Adelaide Clemens is shown in a scene from “Silent Hill: Revelations 3-D.” (Photo credit: Open Road Films)
‘Silent Hill: Revelation’ a gory, confusing mess
As a video game, “Silent Hill” is a monster: a monster of a backstory, a monster of a plot and a monster of a horror game. But somehow, in a way only a video game could manage, it weaves together those seemingly disconnected points into a series gamers have clamored for since 1999, when the first, genre-changing installment was released.
The film adaptations, though, are quite another story, and “Silent Hill: Revelation 3-D” is no exception, failing to live up to the horror and intrigue for which its name is known.
“Revelation,” a sequel to 2006’s “Silent Hill” and loosely based on the “Silent Hill 3” video game, is set years after the original, with a near-18-year-old Heather Mason (Adelaide Clemens) as its protagonist. The backstory here can be somewhat convoluted, especially if you haven’t seen the first film or aren’t familiar with the game.
Basically, Heather used to be known as Sharron, who used to part of a viciously brutal entity/spirit known as Alessa. Heather and her adopted father, Harry (Sean Bean), have been on the run for years; Heather believes it’s because her father murdered someone in self-defense, when in reality her father is spiriting her away, at the advice of his wife (Radha Mitchell), from those who wish to return her to Silent Hill, a nightmare dreamscape of shifting environments created by Alessa’s dark powers after the town burned her for being a witch.
There’s some more metaphysical and occult background, but there’s the basic premise. Back in the present, Heather’s nightmare-filled world becomes a whole lot more real (kind of) when what she thought were only dreams come to haunt her. Her father is kidnapped, and Heather decides to rescue him by — you guessed it — venturing to Silent HIll. You see (because the plot’s not complicated enough), she has to stop the mysterious Order of Valtiel by merging two halves of the Seal of Metatron to save her father. Oh, and the world. But that’s not important right now.
She’s not alone, though: In tow comes her new high school friend, Vincent (Kit Harington). The two set off on a nightmare adventure through horror-movie-cliched environments, from the dilapidated asylum to the creepy amusement park to the grisly surgery room, all the while dodging the sutured-and-bladed hell spawn chasing them down. (The surgery room scene, with its knife-wielding, sound-sensitive, harpy-faced nurses, is particularly disturbing.)
They also briefly interacts with characters from the video game (played by Deborah Kara Unger, Malcolm McDowell and Carrie-Anne Moss, notably), which adds some context in this miasma of confusion.
Here’s the thing: “Silent Hill” sets the standard for psychological horror when it comes to video games. It’s about the running and hiding, learning more of the story as you go. “Revelation,” while entertaining enough, doesn’t capture that intensity, no matter how many jump scares it throws at the audience. It’s chaotic and messy, and while director Michael J. Bassett shows that he has an eye for the visual (“Revelation” is immensely eye-catching in its design), he fails to coherently string together a plot or character development worthy of the game’s good name.
You can have all the Pyramid Heads and Orders and Seals and Brethrens and shifting dreamscapes you want (though the fanboys will undoubtedly appreciate the effort), but you may have missed the make when you resort to trying to scare us with a Pop-Tart.
Two ever-shifting stars out of five.
Silver Screening Reviews 