'Silent Hill: Revelation' a frightful Halloween film

Released the Friday before Halloween, “Silent Hill: Revelation" is a cinematic haunted house that guides you through its twists and turns with scares around every corner. It batters the viewer with a mind-bending melee of heroism, violence, romance, mystery and grotesque creatures.

Director Michael J. Bassett based this horror flick upon the chilling role-playing video game “Silent Hill 3” by Konami, and builds upon the story of the first “Silent Hill” film released in 2006. If you haven’t seen this one yet, no worries, because “Revelation” effectively weaves the most important plot elements of the original into the storyline. 

The story centers around Heather Mason (Adelaide Clemens), a 17-year-old girl traumatized by nightmares of a ghastly town full of vicious creatures. She doesn’t know why she has them, but her father Harry Mason (Sean Bean) prefers to keep it that way. In order to protect her, he tries to keep her oblivious to the truth about why she has these nightmares, because she must not visit the town of Silent Hill.

Silent Hill was once a small coal-mining town in West Virginia, but was abandoned after a fire was set off in a mine beneath the town and was never put out. The eternal burning began in 1974 when a little girl named Alessa was set on fire by the townspeople that denounced her as a witch. That’s also when the Darkness began.

As the movie proceeds, Heather’s dream world becomes increasingly intertwined with the real world. After a series of unfortunate events, she is forced to visit the town that once only haunted her at night. Her stay in Silent Hill is filled with death, chaos and distress. Not to mention, there is an epic fight scene between the fan favorite pyramid-head executioner from the first film and a banshee-like creature with cleavers instead of hands.

Aside from that, the sequel takes a noticeably more timid approach than the original, showing far less blood and gore, and differs from the first in a few other important ways. For one, it includes a puppy-love romance between Heather and Vincent (Kit Harington). This adds a positive element, unlike the original, which is almost entirely a mother’s hectic search for her daughter. Also, there is a lot less witch-burning in Revelation and virtually no visible inhabitants of the town. Finally, the 2006 version of “Silent Hill” was quite reminiscent of the video game, mimicking several of the visual style elements.

So if you’re looking for a scare, this frightening foray of morbid curiosity will surely put you in the mood for All Hallows’ Eve. Even though Heather is warned “do not come to Silent Hill,” you shouldn’t heed the warnings. Instead, walk into the fog and discover the terror that awaits.