I finally watched “Silent Hill” this past weekend. It’s a movie that I had planned on seeing in a movie theater when it was released but things just kept me from going. I wish now that I had made it. The widescreen images would have been really sweet up there on the big screen.

I liked “Silent Hill” a lot. I have come to think of it less as a “horror” film and more of a dark fantasy or nightmare that you can’t wake up from. It’s all pretty bleak.

It’s kinda like “The Cell” only with a lot better acting (J-Lo you suck!) and story.

Sharon has been adopted by Rose and Chris but she has started having mood altering nightmares and keeps calling out “home” and “Silent Hill.” So, Rose decides the way to end all this is to take Sharon to Silent Hill and find out just what the heck is going on. Can we guess that it’s not the best idea? There’s a car wreck and Sharon disappears into the town. Can Rose find Sharon in the nightmare maze of Silent Hill before it’s too late?

The movie unfolds at it’s own pace as Rose unravels the clues to find Sharon and the who/what/when/where/how of Silent Hill. It’s very much like the video game in that respect as a trail of clues leads from on horrific locale to another. I do wish there had been a few more of the monsters that make the game such a fright fest (and trust me … the game is terrifiying in spots). But there is only so much you can pack into a two hour film. The filmakers did choose some really specific images from the game to use in the film which was cool. You get the idea that they wanted to stay true to the game yet take it just a step beyond. The addition of the underground coal fire (ala Centralia, PA) is a cool addition to the story. It’s all about the atmosphere. There’s a killer cast (Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Laurie Holden, Deborah Kara Unger and Alice Krige) that also helps step things up a notch as well.

I have read some reviews where folks have complained that the movie makes no sense. I am not sure where this is coming from as the film even has a “here is what has happened and that is why this is happening” segment late in the film. It all seemed pretty straight forward to me. Or maybe it’s because I loved the really sweet visual style of the movie that I can let certain things slide.

So, yeah. “Silent Hill.” I dug it.