Six years after the first installment of the Silent Hill series, Revelation looks to raise the stakes with bigger effects, more scares, and some in-your-face 3D that will have audiences jumping out of their seats. Based on the popular video game franchise, these movies have a distinct visual style unlike anything else ever put into a movie and writer/director Michael J. Bassett does his best to provide a story that matches the creepiness of what you are seeing on the screen.
The movie begins with Heather (Adelaide Clemens) and her father Harry (Sean Bean) as they settle into yet another new town, a new school, and a new home and it quickly becomes apparent that who and what they have been trying to keep away from has no intention of letting them get away. If you haven't seen the first movie, you do get a bit of a recap in some flashback and dream sequence type moments so no worries on being too lost as all the crazy demons and creatures start popping up.
Eventually Harry gets taken by the bad things in a ploy to get Heather to make a return visit to Silent Hill, which is actually where she's from. Silent Hill itself is a town that has basically become a manifestation of hell after a series of events (again, this is all explained) leads to all the demonic inhabitants along with a cult-like group of people who are preparing for a very important event. Of course, I'm being intentionally vague here to keep the integrity of the story in place, but just be warned that somewhere along the line, you will need to be prepare yourself for pop tarts. Yeah, I said pop tarts...and you've been warned.
What I like the most about this movie is the aforementioned visual style which is seamlessly consistent between the first two movies. Even with updated effects, it never feels like it gets too big for the type of movie that it is. It would have been very easy for Bassett and his effects team to start throwing all kinds of craziness at the screen just for the sake of doing it and the temptation that utilizing 3D would give. The emphasis stays on creating an atmosphere that keeps you on the edge of your seat with sharp lighting effects and loads of creepy sounds.
I also really like the overall look of the various demons and creatures in the movie from a spider-like thing that is made up of mannequin parts to the team of "nurses" that are just too cool for words. The big dude with the even bigger sword and a pyramid thing on his head (I have no idea, but its awesome!) is also back and he is just as cool as ever. If I actually had time to play video games in between watching movies and writing reviews, I'd play Silent Hill just so I can check out all this cool stuff .
As far as the story goes, it was actually more entertaining than I was expecting as, with a video game history to draw from, there is a lot of depth and the characters are very well thought out. From what I understand, Miss Clemens plays Heather exactly as she is portrayed in the game which I'm sure is a bonus for the hardcore followers. I would hope those fans are happy with both Silent Hill: Revelation and the original movie as I feel they are both very well put together and am looking to what the franchise may have for us in the future.
Oh, and definitely see this in 3D as they put so much into having it add to the experience rather than just being a cheesy gimmick.
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