Sunday, April 23, 2006

Long Live Pyramid Head

Last night was quite an interesting night. I went out to see Silent Hill with my friends and life was imitating art to a certain degree.

First off, it was an insanely foggy night to drive out to Guelph. Silent Hill is a town that is defined by its pervasive fog. Coincidence?

Then, on the way home, we saw a huge bonfire (also in the fog) which eerily mimics the theme of witch roasting that was present throughout most of the film's plot. Again, coincidence?

Then we stopped for Subway and when I got a spicy chicken bacon ranch sub the hot sauce, it was a thick, goopy red, much like the vast quantity of blood that was spilled throughout the movie. Freaky coincidence #3, me thinks.

And lastly, we arrive home to find Julie giving us the evil eye for coming home late, much like the evil eye that the insane church lady gives the main characters in the movie. I tell you, it's a day later and these are starting to wierd me out!

We got a chuckle out of seeing a trio of people in their 70's or possibly older making their way out of the theatre near the end of the credits. Never in my wildest dreams would I have thought that this was a possible demographic for a rather hardcore horror movie based on an incredibly creepy videogame of the same name. Did they not realize what they were in for? Are they the mythical Octogenarian Gamer written of in the lore of old? Or does Guelph have an underground community of elderly horror fans? Some mysteries will never be solved.

If you like frightening and creepy movies, go see Silent Hill. If you liked the games, definately go and see Silent Hill. It's a fantastic movie on its own right and is by far the best translation of videogame to film that I have seen so far (which isn't that hard concidering it's about the only one not made by Uwe Boll). It's not a "BOO" kind of scary though. It's more the type of creeping dread that worms its way under your skin. There are a few things that were a little 'meh', but they were minor quibbles compared to the overall presentation and experience of the movie.

My personal favourite part was the almost shot-for-shot re-enactment of the alley sequence from the beginning of Silent Hill 1. Those who have played the game will know what I'm talking about. Creeeeeeepy.... It was just missing the strangely out of place wheelchair. Had they put it in, it would have been perfect.

Oh, and Pyramid Head is awesome. You'll see....

So yeah, I really liked Silent Hill: The Movie. I'd be interested to know what people who hadn't played the game (and aren't Ebert) think of the movie. Codeboy hadn't played the game, but as Blitzy is a major SH nut like me, he's at least had some passing familiarity with the overall SH universe.

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What I'm Reading: Ghosts In The Snow
What I'm Playing: Oblivion, Kingdom Hearts 2, Metroid Prime: Hunters, Metroid Pinball, Brain Age, Animal Crossing
What I'm Watching: Silent Hill (duh), Battlestar Galactica

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