Day 1 of October Screamfest: Silent Hill

To start the month off, I introduced my friend Nova to one of my favorite Horror movies: Silent Hill.

Though parts of the movie are either too slow or two fast, too much explanation or vagueness- what enthralls my interest for this film is the creatures, demons and damned. In a world with three dimensions: a first, normal world where we reside, a second foggy-ashy remains of a ghost town, and a third hellish dimension that is awakened when the sun blacks out; the creatures finally come out, in all their 'damned' glory.

In short, the movie is about a woman (Rose) who brings her adopted daughter (Sharon) to a ghost town named "Silent Hill" after her daughter cried out the name whilst sleepwalking. A car crash later, they are in the town, her daughter is missing, and Rose is sent on a wild goosechase through a horror maze of town to find Sharon. They encounter monsters, and a cult which later explains the connection between Sharon and the town's evils.

Silent Hill: The Movie is an adaptation of the video games. Being a fan of the video games, I remember having my character run through long stretches, randomly, a monster would pop out and scare the pants off of me. Each monster posed as an intense off the seat threat. The game had a terrible weapon selection (i once tried to kill the dogs with long tongues in Silent Hill 3 with a bottle of chocolate milk), but that was an appeal to the game- the helpless, hopeless, feeling of never going to be kill the darn things (with a rusted pipe) and feeling as if the horror would never end. That's what I missed from the movie, how the plot of the video game was perfectly woven around the creatures, and how I never knew that there was another monster, just right around the corner. All in all, the movie was a great horror film.

The monsters in the movie are compelling in the strange, limbs popping out of place, grotesque body scraping the floor, creepy crawling way. The way the creatures move at times show almost a sadness and pain in teach of them. The burnt children in the beginning are screeching in pain, a nurse is crying blood, the roaches- up close are shown to have screaming human faces. Even the positioning of bodies in the way that they are contorted. I love that the actors playing the roles of the monsters are dancers and not just pure CGI.

One of my favorite 'creatures' are the nurses. Bandages cover their faces while they are all uniformed. They are together in a horde, almost akin to zombies. Their movement is erratic, and sudden. They are drawn to the light and Rose has to make her way through them as she turns off her flashlight.

Another favorite is the pyramid head. He's a very strong, mysterious charter that wields a giant sword (almost butcherlike). The best scene he portrays is when he appears behind one of the locals, raises her off the ground, choking her. He then tears off her clothes, twists her skin around her fist and then rips her apart, into a gooey, bloody mess.

So this was just the start to Frightober! Can't wait to watch more scary movies, horror books and halloween treats! Also can't wait to watch Silent Hill: Revelation in 3D at the end of the month! :)