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by FABIO 01/19/2005, 4:58am PST |
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Has already been made, fifteen years ago! I actually hunted down this thing on reccommendation from someone else that it was very Silent Hilly.
It sure is.
If you're curious, go see it cold. If not, or after you see it, read on
Spoilers
If I had to sum my opinion of this movie up, I'd say it had some phenominally creepy visuals and suspense UNTIL you're beaten over the head with foreshadowing and lazy exposition (still has creepy visuals afterwards, but no suspense).
I was totally into this movie early on. What in the world was under the blanket? OH MY GOD DID YOU SEE THAT FACE IN THE CAR WINDOW? What are these demons trying to kill him? THERE'S THAT FACE AGAIN!
But then the ending and entire mystery of the film is shattered very early on the instant a chiropractor tells him about spirits being angels or demons depending on wheter you've accepted death. Right at that instant I started thinking "Please don't let it turn out he died back in Nam, please don't let it turn out he died back in Nam, please don't let it tu-...dammit". As if that one scene wasn't obvious enough, they beat you with it over and over again until a hospital doctor just straight blurts out, "you're dead. you died". As if THAT wasn't enough, we have another scene with the chiropractor giving the exact same speech again.
And then there's the whole scene with a chemist that tells him all about the military drug he developed back then that's causing all his hallucinations. One common and lazy device to explain loose ends is to have a character come out of nowhere, spell the whole thing out to you in one long (boring) speech, then dissapear. This is most common in suspense and mystery movies. This movie did it, Stir of Echoes did it, hell even Jeepers Creepers (Jeepers Creepers for god's sake!) did it. I wanted to slowly piece together what happened from clues in each of the flashbacks (Nam, his family, his lover), which this movie easily could have done if the writers felt like doing some work. But they didn't and instead just hauled out the lazy plot device of the chemist to spell everything straight out to us (in a long, boring speech).
"He was dead the entire time!" is just one tiny step above "it was all a dream!" for a bad ending since it tries to use a cliche as a "surprise" ending. I have a SIXTH SENSE about these things. I was SO fucking ready to get into a story about government spooks covering up fucking creepy supernatural demon hitmen that are constantly coming out of nowhere trying to kill you. Fuck your letdown "twist ending".
Still, even after the chiropractor, this movie had me interested in at least the creepy visuals. I don't think I've gone "Gah!" to being shocked by freaky things more in any other movie. But I found myself just waiting for the next freak out scene instead of being involved with the actual plot anymore. That alone puts it far above the overrated Sixth Sense, which was 90 minutes of tedium that tried to make up for it solely on the twist ending.
Damn if this movie wasn't directly responsible for the inspiration behind the Silent Hill videogames. The images and locations are all far too similar to be coincidence: real world vs dark world, subways, hospitals, metal grating, wheelchairs, vibrating head demon, etc. Silent Hill 2 dealt with purgatory and acceptance and in my opinion actually did a much better job of it (which is sad that a videogame beat this movie for plot). Silent Hill 4 seemed to borrow the whole "character suddenly comes out of nowhere to explain the entire plot and ruin the mystery before dissappearing" aspect.
I am also so fucking sick of horror/suspense movies where it turns out the ghosts/demons/monsters are really NICE people that just want the main characters to UNDERSTAND them so someone can be guided into the light. Fuck that. Make your ghosts and demons irredeemingly twisted and evil, because that's scary. Not some precious little Casper ghost kid taking your hand and walking towards the light. |
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Silent Hill: The movie! by FABIO 01/19/2005, 4:58am PST 
I liked Jacob's Ladder. :( (spoilers continue) by Fullofkittens 01/19/2005, 7:37am PST 
Angel Heart was good. NT by Creexul :( 01/19/2005, 7:59am PST 
Yes by Lizard_King 02/10/2005, 5:18pm PST 
I liked it, too. by bink 02/01/2005, 5:42pm PST 
Re: I liked it, too. by FABIO 02/01/2005, 9:39pm PST 
But then... I mean... um... by bink 02/03/2005, 4:46am PST 
Fabio gave up on this movie halfway through, like it was some sort of GAME. by I need clarification 01/19/2005, 11:10am PST 
Re: Fabio gave up on this movie halfway through, like it was some sort of GAME. by Creexul :( 01/19/2005, 12:06pm PST 
Re: Silent Hill: The movie! by Mischief Maker 02/01/2005, 9:14pm PST 
I don't think it would have made a difference by FABIO 02/17/2005, 3:36pm PST 
Re: I don't think it would have made a difference by Bill Dungsroman 02/17/2005, 3:51pm PST 
Vanilla Sky NT by Fussbett 02/17/2005, 4:07pm PST 
Secret Window NT by FABIO 02/17/2005, 8:38pm PST 
O god, I watched Secret Window. -_______- NT by Creexul :( 02/17/2005, 9:21pm PST 
Silent Hill: The Other Movie That's Not Nearly As Good As Jacob's Ladder by curst 02/02/2005, 1:03pm PST 
I never understood people who like SH2 the best. by bink 02/03/2005, 4:47am PST 
Re: I never understood people who like SH2 the best. by Mysterio 02/03/2005, 1:05pm PST 
Re: I never understood people who like SH2 the best. by FABIO 02/10/2005, 5:41pm PST 
Seesion 9! by FA-BI-OH! 11/09/2005, 2:57am PST 
spooky sidenote! by FA-BI-OH! 11/09/2005, 3:28am PST 
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