User Feature: Brokeh's late night moviehs!: SH Revelation

Brokeh's late night moviehs!: SH Revelation

On 06/15/2013 at 01:29 AM by BrokenH

"Starring Pyramid Head, the tap dancing sword swinging sensation we all know and love! Now with kittens!"

If you know two things about me it’s that I love Silent Hill while simultaneously not being a raging fan boy. Aka, I often come off as brightly optimistic compared to most of the other more dour members of The Order. (Aka, those individuals whom worship Team Silent as if they’re Lovecraftian gods) Personally I think those people have sticks up their asses but I digress! Is Revelations a pile of blood ridden fecal matter? Read on to find out!

First of all, Revelations has one thing going against it right away. Aka, anyone who has played the games knows Heather is Alessa. When I found that out in SH 3 it genuinely surprised me but since then everyone and their grandmother knows of this twist. I likewise miss Jodelle Ferland. She was great as Alessa in the previous SH film. (Her replacement for Dark-Alessa does a decent job though and even looks a lot like her.)

Negatives out of the way, there are some brilliant moments here. Many of the new monsters introduced reminded me of Clive Barker’s very best creature designs. Considering what a huge Hell-Raiser fan I am, it’s flattery that I’m making this comparison. I really have to give props to the CGI gurus, prop makers, the costume designers, and the make-up crews. Bang up job, ya’ll. Commendations all around!

The people portraying Vincent (Jon Snow!), Heather, and Harry Mason (Eddard Stark!) do fantastic jobs. Additionally, their character arcs are satisfyingly fleshed out. Sadly, Douglas and Claudia (Trinity!) in particular see very little screen time and considering their importance in SH3 the game, that’s a crying shame. Rose makes a cameo too but her part is so miniscule it barely helps to tie events of the first movie to the second movie. (For those of you scratching your heads in puzzled bewilderment ,Rose is the previous protagonist and Sharon’s (Alessa’s) foster mother.) Though Leonard’s role in the grander scheme of things is regretfully brief, the actor who portrays him really steals the show. He’s delightfully conniving and wonderfully insane!

While I had no problems with this new interpretation of Silent Hill, I can empathize with the fans who will inevitably “lose their cool” when viewing it. As endearing as “young Vincent” is for example, he’s not nearly as memorable or impressionable as his older and slyer videogame counterpart. Additionally the fact Claudia and Alessa were childhood friends is never brought up so there isn’t a sympathetic thread connecting the heroine to the villainess like there should be. If this is not insufferable enough, the snootery gauntlet will be thrown down after fans lament the return of sexy undead nurses and Pyramid-Head. (Two adversaries who should theoretically be connected to James Sutherland’s psyche, not Heather Mason‘s. Well, actually Heather “did“ have her own nurse minions to contend with. My bad!)

So is Revelation a failure? If you judge it as a “videogame to film adaptation” it’s surprisingly pleasant. It doesn’t deserve to lament in the same 9th hell as Mario Bros, Double Dragon, and Street Fighter. Be that as it may, Revelation is not quite as good as the first SH movie so it exists within its’ own uncertain purgatory. Naïve horror fans who saw the previous SH movie will be able to appreciate how Revelation wraps up most of the loose ends from its’ predecessor but “hardcore fans” of Konami’s Silent-Hill franchise will probably find many reasons to rip it to pieces! (Then again, don’t they always? When was the last occasion the SH fandom was satisfied? Just Saying!)

Personally, I enjoyed watching this. There are a lot of easter-eggs and nods to other SH games as well (Origins & Downpour in particular) and I was relieved this movie wasn’t as insipid or as terrible as many critics made it out to be.

Verdict
Watch It! It’s on Netflix!

Matt Snee Staff Writer

06/15/2013 at 09:15 AM

never played a Silent Hill game. I might have missed the boat, as I'm sure the PSONE version isn't as scary now as when it first came out.

V4Viewtiful

06/15/2013 at 11:33 AM

Scary? No, but deeply disturbing and overall tense.

BrokenH

06/15/2013 at 03:45 PM

SH isn't the greatest at "jump scares" but it excels at tension and atmosphere. Aka, it's the type of fear that slowly creeps up on you and touches you with its' icy fingers, leaving its' mark on your psyche long after you've stopped playing. Hope that helps,Matt!

Blake Turner Staff Writer

06/15/2013 at 02:56 PM

One problem I seriously have with these movies and the modern games is that they use the famous monsters and locations from the first three, and mangle them all together. NO! The reasons they were there was because they were symbolic of the protagonists fears, frustrations and desires. There should be no sexy nurses because we aren't in James' sexually frustrated and fucked up head. Likewise, we shouldn't see pyramid head waving his massive phallis around and destroying things he should care about. Same goes with other games design.

06/15/2013 at 03:39 PM

Yeah, it urked me too,Blake. I brought that up as one of the bigger issues. Any SH fan worth their salt knows PH and the bubble-head nurses are James's. While there's a part of me that loves seeing them again the other part of me is like "No! No! No! You shouldn't be here!". They could have been more creative and came up with some more Heather specific creatures. I would have liked that. (Though they did a decent job with the executioner & the mannequin-parts spider thing)

06/15/2013 at 03:50 PM

Yeah... If they want to appeal to SH fans, they should either make up their own monsters, or just make a Silent Hill 2 movie.

06/15/2013 at 03:57 PM

I think they should present a brand new troubled protagonist, brand new monsters, and a brand new scenario. Aka, that way they can actually surprise us. We already know the twist with James and his wife Mary. I also don't want them using any other pre-existing characters either.

mothman

06/18/2013 at 05:39 PM

Spot on Blake. That's a very good point.

Chunopo

06/15/2013 at 11:41 PM

I'm definately going to have to check this one out Ben, I really liked the first one, it had it's failings but I loved the effects that they used and they really got to grips with the how the world changed, the peeling walls etc worked really well, plus I'm a big sean Bean fan which helped! Your recommendation has been noted sir!

06/16/2013 at 03:08 PM

If you liked the first SH movie you'll enjoy this one. (Though maybe not quite as much) I added the later in parenthesis because some characters who should be pivotal to the plot barely get fleshed out at all. Claudia & Douglas totally needed more screen time.

Beyond that it's a great videogame film though. It edges out above most of the recent Resident Evil movies for me. (Though yes, I love Milla Jovovich and Michelle Rodriguez!)

06/16/2013 at 07:57 PM

The res evil films just got more and more.... absurd. Though the games did as well I suppose so it's following suit there. Milla certainly makes any installment worth watching however!

Super Step Contributing Writer

06/16/2013 at 01:07 AM

Yeah, critics can definitely overblow things, especially when it comes to movies with rabid fanbases. I'm thinking I'll enjoy Man of Steel when I see it, despite the critical split, but we'll see.

Nice to see a different perspective from someone who likes the games, but can tolerate the changes. Although I'm not ragging on people not wanting things changed; man did that Last Airbender movie piss me off, and I watched the cartoon AFTER I saw the movie, and just got retroactively pissed off. lol

06/16/2013 at 03:13 PM

Ha ha ha! The Last Airbender cartoon is a tough act to follow,Joe. In my opinion they should have made a cartoon movie with the same animators & writers but that's just me. (And yeah, the cartoon wrapped up everything nicely so maybe my idea is a bit pointless)

Personally I didn't think the movie was terrible. It just had the misfortune of trying to embody one of the best animated shows of all time. Of course our expectations were going to be sky high going in. (Those of us who saw the series first I mean)

At least in your case you saved the best for last.

06/16/2013 at 09:07 PM

Yeah, it was technically a pretty faithful adaptation as far as the bullet point plot points of the episodes, but the pacing and feel of the original stories belonged in cartoon TV show form.

I just thought even then it could have kept more of the original's charm, but hey, without that movie I would not be having this conversation, so it did some good as PR for the show.

smartcelt

06/18/2013 at 01:23 AM

I liked it a lot. Thought the acting was great and the effects superb. I hope there are more Silent Hill films in the future that are as good.

06/20/2013 at 03:02 AM

I think the biggest crux (weakness) is directors basing Silent Hill movies on the games. Aka, we go in knowing what the major twists are.

Having stated that I enjoyed both SH movies for what they were. Definitely a cut above the usual videogame adaptation slock!

I need to watch this. I quite enjoyed the first movie flawed though it was.

06/20/2013 at 03:12 AM

I think you'd like Revelation too,Pete. It's not quite as good as the first SH film but when compared to other videogame movies out there it's still high on the totem poll.

NSonic79

07/06/2013 at 11:23 AM

I tried to watch this one netflix but I ended up falling asleep during the hotel scene. Why do I get the feeling a scene was cut during the change over.

I think I'll give it another try during October, perhaps even add it as a "vewing guilty pleasure" blog for the month. If anything this movie makes me want to play SH3 to see how bad they messed things up.

PixlBit

Brokeh's late night moviehs!: SH Revelation

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Matt Snee Staff Writer