- "Silent Hill" refers to multiple subjects. See Silent Hill for more uses.
Silent Hill is a 2006 horror film directed by Christophe Gans and written by Roger Avary in conjunction with Christophe Gans and Nicolas Boukhrief. The story is an adaptation of the first Silent Hill video game created by Team Silent and published by Konami. The film includes elements from Silent Hill, Silent Hill 2, and Silent Hill 3, with music from 1, 2, 3 and Silent Hill 4: The Room. It was released in theaters on April 21, 2006 by TriStar Pictures.
The film follows a loving mother who takes her adopted daughter to Silent Hill, West Virginia, the only clue to her daughter's sleepwalking condition. After being knocked unconscious in a car crash, she awakens to find her daughter missing and the town engulfed in fog and falling ash. She proceeds to search the town for her daughter and discovers her daughter's connections to the town's disturbing history.
Plot
- Note: Silent Hill is set around October - November 2004.
Sharon, Christopher, and Rose.
On a dark night in Ohio, Rose Da Silva and her husband Chris chase their adopted daughter Sharon, who has been experiencing severe nightmares and sleepwalking, after she wanders from their house and almost walks off the edge of a cliff. Their only clue to the girl's condition is her repetition of the name "Silent Hill" during her episodes. Desperate for answers, Rose decides to take Sharon to the abandoned town of Silent Hill in West Virginia, despite Christopher's opposition to the plan.
On the drive to Silent Hill, Rose stops at a gas station to ask for directions. Cybil Bennett, a police officer from Brahams, watches the mother and daughter with a hint of suspicion, mostly after a scene of Sharon becoming distraught at somebody "changing" her drawings into disturbing, borderline occult imagery, which was actually done by Sharon during one of her fugues. Cybil soon asks if Rose needs help, but Rose declines and heads on her way. Dubious that these are two "ordinary" people, Cybil takes note of Rose's license plate. Rose proceeds on her drive to Silent Hill and Cybil attempts to pull her over. After noticing the turnoff to Silent Hill, Rose drives off quickly to escape her. Suddenly, the figure of a young girl wanders out in front of the car and Rose is knocked unconscious in the following crash.
Rose in the Otherworld bowling alley.
Rose awakens to find that Sharon is missing and that she is on the outskirts of the town of Silent Hill, shrouded by heavy fog and steadily-falling ashes. Rose searches the empty streets of the town for her missing child. After following what she thinks is her daughter's figure into a dark alley, Rose experiences a surreal shift into a darker version of the town. She discovers a mutilated figure clothed in mining gear hung to a wire fence, complete with bloody floors and fences made of metal grating. Suddenly, Rose is attacked by a Grey Child. Dozens more show up, causing her to flee into a nearby building. Rose stumbles and is about to be overwhelmed by the creatures when the Grey Children and the surface of the room around her begin to disintegrate, and she loses consciousness. Upon awakening, she finds herself back in the Fog World inside of a dilapidated bowling alley.
Venturing out once more, Rose finds one of the main roads leading out of Silent Hill gone, collapsed into an abyss of fog. A mysterious woman in ragged clothing, Dahlia Gillespie, arrives and speaks of the terrible things done to her own daughter, Alessa, by the townspeople. Dahlia claims that Sharon is actually her own daughter and not Rose's. After Dahlia almost pushes Rose off the edge of the collapsed road in an almost insane rage, Rose runs back to her car and finds a drawing of a school in Sharon's sketchbook.
Cybil Bennett after the crash.
Suddenly, Cybil appears and places Rose under arrest for attempting to flee from her previously. As Rose is placed in handcuffs, Cybil reveals she too crashed and woke up in Silent Hill. They attempt to head back to the Brahams police station but discover that the road out of the town has mysteriously disappeared, resulting in Cybil beginning to believe Rose's claims that something is seriously wrong with the town. Backtracking the way they came to find a radio tower, Cybil sees something wandering towards them through the fog. As it gets closer, they realize it is another one of the town's creatures and it starts to shoot boiling acid at Cybil. While Cybil shoots at the monster, Rose takes the opportunity to run back into the town. After slipping the handcuffs to the front of her so her hands have limited use, she uses bus signs to find Midwich Elementary School, where she believes Sharon is.
Inside the school, Rose sees the figure of a child who looks like Sharon run into the girl's bathroom. She enters the bathroom and opens one of the bathroom stall doors to discover the body of a janitor wrapped in barbed wire with a piece of a hotel keychain in his mouth. Rose takes the keychain and is about to leave when strange suited figures arrive. They spot her and Rose uses the keys she finds in the main office to keep them out of the bathroom. The figures leave quickly as a warning siren blares. Rose switches on her flashlight and sees the bathroom physically begin to rot and degrade as it shifts into the Otherworld. The body of the janitor is now alive and crawls along the floor still wrapped in barbed wire. Rose manages to escape before he catches her.
Chris and Thomas Gucci searching for Rose.
Meanwhile, Christopher has studied reports and online articles about Silent Hill, and the dangers it possesses. Worried for his wife's safety, he takes it upon himself to drive out and rescue her. He is reluctantly aided by Officer Thomas Gucci after Chris begs the officer to help him find his missing wife. Under the guise of keeping Christopher safe from the harms of the underground coal fire and other natural dangers of the town, Gucci guides the worried husband through the town. The officer reveals his father once owned the local barber shop, and talks about how everyone fled the town due to the coal fire. He sympathizes with Christopher, but is more immediately concerned with the man's safety and is keen to leave.
Eventually they reach the school, where Rose currently is still trapped in the Otherworld. Although the two of them cannot see each other, at one point they walk through the same area at the same time, and Christopher believes he feels Rose's presence, even smelling her perfume. However, Gucci doesn't believe him, shrugging off the sight of a school door opening and closing by itself. Chris and Gucci ultimately leave the town without much hope of finding her.
Rose and Cybil dodging Red Pyramid's blade.
Rose runs through the dark and rusted hallways and collapses in tears, believing she can't go on. As she is about to be overrun with Creepers, Cybil suddenly shows up and saves her, having been dragged into the Otherworld along with Rose. Trapped inside a storeroom, the two of them are attacked by Red Pyramid, resulting in a hectic fight for their lives. While dodging the Great Knife, Cybil fires at the monster's arm as he yanks at a metal bar barricading the door. Just as the monster is about to break into the room, he ceases his attack and the school shifts back into the Fog World.
Meanwhile, Christopher has ignored Gucci's orders for him to go home, and has broken into the Toluca County Archives in a desperate search for any information that could help him in his search. He discovers documents showing the town was abandoned after a terrible fire 30 years prior, along with a photo of Dahlia's daughter, who bears a remarkable resemblance to Sharon. Christopher is apprehended by Officer Gucci when he tries to question Sharon's orphanage, and is told to stop investigating Silent Hill or risk being arrested. In exasperation, he finally relents and heads home.
Rose, Anna and Cybil.
Back in Silent Hill, Rose and Cybil arrive at the Grand Hotel, where they encounter a young woman named Anna. Searching the building, they visit Room 111 and discover a secret passage to a sacrificial chamber, where Rose encounters a little girl who resembles Sharon, albeit much darker: Dark Alessa. After Dark Alessa bursts into flames, another siren blares out and warns of another impending shift to the Otherworld. Anna implores Rose and Cybil to follow her to the local church, where she believes they will be safe.
On the way there, the Otherworld begins to consume the church grounds. Anna doesn't survive as Red Pyramid grabs her and rips her skin off. Rose and Cybil find refuge in the church, which is spared from being transformed by the Otherworld where they discover the remaining townspeople; a religious cult, headed by a woman named Christabella. Christabella tells them that a "demon" controls the town and that Rose must face the "darkness of hell" if she wants to find her daughter. After convincing Christabella that she wants to find the "demon" for answers, Rose is taken to a hospital with Cybil to find it.
Dark Alessa tells Rose the truth.
There, Christabella discovers the likeness between Sharon and Alessa from Rose's locket and condemns Rose and Cybil as witches. Cybil is captured as she defends Rose, who escapes the clutches of the cult and descends in an elevator into the basement of the Otherworld hospital. After a close encounter with monstrous nurses, Rose finds a badly burned adult Alessa lying in a hospital bed, unable to walk or speak. Meanwhile, a nurse in red hospital robes is crying and covering her face. Dark Alessa appears and explains why Alessa is like this. Rose learns that Dark Alessa is the manifestation of the dark side of Alessa's soul.
In a flashback, Rose discovers that Silent Hill had a history of ritual witch burnings. Alessa herself was condemned as a witch for not having a father and an attempt to burn her 30 years ago went disastrously awry, resulting in a devastating fire destroying the town. In her hatred, Alessa began manifesting psionic powers and ended up creating Dark Alessa and the Otherworld. Since then, she has been shifting reality to the hellish nightmare world in order to hunt down the cult members who hurt her all those years ago. Rose is told that Sharon is the manifestation of Alessa's remaining innocence and goodness, and was taken to the orphanage by Dark Alessa, where she was later adopted by Rose and Christopher. Dark Alessa warns Rose that Christabella will know where Sharon is hiding, and that she's already making plans to burn her, just as she did to Alessa.
After realizing what she needs to do, Rose agrees to help Alessa gain her final revenge to save her daughter. After explaining that the church's protection from the Otherworld prevents her from getting inside, Dark Alessa then makes Rose absorb her so that she can enter the church. After this, the camera pans over to the nurse sitting in the back of the ward, still crying. She uncovers her face to reveal that she has been crying blood, a result of Alessa's psychic attack on her 30 years earlier.
Rose confronts the cultists.
Rose enters the church soon after Cybil has been burned to death by the townspeople and sees Sharon is about to suffer a similar fate. She confronts the townspeople and Christabella with her new knowledge of the truth, attempting to convince the cult that they are in denial of their own fate. Christabella stabs Rose in anger, claiming that Rose has been corrupted and is an agent of the "demon". Rose's wounds cause her blood to drip onto the church floor, releasing Alessa's tainted essence and opening a portal into the Otherworld. Dark Alessa and Alessa's adult form rise out of the portal, and proceed to kill Christabella and the townspeople with long tangles of barbed wire, leaving Dahlia, Rose, and Sharon as the only survivors. Sharon and Dark Alessa lock eyes, causing Sharon to faint.
Sharon locks eyes with Dark Alessa.
Rose and Alessa leave Silent Hill and return home. At the same time, Christopher returns home from his search of the archives. Although Rose and Alessa are in the same room as Christopher, the same situation as the one at the school is present. Neither one can see the other, but Christopher still appears to feel Rose's presence and the door has mysteriously opened by itself. As Sharon leaves the room, her expression turns dark, indicating that Alessa's two halves have finally rejoined after 30 years, and that Sharon is now the complete Alessa.
Cast
- Radha Mitchell - Rose Da Silva
- Sean Bean - Christopher Da Silva
- Jodelle Ferland - Sharon Da Silva / Alessa Gillespie / Dark Alessa
- Laurie Holden - Cybil Bennett
- Deborah Kara Unger - Dahlia Gillespie
- Kim Coates - Thomas Gucci
- Tanya Allen - Anna
- Alice Krige - Christabella
- Roberto Campanella - Red Pyramid / Colin the Janitor
Music
Anna Tsuchiya's Lovin' You.
The score to Silent Hill is completely comprised of various themes from the game series (Silent Hill 1-3, with a few from Silent Hill 4) except for Johnny Cash's Ring of Fire. The score has been re-recorded and remixed for film by Jeff Danna. For example, "Promise (Reprise)" is a prominent score throughout the film, and is often used to accompany Alessa and her past. Some of the vocal tracks are present, with Mary Elizabeth McGlynn's "You're Not Here" playing through part of the credits, set to a 3D animation of various environments from the film. The ending theme in the Japanese version of the movie is Anna Tsuchiya's Lovin' You. [1]
Trivia
The name Cheryl spray painted under the bridge.
- In the original script, there were only female characters, as director Christophe Gans wanted the film to run entirely on a theme of maternity, but the studio demanded more men be added. Sean Bean's and Kim Coates's characters were added and the script was approved.
- At the start of the film, when Rose pauses under the overpass while looking for Sharon, several recognizable items are spray-painted on the wall in the background, including the GMC logo and "The Beatles". During a wide shot, spray-painted in the uppermost right corner are the words "Cheryl and Wolf" (a reference to Cheryl Mason and Claudia Wolf); the shot then cuts to a close-up of "Cheryl".
- The film features various references to Silent Hill 3: Sharon's line "Don't talk to strangers" quotes Heather Mason's first encounter with Douglas Cartland. Also, a symbol very similar to the Seal of Metatron can be seen twice in the Otherworld version of Midwich Elementary School when Dark Alessa appears at her desk scribbling furiously.
- Throughout the film, "Brahms" is spelled "Brahams". Ironically, Cybil Bennett is the only one to actually say the word "Brahams" in the whole movie while her last name is misspelled in the promotional newspaper for the movie.
- Most of the monsters featured are taken from Silent Hill 2: the Lying Figure ('Armless Man'), the Bubble Head Nurse ('Dark Nurse') and Pyramid Head. The Mannequin creature is also somewhat referenced, as there are two scenes that prominently feature broken-down mannequins. Otherwise, the only monsters adapted from the first game are the Mumbler/Grey Child and the Creepers. The only original creature featured in the film is 'Colin the Janitor', who was thought up the day before his scenes were shot.
- In an early draft, Pendulums appeared in the hospital scenes.
- As well as most of the creatures coming from Silent Hill 2, the majority of the soundtrack is also from the second installment.
- There were over 100 different outfits made for Radha Mitchell, changing subtly from a dark chocolate shade to blood red.
- Radha Mitchell didn't wash her hair through most of the filming to help the dirty unwashed look of her character.
- The character of "Dark Alessa" is never credited in the movie's cast list, however, she is named as one of Jodelle's characters on the official site, in interviews, and in the film's presskit.
- Screenwriter Roger Avery based the film's Silent Hill on the town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, which also has a coal fire that still burns today. While the script was being developed, it was codenamed "Centralia".
- 160 sets were used in the movie.
- The scene with the Lying Figure/Armless Man is highly relatable to when James Sunderland first encounters the monster. In the movie, the creature comes from a junkyard, while in the game, the Lying Figure is also spotted in a dirty, junked and closed-off area. Lastly, aside from comparisons, if one watches the scene just after the Lying Figure dies, more of the monsters can be spotted emerging above the distant trash.
- In the film, birds appear to signal the upcoming Otherworld shift. When Rose first enters the alley, disturbed ravens take flight just before the sirens begin to blare, similar to the scene just outside the church. As well, when the Brethren endeavor to break through the door Rose was behind, a bird within a cage becomes frantic and they cease their assault, carrying the bird with them. This was not originally a part of the script; writer Roger Avary had to talk Christophe Gans into the idea.
- The original climax of the film was very different from the one that was shot. Originally, six Red Pyramids were supposed to rise into the church and slaughter the cultists with various weapons, while one held Dark Alessa and let her dance in the blood of the dying fanatics. The ending was changed due to time constraints caused by the film already having taken too long to shoot by the time the scene was reached.
- Ironically, Jodelle Ferland was the first actress hired for the production, despite Gans fearing that he would have to delay production to find a child actress capable of playing three parts.
- Christophe Gans spent 5 years trying to convince Konami to allow him to adapt Silent Hill, and was only able to do so after filming a short version of it on his own budget. Konami was impressed with his film, and agreed to allow him to co-write and direct a feature film version of the game. Roger Avary was later brought on to write the film's dialogue, due to the poor English of Gans and fellow writer Nicolas Boukhrief.
- There were several changes made to the film during script rewrites. Some changes include:
- Dark Alessa was originally a simple astral projection of Alessa, not an incarnation of her dark side.
- Sharon was the biological daughter of Rose and Chris, and was blonde, while Alessa had black hair.
- Rose returned to the real world after saving Sharon, and she and Chris decided to have another child.
- Sharon was originally dying from a hereditary disease, not sleepwalking.
- Rose intended to take Sharon to a faith healer in an unnamed town, and had never heard of Silent Hill. Silent Hill's location in the original script is never stated.
- Alessa was shown to be in possession of vast paranormal powers, including an inhuman scream she would emit when in pain. While she still has unnatural powers in the final version of the film, it is severely downplayed, and the first time she is shown exhibiting her powers is when she breaks the chain while being burned.
- Silent Hill contains a vast amount of Christian symbolism. The three worlds are meant to symbolically represent Heaven (the real world), Hell (the Otherworld) and Purgatory (the Fog World), Biblical quotes are used to highlight Alessa's story, and various characters represent figures from the Bible (Rose as the Virgin Mary, and Sharon / Alessa / Dark Alessa as the Holy Trinity).
- Christophe Gans originally wanted Cameron Diaz to play the part of Cybil.
- There were a total of 165 sets and locations used for the film.
Bloopers
Rose's locket is temporarily replaced with a chain link.
- In the beginning of the film, after Rose saves Sharon, Sharon is coloring under a tree. The pencil she is holding changes from yellow to red between shots.
- Rose's locket disappears in a shot while she explores the Fog World, replaced with a chain link.
- When Chris gets out of the car at Smitty's, he is holding a picture of Rose in his hand. In the next shot, he takes the picture out of his jacket pocket.
- When Chris asks about Rose at the garage, the mechanic is working on a Dodge Magnum with a West Virginia license plate on the front of the car. West Virginia doesn't require, nor is it possible to have, a state license plate on the front of the car.
- When the Armless Man comes out from behind the wire gate and begins to walk over to Cybil and Rose, Cybil puts her left hand up onto her gun twice between shots, before beginning to shoot it.
- As the miners are trying to break down the washroom door, the camera pans over the door frame from Rose's side to the miners' side. Just as it settles into its final position, the sliding wall section they used to allow the camera to pan can be seen, sliding back into position on the left of the door frame.
- When Christopher breaks into the Brahams Archives offices at about 0:59:45, the clearly visible orange anodized end caps and typical wiring on the fluorescent tubes identify them as Kino-Flo lights, a specialist type manufactured solely for the film industry. The arrangement is quite different to a conventional domestic lighting system. Orange end-caps indicate a tungsten-balanced tube; blue would be daylight.
- As the clergy attack Cybil and Rose when they first enter the church, Rose's locket is pulled off and lands on the top step. However, when Christabella picks it up, it is one step from the top with no explanation as to how it got there.
- In the investigation report Chris finds in the Toluca County Archives, a mistake can be found. The first is that on the folder the case number is "#5612" but on the investigation report itself, the case number is "561". The second mistake is an inconsistency within the report.
- Lorry Ayers's elbow can be seen sticking out of the bandaging used to give adult Alessa her burned appearance.
- When Alessa kills the long-haired cultist with barbed wire, the ladder Sharon is supposed to be tied to is clearly shown in the background without Sharon anywhere in sight.
See also
- Timeline of the Silent Hill film
- A presskit for the Silent Hill film
- A novelization of the Silent Hill film
Promotional newspaper
At some theaters, a 3-page promotional newspaper was handed out with details about the main story.
Videos
Gallery
For a complete list of images from the Silent Hill film, please visit the Silent Hill movie images category.
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| v · e · d Silent Hill film
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| Characters |
| Major Characters |
| Rose Da Silva - Christopher Da Silva - Cybil Bennett - Dahlia Gillespie - Thomas Gucci - Anna - Christabella - Sharon Da Silva - Alessa Gillespie - Dark Alessa |
| Other Characters |
| Sister Margaret - Eleanor - Adam - Colin - Lisa Garland - Jennifer Carroll |
| Monsters |
| Armless Man - Colin - Creeper - Dark Nurse - Grey Child - Red Pyramid |
| Locations |
| Brahms - Brookhaven Hospital - Church - Da Silva House - Gans County - Grand Hotel - Midwich Elementary School - Nathan Drugs - Pete's Bowl-O-Rama - Sacrificial Chamber - Silent Hill, West Virginia - Smitty's - Toluca County Archives - Toluca County Mining Museum - Toluca County Orphanage - Toluca Lake |
| Terms |
| The Brethren - Monster - Flashlight - Manifestation - Otherworld - Fog World - Real World - Siren - Great Knife - Welcome Sign - Brethren Symbol |
| Archives |
| Soundtrack |