'Silent' night, unholy night

When nighttime comes and little Sharon Da Silva (Jodelle Ferland, soon to be seen in Terry Gilliam's "Tideland") lays her head down to sleep, there are times when her parents awaken in horror as she is sleepwalking outside and shouting out "Silent Hill."\nConcerned for her daughter's well-being, Rose (Radha Mitchell, "Finding Neverland") goes against her husband Christopher's (Sean Bean) wishes, taking young Sharon to Silent Hill, the mysterious place she mutters about. As they race up the mountain drive, Rose swerves to avoid hitting a girl in the road, banging her head and leaving her knocked out until daylight when her worst fear returns: Sharon is missing. \nWhat happened to the town of Silent Hill? It was built on top of a coal mine where fires never stopped burning, resulting in catastrophe. Silent Hill is a land where fog fills every corner and there is a constant stream of ashen snowfall. A siren warns Rose that this gray city will soon turn the color of blood-rust, the walls black and cracked with something always waiting in the darkness. \nUnlike so many critics currently bashing "Silent Hill," I have played the video game series the film is based on. Simply put, this is the best video game-based movie I've ever seen, but competition doesn't exist when you look at crap like "Street Fighter," "Super Mario Bros." or "Tomb Raider." \nI'm told director Christophe Gans actually played the games too -- he must have, considering the world he has crafted is exactly how I would've pictured it. The foggy ghost town turns into a nightmarish cage from which no one can escape. The monsters are faithful to their design, whether it be the disturbing Dark Nurses or hulking Pyramid Head. Thanks to Gans' smart camerawork, we feel at ease during the day but claustrophobic as soon as those sirens wail. Another smart decision was asking game composer Akira Yamaoka to lend his talents to the soundtrack. \nWriter/director Roger Avary ("The Rules of Attraction," "Pulp Fiction) lends his talents as scribe to "Silent Hill." For a guy who's used to the witty, this screenplay is a bit wooden, just like the acting is at times. \nConsider that to be "Silent Hill's" only downfall. Yet Avary is still clever, as he didn't choose to adapt one single game but instead took elements from all four. Mitchell and Ferland are the best part of the film as their mother/daughter relationship is believable, but it is the surrounding players that bring it down a notch. Alice Krige, who plays church leader Christabella, comes off looking like Katharine Hepburn turned cultist. Laurie Holden is a cop too tough for her tight leather pants and so is Sean Bean, who wasn't even in the original screenplay. He was added in because studios felt no one would enjoy a horror film with all female leads. \nThere is one ultimate thing that "Silent Hill" must be praised for: its ability to transcend the horror genre. Flooded with teenage slasher romps and supernatural schlock-fests, "Silent Hill" is that breath of fresh air -- a film that manages to make a dreamy lullaby into a haunting nightmare.