There is nothing silent or revelatory or technically inventive about the new horror thriller, “Silent Hill: Revelation 3D,” which is actually noisy, lacking any disclosures or suspense or characters you might care about, and defined by mediocre production values—by today’s standards.
Essentially a quicky exploitation flick, albeit one without the fun that sometimes goes with such trashy fare, “Silent Hill” has the narrative and (ill)logic of an extended video game, one that you play when there is nothing more exciting to do.
The best element of “Silent Hill” is its running time, only 93 minutes (with credits), though the picture has decent material for perhaps one reel.
The biggest mystery about the film is not the psychological dynamics of its daughter-father melodrama, but how did the filmmaker manage to gather such a talented cast for such an unworthy project. In addition to Sean Bean, the estimable ensemble includes Radha Mitchell, Carrie Ann Moss, and Malcolm MacDowell.
The premise is workable: Heather Mason and her father (Sean Bean) have been on the run, always one step ahead of dangerous forces. Heathers fails to understand why they are constantly on the move.
A “typical” teenager, she goes through all the rites of passage of her precarious age. Curious to find out about her dada and about her origins, she begins to realize that she (and he) might not be the persons she had assumed to be.
Not surprisingly, having been plagued by anxieties and nightmares, Heather’s revelation” occurs on the eve of her very 18th birthday. Curious and inquisitive, she begins to dig deeper and deeper into her surrounding word, which get increasingly threatening and demonic.
Writer-director Michal J. Bassett has obviously watched numerous horror flicks, for his scenario is a pastiche of elements of previous, much better samples. The film is so inept that it’s hard to determine if the major flaws are in the routine writing or pedestrian helming.
Open Road, which distributes the movie, has decided not to hold advance screenings for the press, and after watching the movie you understand the company’s reasoning. Likely to be dismissed by most critics and to suffer from a negative word-of-mouth, “Silent Hill” hopes to recoup its expense and generate quick coin on its opening weekend of playing, especially the first day.
“Silent Hill”is the kind of a bad, not particularly enjoyable movie, at the end of which even young, indiscriminating viewers might ask, Ïs that all there is to it?
Credits
Running time: 94 Minutes.
Directed By:Michael J. Bassett
Written By:Michael J. Bassett.
October 26, 2012
Open Road Films
