N.U.S. SPECIAL REPORT April 26, 2006

This is a special message about something that is important to me; the Silent Hill movie. All questions will be answered at the bottom of this post.

I'm sure by now nearly everyone has heard or read a bad review for Silent Hill which was based on the Konami game for PS1 Silent Hill which was based on the breakfast cereal Demons From Hell Flakes. I would like to take this moment to say that while Silent Hill isn't the greatest movie ever made, fans of the game owe it to themselves to see it.

I've noticed that most people who 'reviewed' this movie have either never played the game, or if they had, they didn't like it. Well, I'm stepping in here because I LOVE the games, and have a slightly differerent point of view to offer the movie-going public.

Silent Hill isn't so much a movie where we watch the game, or where we watch characters we're supposed to already know going through events similar to those we've already experienced. The movie is more like a trip INTO Silent Hill. The artistry involved is spectacular, especially the scenes where the town transforms into Nightmare Mode.

Fans of the series will also note the almost bizarre mishmash of elements from the first three games. Essentially, the story is from the first game, the monsters are from the second, and the music is from the third. It's fun for anyone who's gone through each game to take note of all the small elements that have been put into this film, which tie it well to the game, but seperate it enough to make it interesting.

I will say this: if you haven't played the games, or have and don't like them this isn't a movie for you. Unless you know someone who HAS and can explain certain elements to you. In this way, yes Silent Hill fails as a movie. Here we have the opposite end of the movie-game spectrum, where a movie is made TOO similar to a game, and then pulled back to try and rope in people unfamiliar with the source material.

So I guess my point is that I, a fan of the games, DID enjoy Silent Hill and while I know it can be hard to resist what certain self-assured 'experts' in such fields may attest, I urge you, SH fans to go see it and make the call for yourself. I would HATE for this to turn into another Resident Evil, especially since we finally are reaching the point where a movie captures most of the same elements from a game.

Oh, and the movie is one of the reasons that there was no comic on Saturday. Unfortunately, it kinda blew my mind and I was in no fit state to make a comic.

Okay, so Q and A time.
Why am I posting this here? Because I have an opinion, and while the manga above might not have anything to do with video games, this is still my forum so I'll use it however I like. Also, as you may have noticed, I am a huge fan of video games and especially Silent Hill.

I feel that the movie got an unfair wrap and am using my space to assert MY opinion.

Also, I love talking about Silent Hill. I love discussing it, explaining it and sharing info, theories etc. Feel free to email me about it.

So I'm done now. Check out my GALLERY for some special Silent Hill art which I am going to finish right now.

"Only the dark one opens and closes the door to Silent Hill..."
-Lovez, Ayame.