By Jacob Cameron

Return to Silent Hill is the third overall film in the Silent Hill franchise. Films which are based on the video game series from Game Studio, Konami. Films based on video games tend to receive a lot of negative reviews. While all 3 Sonic films have had proven critical and financial success, video game movies being reviewed with contempt is the established norm. Sadly, Return to Silent Hill is one of the bad video game films.

Return To Silent Hill tells the story of a man named James, played by Jeremy Irvine, who is compelled to return to the mysterious town of Silent Hill. His girlfriend, named Mary, played by Hannah Emily Anderson, died shortly before the start of the film, and the loss weighs on James. James goes back to the town after receiving a letter, seemingly, from beyond the grave. Upon arriving in town, James is exposed to nightmares that are both physical and mental. With James having to come to terms with the loss.

The biggest positive here lies in the designs of the creatures of Silent Hill as well as the town itself. As soon as James enters the town, there is an immediate sense of unease. There is an inherent feeling that James is not supposed to be in this town, and everything that is in this town is out to get him. The creatures vary in size and scale, but some of them were quite intimidating.

But on the other side of that coin, one of the biggest negatives lies in the rest of the visuals, which were mediocre at best. A lot of this film appeared to be shot on green screens exclusively, which makes for a surreal looking film most of the time. Some shots looked like they were about to break the uncanny valley. It’s almost like some of the shots belonged in the live-action/animated film Beowulf from Robert Zemeckis. Sprinkled in with some quite terrible CGI, this made for an unpleasant looking film.

James and Mary are one-dimensional characters to put it delicately. Mary is the most interesting; but her character had the most wasted potential. Without spoiling too much, Mary appears to be the product of a cult led by her father. With many of the residents of Silent Hill being members of the cult and disciples of the father. This is never given any development and just falls by the wayside for the most part. The ending of the film tries to tie it all together and fails.

The narrative of the film is a mess in general. It’s as if there was a need to make the viewer just as confused as James, and it was a success. The disappointing part is that there is actually a good story about grief and letting go of the past buried in the rubble of this disastrous narrative. Ultimately, this was a truly messy story with very questionable CGI. This was a film that looked and felt cheap.

1 star