Starring: Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Jodelle Ferland Director: Christophe Gans Category: IIB What could be easier for a film director than turning a computer game that already resembles a movie into a movie? This might be what Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) had in mind five years ago, when he went after the rights to Silent Hill - a successful role-playing video-game series. The plot is straightforward: Rose (Radha Mitchell, of Woody Allen's Melinda and Melinda) has brought her daughter, Sharon (Jodelle Ferland), to a deserted town in West Virginia called Silent Hill, after hearing the little girl mutter the name while sleepwalking. Sharon goes missing soon after they arrive and Rose has to fight hallucinations and hideous-looking creatures to get her back. Along the way, Rose and Cybil (Laurie Holden), a policewoman she befriends, uncover the town's dark secret. On paper, it sounds like a good enough horror film. The problem is that Silent Hill simply isn't scary. Instead of tension and bursts of terror, the film leaves you feeling detached - not unlike playing a video game. Rose constantly defies common sense by picking up clues and weapons - such as grabbing a knife off the floor and muttering that it will be of use later. And the fade-ins and fade-outs are pretty much how computer games begin and end. The film's short and badly-edited prologue - a 10-minute affair that briefs the audience about the plot - also seems more suited to a computer game (the bits gamers usually skip with the press of a button). Silent Hill isn't much of a horror movie. Stick to the video game. Silent Hill is screening now
