Return to Silent Hill Review – A HUGE MISTAKE?!
When you adapt one of the greatest horror games of all time, you’d at least expect it to hit all the big story beats and psychological dread of the original. Somehow, Return to Silent Hill manages to mess that all up and makes you think
“What on Earth am I watching?”
Oh, No…
But before I start blasting this movie for being Temu Hill, I must say: the grizzly set design, dynamic camerawork and haunting music by Akira Yamaoka are top-notch, and the acting honestly isn’t too bad compared to the games. Yet, similar to Until Dawn’s film adaption last year, Return to Silent Hill tends to veer away from the source material, and it’s almost always worse off for doing so. Who would’ve thought?
If you’ve never played either version of the game, you’ll be left scratching your head even more than I was, as the plot plucks bits and pieces here and there without really leaning into any of the main themes of guilt, grief and punishment. Eddie and Angela get shafted with discount takes on their stories, while our early 2000’s punk-rock edition of James is a vastly different character to what you’d expect—and not in a good way. What they’ve done to Mary adds nothing to her character or story either, so what we’re left with is this rotating wheel of new and old scenes that go together like oil and water. It’s quite amazing how they still managed to stuff it up with such strong source material, considering how revered Silent Hill 2’s narrative is, though I guess it can’t be helped here.
That said, the filmmakers nailed that classic Silent Hill type of horror, right down to the yucky, I-ain’t-touching-that kind of textures and imagery. I just wish the CG of this movie’s monsters were up to snuff, since it often looks like James is squaring up against video game creatures, which really ruins the immersion. So close, yet so very far.
Decision
Return to Silent Hill is as bad as you thought it’d be. It takes one of horror gaming’s all-time bangers and somehow turns it into a confused remix that almost entirely misses the point, the main themes and a tonne of the emotional weight. The set design, music and cinematography are strong enough to trick you into thinking it’s working, but the moment it starts rewriting characters and story beats, it soon morphs into a strange shell of the original and 2024 remake. It looks like Silent Hill, sounds like Silent Hill, yet ultimately feels like a cheap knock-off that forgot the fog and the soul. A quiet mound, if anything.
Bad
Return to Silent Hill looks and sounds the part, but completely misses the emotional core and themes that made Silent Hill 2 iconic. A well-shot, confused knock-off that mistakes atmosphere for understanding.
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