This video game/horror sequel is so bad that Sean Bean should consider firing his agent....
Universal / 95 Minutes / 2012 / Rated R / Street Date: February 12, 2013
There’s a legitimate reason for the resounding critical disdain for Silent Hill: Revelation. Yes, sometimes film writers are a bit harsh when it comes to horror films – not highbrow enough – but nightmarish wastes of time like this slasher sequel are hard to stomach even in fits and spurts. Michael J. Bassett’s yarn is talky and pointless, delivering neither creepy-crawly mood nor screeching thrills.
Perhaps not having familiarity with the franchise’s first installment is a crippling issue – I must admit to not having gotten around to see the first Silent Hill film, which was based on a popular video game from the early 2000s. There might be information there that very well may inform viewers as to the narrative shape and sense of Revelation, but while this is theoretically possible, I seriously doubt it.
Basically, one can dissect Silent Hill: Revelation into two parts: talking and bad visual effects. We first hear a lot of discussion about the maybe-real/maybe-not funhouse world of Silent Hill and how Sean Bean (how did he get involved with this?) is fated to spend time there, and then as the shithouse goes up in flames, we’re bombarded with gimmicky 3D designs and seemingly ‘creepy’ imagery that would seem hokey if it showed up in a mid-90s Metallica video.
Quite simply, it’s just no fun. Horror devotees might be able to mine some brain-bending thrills out of Silent Hill: Revelation’s trippy conceit, but unless you have a distinct tie to the video game/cinema franchise, this one will leave you cold. The major question, again, is how an actor of Sean Bean’s caliber got locked into this straight-to-video-quality nightmare. He certainly deserves better.
