Heather Mason (Adelaide Clemens) discovers that she is actually Sharon, the little girl from the first film, on her 18th birthday. She also discovers that she and her dad (Sean Bean) are not actually on the run from the police, but from agents from Silent Hill. 

Her discovery, turning of age and just general unluckiness cause her to be dragged back into the nightmare realm where Silent Hill is located, where she must face off against not only the many monstrous creatures of the darkness, and the backwards townsfolk lead by Claudia Wolf (Carrie-Anne Moss, yes Trinity from The Matrix), but also her darker half (and kind of real mother), Alessa (Erin Pitt).

A visually entertaining film we are introduced to some new as well as reintroduced to old favourite monsters. The props, SFX and sets are good, despite a slightly more meagre budget than the original film. I particularly enjoyed the creepy spider mannequin thing.

Clemens delivers a strong but somewhat dull female lead, not helped by a monumentally weak plot. Basically, Silent Hill stood strong enough on its own, there was no need for a sequel! 

The action is good but not scary and no sense of tension is recaptured from the first film. The scene with my favourite monsters, creepy-blind-ballet-nurses-of-death,  was a bit of a disappointment after the first film where they creeped me out well and good.

All in all, it wasn't a great film and played out more like an afterthought or like a dull fanfic.

[Image: Open Road Films]
 
Hani

 

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