Silent Hill
Director: Christophe Gans
Genre: Drama/Horror/Thriller
Starring: Radha Mitchell (Rose Da Silva), Sean Bean (Christopher Da Silva), Laurie Holden (Cybil Bennett), Deborah Kara Unger (Dahlia Gillespie), & Jodelle Ferland (Sharon/Alessa).
Plot: A mother searches for her sick daughter in the haunted, deserted town of Silent Hill.
My rating: 
So its another horror movie again. Until Dave told me that it was based on a Konami survival-horror game back in 1999, I have no idea about what Silent Hill is all about. Prior to this movie release, there were already five releases of the game. The releases are as follows;
- Silent Hill (1999)
- Silent Hill: Play Novel (2001)
- Silent Hill 2 (2001)
- Silent Hill 3 (2003)
- Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004)
- The Silent Hill Experience (2006)
- Silent Hill 5 (TBC)
- Silent Hill: Remake (October 18, 2006)
The movie was claimed to be the most accurate cross-overs from all the releases in terms of plot, & character lineups. To read the story with spoilers, check it out here.
It was said that the Silent Hill was inspired by a small town called Centralia located in Pennsylvania. So what happend in Centralia? Well Centralia was a coal-mining town with a population of 1000 people dwindled to only 11 (yes, 11!). This is because a 40 year old mine fire underneath the town has ravaged the town & forced the residents to leave. Only 11 insisted to stay on despite orders for them to leave.
The inferno was claimed to have started from a garbage fire that was set alight in one part of the an abandoned mine pit 1962. The fire ignited an exposed vein of coal and spread throughout the mines beneath. There were attempts to extinguish it but to the authorities disappointment, the fire continue to burn till today! More serious problems appeared in the 70’s & 80’s when some sinkholes of hundred feet deep was discovered & caused accidents.
With orders from the Congress, the inhabitants are relocated to nearby towns such as Mount Carmel & Ashland. Some residents choose to stay & they were still there today despite the fact that he state of Pennsylvania has condemned all the buildings in the borough and the US Postal Service has revoked its zip code of 17927. One of the remaining dwellers includes the 89 year old Mayor who refuses to leave because he like it there.
So is Centralia really haunted like Silent Hill? As I Googled around I came across some postings about some travellers that visited Centalia have had paranormal experiences about the town. More readables about Centralia (aka the real Silent Hill);
You decide if Centralia is really haunted or not!
Above all, Silent Hill was not a bad horror flick at all – long story, good plot, touchy (mom & daughter part & being dead & roaming the spiritual world to come back home part) & the rest was averagely-scary as I can say.
This flick is highly-recommended.