They should have never returned to Silent Hill: critics and viewers trashed the new adaptation of the legendary horror
Today – January 23 – the film "Return to Silent Hill" by director Christophe Gans started showing in cinemas around the world, who 20 years ago made successful adaptations of cult Japanese horrors.
The new film is an adaptation of the legendary Silent Hill 2, so fans had high expectations. Well, if you are among them, we have bad news.
What is known
In short – it's a flop.
Critics and first viewers published their reviews, and, for example, on Rotten Tomatoes Return to Silent Hill received 9% "freshness", and on Metacritic 26 out of 100 points.
On the bright side, it's only Akira Yamaoka's (Akira Yamaoka) music — it's impossible to imagine the Silent Hill franchise without this composer, and his work in the new adaptation did not disappoint.
As for the film itself, critics have two major grievances:
- It is technically poorly made — referring to the staging, special effects, lighting, even the character images raised questions, moreover, even at the stage of the first teasers.
- The filmmakers seem to have been afraid to show the plot of Silent Hill 2 from new angles, but at the same time they also did not exactly transfer scenes from the game. As a result, those who expected something new and those who wanted to see a conservative adaptation of Silent Hill 2 were left dissatisfied.
As noted by a reviewer from IGN, "Return to Silent Hill", compared to Silent Hill: Revelation, is certainly a more successful adaptation, but it's unfortunate to have to compare a mediocre film to the outright failure of 2017.
Another expert offered a great piece of advice: instead of watching the new movie, it's better to play through Silent Hill 2 again or its magnificent 2024 remake.
Source: Rotten Tomatoes, Metacritic