Chris Stuckmann reviews Silent Hill: Revelation 3D, starring Sean Bean, Deborah Kara Unger, Radha Mitchell, Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Carrie-anne Moss and Malcolm Mcdowell. Directed by Michael J. Bassett.
He only really exists in Silent Hill 2, every other appearance was just a massive sellout. The developers shove him into everything because he was so great.
***** The original developers abandoned the series after 4. Then the movie directors and the awful western game developers took the idea and made him all "badass" and just shit all over the character and meaning. There is no way to make sense of this movie nor the later games because they are just a mess, in comparison the first one is actually the best game-to-movie adaptation yet. (Yes I hate every Resident Evil movie too they are even worse)
Me too the first one was badass. It was nostalgic and captured the feeling of the silent hill games. This one on the other hand was wasn't that good. Although it did have some throwbacks to silent hill 3 and Travis Grady's cameo, the movie wasn't that good.
Ricky Mendoza Silent Hill 1 too me was a marvelous visual piece. Sure not the best developed story but it really had a great direction. A few bad uses of CGI maybe,but other than that ...GREAT. This one is just one of the worst sequels of all time
Beacuse part of the game fanbase was not satisfied, that the first movie wasn't exact copy of the game - well, storywise. Because it's totally easy to put such complicated storyline and lore of SH1 into 120min long movie, right? So they did a movie which would be "more faithful" to the game (SH3 in this case) and it ended up disasterous. It is full of expositions, explaining stuff, while there is no time for building up atmosphere. Many times the atmosphere is killed by rashness and/or a lot of cheap cliché crap. A lot of people don't understand, why producers never chose SH2 game, since it has quite simple, yet amazing and deep story. The game series is dead and the movie one as well.
I wish someone would make a film adaptation of Silent Hill 2, it's a fucking masterpiece of video games and one of my all time favorites. I think it would work rather well as a film and I really wish some talented people would get involved.
Someone compared it to the movie Solaris because the plot structure is very similar so in a sense there is already a movie like that, I suppose. Or pick Jacob's Ladder.
You didn't recognize Pyramid Head? Please, tell me you've had the chance to play Silent Hill 2 by this point in time (it's an amazing sequel to the first and explains who Pyramid Head is). However, they butchered the poor bastard in both films - making him a creature that is meant to help/protect Alessa Gillespie (which is bullshit; as he never had any connection to her in the original games) instead of the creature that meant to be feared by all.
I must say that the first movie is actually good. It was a good adaptation from the games and with very nice visuals and production. Was it a perfect movie? No, but a very good one for the genre and one of the best, if not the best, video game adaptations to cinema.
The only other video game adaptation I would think rivals Silent Hill would be Tomb Raider, but Tomb Raider doesn't really try to be a serious production with a genuine story with some reflection to tell, but Silent Hill does. I do rewatch Silent Hill sometimes. Very faithful to the original (Christopher Gans is apparently a huge fan as well) but without quite being a ripoff.
Yeah, it's obvious he only played the first game, not the sequels and I do think even though he says it shouldn't, it does hurt his review negatively. It's like reviewing LotR: The Return of the King by saying you understand the source material because you once read The Hobbit. Not the same thing and comparable at all, even though it's created by the same creator and situated within the same franchise/universe.
but be honest man, even though we can tell that Chris has no idea about any of the lore of silent hill, except for some convoluted memories from the first game, the movie still feels messy and not so scary.
Oh, I've not even seen the movie because I'm sure it's a piece of garbage. It's just very jarring to hear someone critique a Silent Hill movie and get confused about 'this guy with a giant sword and this pyramid-like head'. Kind of like a person trying to summarize Christianity with 'There's this dude Jesús who has some kind of pain fetish and he won't stop talking about his sheep'.
I never played silent hill ,never had any idea about the existence of the Game but I really Loved & Kind of Fan of Silent Hill Movie Universe .I can see why the Piramid head helped the Girl as Piramid head is created by Alessa so ofcourse he will help the innocent part of Alessa which is that girl .Compare to Most Shit Horrors which get praise from these reviewers ,i think Silent Hill movie has far better storyline
Honestly, this has to be the first review I've seen Chris do where his source material is garbage. I mean really, does he not know who Pyramid Head is? He just describes him as some monster? 3:00-3:10. And a lot of the things he's confused about comes from the other games. NOT JUST THE FIRST ONE. Everything is blatantly explained. Trust me, I'm not defending the film, oh no. I'm defending Silent Hill all together.
I actually liked the first film even though it wasn't a direct adaptation it still had a few good things in them and it actually has some elements from the game itself.
he rewatched it and realized his mistake. he likes the movie and gave it a b, as he realized it was actually pretty layered and planned out XD its funny what the power of majority thinking can do to ones perceptions.
I am severely shocked by the fact that you do know the original SH games, yet - even though you only played the first one - you never even seen or heard of Pyramid Head. D:
*****............. He's only supposed to be in 2, it make's no sense why he's in the other games. He's a fragment of Jame's psyche from Silent Hill 2, just like any other monster or thing in the Silent Hill games.
I loved Carrie Anne-Moss in the Matrix series and Memento. In this movie, she either didn't have her heart in it or didn't do enough research on the character. Claudia, the character she plays, is supposed to sort of talk like a minister that's left of center. Carrie delivers her lines like she's bored or wants to get it over with.
I know it shouldnt be required to do so but... you should have played through Silent Hill 2 and 3 to really understand this movie's references. Dont get me wrong, this movie is awful but at least you should know who or what Pyramid Head is... and Silent Hill 2 and 3 are the best games in the series in my opinion :D they are great horror games
Also, was the pregnancy even included in this movie? I really don't remember, but I don't think it was. In the game, it's because of this thing Heather is pregnant with that starts to alter her reality. That's why there are monsters during day-time in the local shopping mall far away from Silent Hill. In a way, part of Silent Hill is always within her.
Great review and you're pretty much spot on. The answers to the questions you brought up actually are in the movie but everything is so convoluted that they're easy to miss.
I fucking love the first Silent Hill. It was fantastic, I'm actually surprised many people didn't like it (and I'm generally critical of movies). The soundtrack was awesome, it had really intense and moving sequences, and riveting visuals (very rarely do I find gore riveting). My only real gripe would be that some moments were unrealistic, such as Rose's first reaction to the Darkness (she barely seemed afraid when the sky went black). Other than that, I loved it. The second one was a horrific pile of shit that possessed absolutely none of what made the original movie good. Go all in on the second, but don't drag the first into this lol
I haven't seen this movie. I saw the first one though and it was alright. The only reason I would watch this movie is Ned Stark and Jon Snow are in it.
I've tried rewatching this 3 days in a row. I keep falling asleep, but not to its detriment. I love the aesthetic. The script is very, awkwardly bad, but I kinda like it. It's basically SH3 but nowhere near the greatness of the game. I like Heather and it's cool to see the movie (sorta) come to life like its videogame counterpart. I will finish this movie damnit! My love for this franchise is too deep.
I also played the video game, back in the day. I admit being a fan of the first movie, although, it had some shortcomings, but it's obvious in this sequel that the writer didn't know what to do with the story, that's why it seemed kinda all over the place, but I still had fun watching and the actors did a good job. the young actress had the tough spirit of the character in the video game
Pyramid Head is a huge part of the Silent Hill lore. This movie wasn't great but they were trying to copy Silent Hill 3. The visuals were pretty well done I thought. Although I thought the first Silent Hill movie was so much better. Still one of my faves. :)
I love the classic Silent Hill games and I really like the first movie, but my God did this one suck! I like the girl who played Heather, though. she got the part down
As much as i noticed, the Pyramid Head is Alessa's protector and since Heather/Sharon is bright side of Alessa so PH protects her. I didn't play videogames so i didn't realize everything until i read on wiki or forums.
Does Chris seem to forget that the Pyramid Head is a stable of the Silent Hill franchise it was in Silent Hill 2 and it was in the first movie, did Chris even played the sequels or even the third game that this movie was loosely based on? Wait a second this is an old video Chris didn't put much effort and research into this movie back then aside from playing the first Silent Hill game.
The added romance and random jumpscares didn't bother me too much, my problem with this film was how drastically it changed the story that the first movie established
Pyramid head shouldn't have been in this movie, or the first movie or anything other than Silent Hill 2. Pyramid Head was the personal boogyman of the protagonist of Silent Hill 2. Unfortunately he's been turned into a mascot.
I havent played the game but actually it makes sense that as close as she is from silent hill or as aware the cult is in regard of where she is, stronger the darkness gets. She is part of Alessa and they need her to come to silent hill - on her free will - to unite both of them and finally kill alessa and luckily end up with the darkness she created. It also makes sense that the guy with the triangle head appears to protect Heather, He is the guardian, HEather reads this on the car. He was created by Alessa, and Alessa needs Heather alive, so she can reunite with her before the cult kill both of them. Finally, Heather is all the love and all good feelings that Alessa, feeling angry and drepressed, though she could never feel again. When they hugh each other it is a battle. Love and kindness against hate and sadness. The love that Heather had for his dad and her kindness were stronger. She doesnt even have to fight. She hugs Alessa and feel bad for her. And Kindness beats Sadness. It could have been better evolved, for sure. But the movie makes sense after all. At least it did for me
Pyramid head helps Heather because it is her guardian. If you listened during the scene here they read Harry's notes on silent hill, you would know that Puramid head is Alessa's protector and Heather is Alessa's innocence and by that right is protected by Pyramid head.
Chris stuckmann you are obviously not a true silent hill fan. As someone who has played around 8 game's in the series. I can say the first movie was well done and loyal to the game for the most part. The second one gets to much hate for some reason. It was not as good as the first but it is 100 × better then the resident evil movies are!. Also they are 2 of the best live action movies based on game's. Also the way you look at it is not very open minded you are trying to look at it logically. It is based on a video game there's not going to be much logic so open your mind a little first. The same thing goes for animes if you look at things logically your not going to enjoy it. So get some popcorn seat back and enjoy the movie.
I AGREE, on almost everything you said except... i don't think the movie failed to be logical at some points because of the"real" silent hill story being illogical, most of the original is very symbolic, almost everything means something more, based on that world it plays in. i thing it is just not transported that way one just has to accept that the portrayed world differs from ours through that symbolic content and it's affects on the world. Reasonable people in an unreasonable world. i hope you understand my point.
It was explained in the movie that the monsters are there to protect Alessa. Since Heather is Alessa it makes sense that the monsters are really killing everybody else but her.
It may be a jumbled mess. I will give you that. However, this movie is action-packed from start to finish wrapped around a cool plot. I have always liked this movie and have seen it multiple times in my life. Thank you for your honest review.
at the end of the movie when the cops drive to silent hill like what took them so long to go to silent hill. the two detectives who broke into heather's house without a warrant saw the blood on the wall "Go to Silent Hill" it was spelled out for them and it took them until the end of the movie to go there after heather defeats the game, i mean movie.
I honestly feel like I understand the films LESS as a SH nerd than a casual SH player would. Casual SH Player: Oh yeah, it's Pyramid Head. He was pretty antagonistic in 2, makes sense he'd be an antagonist in the first film. SH Nerd: What the fuck is Pyramid Head doing in Alessa's world? He's unique to James, he has nothing to do with SH1 or 3. Why is he working with Alessa? What does this even MEAN?
+Goodnight Zee I hated that they brought Pyramid Head into these movies for the very reason you mentioned. But at least they kept true to his general purpose (to punish the sinners) in the first movie; unlike the second, where he was playing more the role of Vatiel (Alessa's protector/champion) - which really makes me want to chock a bitch. But we all know why he was brought into both movies - fan service.
Ugh, fan service. Such a double-edged sword. I agree that one of PH's facets in 2 is to punish James (the other big one is to lead him to the truth) and PH in the first movie was more or less true to that. In 2 he just blatantly takes Valtiel's role and it's weird and stupid. Valtiel only protected Heather because she was carrying god. PH clearly wasn't on the side of the cult (nor should he be) so why was he protecting her? He came from Alessa's world like all the other otherside monsters, so why isn't he working for the Alessa that made him rather than Heather? In 3 Alessa v Heather made sense - Alessa knew something Heather didn't and was desperately trying to prevent the birth of god and stop Heather from nurturing it through her hate and despair. They attributed the "protective" nature of Valtiel to PH without understanding the only reason Valtiel ever restores Heather is so she can birth god. It's MUCH easier to enjoy the films as a casual fan than as someone who's really into the mythos of the series. I think any accuracy in the first film is probably highly attributable to Akira's involvement. Could sperg about SH all day, sorry for the novel/rant lol
Goodnight Zee Looking up the info, Akira was only involved in the music; but nothing else. And even then, they probably got the music scores from the game itself.
Madame Fluffy He was also involved unofficially with a few things like monster design (he's the one who designed the janitor monster, who I thought was cool, if a bit similar to Nosferatu from Resident Evil: Code Veronica X) and he advised on some aspects of the script. Some of the music was indeed taken right out of the games but he did write at least one original song for it. They used a lot of repeated soundtrack for the second movie. Mary Elizabeth McGlynn did vocals for both movies and the games so at least there was some kind of musical continuity. Akira had absolutely nothing to do with the second movie, which is a shame because it might have been a bit more true to the games if he had. Technically it followed the plot of the game more closely than the first film did, but the things they did change (Pyramid Head, Heather not being pregnant with god, Harry, Alessa being evil rather than fighting Heather to thwart Claudia's plans and so on) made the movie kind of pointless and nonsensical.
Goodnight Zee More accurate than the first? Aside from the names and the fact that Sharon (Cheryl) was being drawn back to Silent Hill and a parent searching for their lost child (for the first movie) and Douglas was sent to find Heather (in the second movie), there was nothing remotely similar between the movies and the games. Way too many liberties had been taken. The storylines had been changed dramatically so it was completely different from the source material.
+NekoSoren I wished they had stayed true to the source material; but as a stand alone, separate from the games? It wasn't horrible (I really wished they left Pyramid Head out of it, though. I love the character and what he represents; but he never had any connection to Alessa Gillespie).
I am a huge fan of the first movie, it is actually in my opinion the best video game adaptation of all time. But with so little serious competition it's no big deal (until a Metal Gear, Assassin's creed, Bioshock movie comes out). But for the sequel, as soon as I saw the trailer, I knew this wouldn't turn out well. Seems like my predictions were right.
I haven't seen the movie but from what I'm hearing Pyramid Head in this movies is playing Valtiel's role to help Heather and keeping her safe to ensure the birth of god
I have to go against the crowd here. Do your research and you'll see how complicated and amazing this film is! The cinematography and the Mise-En-Scene are perfect and can not be faulted. And guess what? Those are what make a film, a film.
The Pyramid Head, also known as the Boogeyman, is actually the evil little girl's guardian. When she merges with Alyssa (Or Heather, her fake name I guess), then the Boogeyman realizes her as the evil little girl, and protects her.
In silent hill 3, the game it's loosely based on. The detective was hired by claudia to find heather for her. The reason the real world was turning to the "other world" was because she was pregnant with the town's god. The seal you were talking about that they need to piece together. I assume is the seal of meditron believed to be able to kill the god, which it isn't. In the game she goes to Silent hill for revenge because Claudia kills her father (Harry Mason).
the reason pyramid head was helping her was because he was alessas protector and since she was carrying around a part of her she was protecting her as well...I've got to disagree with you on beans' and the girls performance...It was a really messy film but at least when it was over i wasn't feeling annoyed i just forgot about it....
I actually enjoyed BOTH films. Was the second an award winning film? Hell no. Some characters needed more screen time and less "look at me I am making a cameo, whoops now I'm dead" scenes, and the "don't go to Silent Hill" thing coulda been done better (though I always figured it was because if she went and then died, or "lost," the whole world would be consumed by darkness the she would have released). I have seen worse, but what do I know, I actually enjoyed the movies based on Street Fighter, Mortal Kombat, and Resident Evil.
I think the filmmakers got Pyramid Head confused with Valtiel, because in the Silent Hill 3 game Valtiel protects Heather because of the "god" she is pregnant with. That is why when you get a game over he is dragging her body to revive her so the "god" won't die, and that he is the only monster in the game that does not harm Heather.
Okay the first movie contained most of the story you will need to love the second film. The second film i believe was purely fan based and is a thrill if you know your silent hill games. It's only a bit of a let down for fans because the plot changed although i liked that her dad lived. Everyone one wants to see the ultimate monster fight and he is alessa's guardian in movie) It sucks they forgot about the baby heather should carry. Anyone whos played every silent hill game will love the end.
the silent hill games are better but you have to remember their is only so much time for script writing and the filming, I admire what they did in this movie they brought back characters and even expanded on a few of them but not by much... to me looking at this movie as a whole is quite decent for what it was, but people have to remember that this is a MOVIE and is only able to give people a certain inside look how the the characters grew and became... I mean in silent hill 3 heather cries about her fathers death for 3 seconds and then ransacked the house and thats all the real emotion we got out of heather in that game, at least in the film we got to see heather's school life and more detail about what her and harry had went through tring to keep heather hidden.
Chris you are a huge 007 golden eye 64 fan, however no 006 reference at all. Come on Sean Bean is 006 does anybody remember??? "For England James?" "For England Alec"
Not really, I wouldn't say so. It may have more action oriented into the game, but its hardly action horror. Its still very much psychological horror. It carries the SH ambiance(which is apparently is so difficult to replicate since we haven't seen it done right since SH4...), the monsters are manifestations of Heather's psyche and have symbolic meaning, and the designs of the otherworld reflect Heather's internal 'situation'. Among other aspects that make it very much psychologically oriented.
Being chased while on a crowded street in broad daylight, I too always hide until it gets dark, then run through a butchering, murder & torture room, to find a creepy, dark, empty & hidden basement.
To know the source material you gotta know Silent Hill 3 which is what this is based on. Silent HIll 2 is a break from the main story, 3 is a direct sequel to the first but takes place 17 years later.
Chris do you like Cronenberg, Lynch, Aronosfsky or any filmmaker of that style? You killed me with the question of difference between dreams and reality... In case you do like those guys I don´t undestand why you´re being so logical in the subject... anyways I really enjoy this movie but I didn´t like the first one & I´ve just played Silent Hill Shattered Memories
did u not understand what it was about with him, in these silent hill movies, piramid head is alyssa's bodyguard, he protects her because she is alyssa, he is bound to protect her!
Lol tbh you need to play the 3rd game to understand the movie! As a fan of the games, this movie didn't disappoint me. It stayed true to the source material, the acting was good, the visuals were amazing, and I liked the story!
Surely a film should make us want to understand? I'm not saying they have to spell it all out for us, films such as Mulholland Drive give us a puzzle we want to sort out, but SH: Revelation couldn't even make sense to itself.
Pyramid head fight for Sharon because she is part of allessa and pyramid head is the guardian angel of allessa and those two girls became one on the movie so pyramid head will still protected her.
