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"SILENT HILL" (2006) (Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean) (R) Alcohol/ Drugs Blood/Gore Disrespectful/ Bad Attitude Frightening/ Tense Scenes Guns/ Weapons None Extreme Extreme *Extreme Extreme Imitative Behavior Jump Scenes Music (Scary/Tense) Music (Inappropriate) Profanity Minor None Extreme None Heavy Sex/ Nudity Smoking Tense Family Scenes Topics To Talk About Violence Moderate Minor Heavy Moderate Extreme QUICK TAKE: Horror: A mother finds herself in a creepy ghost town while trying to find her missing daughter. PLOT: When young Sharon Da Silva (JODELLE FERLAND) ends up missing yet again during a bout of sleepwalking, her mother Rose (RADHA MITCHELL) and father Chris (SEAN BEAN) realize they have to do something about that before the girl hurts herself. Taking a cue from Sharon muttering "Silent Hill" once again during her trance-like state, Rose decides -- without telling Chris first -- to find the small West Virginia town and figure out why her daughter's subconscious is obsessed with it. En route, the two raise the suspicion of motorcycle cop Cybil Bennett (LAURIE HOLDEN) and when she pulls Sharon over, the mother unexpectedly takes off, driving through a fenced gate, determined to get to the town that isn't on any maps and of which the locals seem wary. After crashing her SUV to avoid hitting a young girl in the middle of the road, Rose wakes up in a nightmarish world where ashes cover everything and fall from the sky like snow. Once she reaches the desolate and dilapidated ghost town, Rose pursues what she thinks is Sharon but then has creepy encounters with some sort of mutant humans whose flesh seems to burn under their skin. Returning to her vehicle, she's arrested by Cybil who similarly wrecked her bike on the way into town, but the two now discover that the road out has been cut off. The two end up back in the town and run into Anna (TANYA ALLEN) - a survivor who praises the work of religious leader Christabella (ALICE KRIGE) but doesn't like wandering mother Dahlia Gillespie (DEBORAH KARA UNGER) who states they took away her young daughter Alessa (JODELLE FERLAND) -- a doppelganger for Sharon. At the same time, Chris tries to find his wife and child. But he encounters resistance from Officer Thomas Gucci (KIM COATES) who once lived in Silent Hill but fled decades earlier when the town was evacuated. Saying coal fires still burn under the town, he briefly escorts Chris there, but they don't see any signs of Rose or Sharon. While he continues on his quest to find them, Rose tries to find Sharon in this apparent alternate reality, all while discovering the town's ugly and long buried secrets. WILL KIDS WANT TO SEE IT? If they're fans of the video game on which it's based or horror films in general, they just might. WHY THE MPAA RATED IT: R For strong horror violence and gore, disturbing images, and some language. CAST AS ROLE MODELS: RADHA MITCHELL plays a mother who takes her daughter to a ghost town in hopes that it might help explain the girl's bouts with sleepwalking. Eluding the police, she crashes her vehicle and then awakens in what's apparently an alternate reality where she must contend with various nightmarish beings and situations, all while trying to find Sharon. She uses some strong profanity. SEAN BEAN plays her husband who isn't happy that Rose has taken their daughter to the town without his knowledge or agreement. He then sets out to find them and gets increasingly frustrated when he can't and/or runs into resistance and/or reluctance on the part of others. LAURIE HOLDEN plays a motorcycle cop who becomes suspicious of Rose and Sharon out late at night. She then ends up following them into town where she also finds herself in the hellish alternate reality. She uses strong profanity, shoots various nightmarish beings and fights with others. DEBORAH KARA UNGER plays a mother in the alternate reality version of the town who seems destined to wander forever looking for her missing daughter. KIM COATES plays a cop who initially helps Chris on his quest but then changes his ways. TANYA ALLEN plays a young woman in the town who assists Rose and Cybil but doesn't like Dahlia. ALICE KRIGE plays the ultra-conservative religious leader in the town who follows in the footsteps of her predecessors in terms of scaring her congregation into submission and burning those she considers heretics. JODELLE FERLAND plays both Rose's daughter who's prone to sleepwalking as well as the ghostly girl in the town who previously met a bad and unfortunate fate. CAST, CREW, & TECHNICAL INFO HOW OTHERS RATED THIS MOVIE Curious if this title is entertaining, any good, and/or has any artistic merit? Then read OUR TAKE of this film. (Note: The "Our Take" review of this title examines the film's artistic merits and does not take into account any of the possibly objectionable material listed below). OUR WORD TO PARENTS: The following is a brief summary of the content found in this R-rated horror film. Profanity consists of at least 5 "f" words, while other expletives and colorful phrases are uttered. A monster rips off a woman's clothing and she appears to be fully nude (seen from the side), but the view is so quick (and the scene immediately turns deadly violent) it's hard to tell if any details are seen. Some cleavage is also visible, as is the sight of a young mother in small shorts and a tight tank-top (while searching for her missing daughter). Violence consists of characters and supernatural beings killed by various means (gunfire, burned alive, being impaled and/or ripped apart by barbwire, etc.), sometimes with rather bloody/gory results. Other physical contact occurs (people hitting others, etc.). Those deaths, various moments of peril, all of the supernatural material and the sight of various grossly disfigured, human-type beings could be quite unsettling, suspenseful and/or scary for some viewers (especially the very young and those with low tolerance levels for such material). Bad attitudes are present, as is tense family material (regarding a mother searching for her missing daughter, and her husband searching for both of them). Should you still be concerned about the film's appropriateness for yourself or anyone else in your home, you may want to look more closely at our detailed listings for more specific information regarding the film's content. For those concerned with bright flashes of light on the screen, there are some brief, strobe-like effects from a large, spinning fan blade. For those prone to visually induced motion sickness, there are several quick spin-around shots (where the camera zips around Rose to show her confusion), while there's some bouncy camerawork from time to time. ALCOHOL OR DRUG USE None. BLOOD/GORE Rose finds one of Sharon's drawings that show characters with what looks like blood flowing from their mouths. Sharon is upset upon seeing them and says she didn't draw them. Rose has a little blood on her head following a car crash. Rose sees creatures that look like they have fire burning beneath their skin (akin to a lava field where some holes in it allow the fire to show through) and are otherwise disfigured. Cybil has a trickle of blood on her head (from an unseen motorcycle accident). A grossly disfigured human-type creature (that seems to have something under its skin that's trying to get out) moves toward Cybil and Rose in a herky-jerky fashion, spewing a great deal of some sort of acid onto Cybil (burning through her helmet and jacket). Cybil then repeatedly shoots the figure, killing it (with bloody results). Rose cautiously pushes open a bathroom stall door and sees what looks like a mummified figure wrapped in barbwire with its feet up by its tilted-back head. Rose nearly vomits from this. Cybil shoots into a human-type monster's arm several times, resulting in big and bloody holes in it. A large figure grabs Anna and lifts her off some steps, rips off her clothes in one move (she's nude but we don't seem to see anything explicit in the flash image) and then grabs the skin on her chest, ripping it off in one move (with bloody/gory results). We see bad burn scars on Thomas' palms. Cybil hits many hooded figures with her fist and a club, with some blood spurting out from one's head (after that figure grabs Rose in an elevator). When her gun is empty, those men grab and beat her with metal clubs (seen in brief flashes). We then see the motion of them beating and presumably killing her with those clubs (we hear but don't see the impact that's just off-camera - we later see her alive but bloodied). A grossly disfigured nurse-type creature becomes agitated and lashes out at Rose, missing her but slicing the throat of another such creature (with very bloody results). This causes all of them to be lash out and strike each other, with Rose barely avoiding being cut like all of them (with very bloody results). We then that young Alessa is still alive, but is charred black from burns all over her body. Rose has various bloody scrapes on her face. We see a nurse with milky eyes and large, bloody cracks all through her face. We see a bloody woman who's bound to a large ladder that's lowered toward a raging fire below her. Her skin slowly starts to burn and then peel away until she's finally engulfed in flames. We later see her charred body still attached to that ladder. Christabella stabs Rose in the chest with a dagger (with Sharon seeing this and crying). Moments later, we see a lot of blood spilling from her chest (dissolving the floor in front of her), but that wound then suddenly and completely heals on its own. A drop of blood from a dagger drips down onto the floor and then spreads in a black, decaying fashion. Up from a fiery hell ascends a burned and disfigured woman in a hospital bed accompanied by long strands of barbwire that move about like snakes. They grab and wrap around Christabella and others, causing them pain. That barbwire, that has Christabella lifted off the floor, then penetrates various parts of her body, with lots of blood spurting out before they rip her in half. The wire then engulfs a man and he explodes or erupts in a bloody mess. The wire then lifts others who panic and scream. DISRESPECTFUL/BAD ATTITUDE Rose takes Sharon to Silent Hill without telling Chris about it. After Cybil pulls over Rose's SUV, Rose suddenly takes off and eludes the motorcycle cop, including driving through a fenced gate. We see a flashback to other kids making fun of young Alessa (for being illegitimate). Anna doesn't like Dahlia and hits her with items several times. Chris breaks into an archives building by breaking the glass in a door (to look up the history of Silent Hill). In a flashback, it's implied that a male janitor molests or rapes young Alessa when she runs into a bathroom for protection (the fact that she later has a child, despite being confined to a bed for the rest of her life with bad and disfiguring burns, implies she was raped). We see other kids making fun of young Alessa in another flashback. We see a flashback to Dahlia giving in to Christabella and the others, giving up young Alessa as a sacrifice. In a flashback, we see that Christabella and the others have young Alessa tied to some metal contraption that's near a large fire (she's to be sacrificed). In present day, they try to sacrifice/kill Sharon and do so with a woman. An evil being of some sort taps into Alessa's hatred of Christabella and the others. Several men strike Rose (including a punch to the face that floors her) when she enters Christabella's church. Christabella stabs Rose in the chest with a dagger (with Sharon seeing this and crying). FRIGHTENING SCENES Scenes listed under "Violence" and/or "Blood/Gore" may be unsettling, suspenseful or scary to younger viewers and/or those with low tolerance levels for such material. We see Rose and Chris out at night, yelling for their missing daughter who's out sleepwalking. We see a view looking down over a tall waterfall and Rose then spots Sharon on the edge of a nearby cliff in her sleepwalking daze. Rose races over and grabs her just in time (just after Sharon has a fiery, hellish vision while looking down over the cliff, seeing a view of Alessa and saying "Silent Hill"). Just then, a truck rounds a bend in the road and nearly hits Chris. We hear that Silent Hill is a ghost town where a coal fire is still burning deep down below it. While racing down the road at night, Rose's SUV radio suddenly goes crazy, Sharon starts screaming and Rose swerves to avoid hitting a young girl on the road. The SUV crashes (seen from inside it) and everything goes black. When Rose regains consciousness, Sharon is gone and it appears to be snowing, but Rose then realizes they're grey ashes falling all around her. Rose wanders into the deserted town that's coated in ash as flakes continue to fall all around her. The place is spooky, as it seems as if everyone dropped everything and suddenly fled long ago. Rose thinks she sees Sharon and gives chase through the deserted town. That leads to a stairwell that leads down into a suddenly dark area where Rose uses a lighter to illuminate her way, all as an air raid siren fires off. As she heads down the steps, we see some sort of figure suddenly lift up into the air from behind her. As she makes her way, she sees a human figure seemingly crucified up on a chain link fence (she sees its eye move) and then a small, grossly disfigured human-type creature coming toward her, with what looks like fire burning beneath its skin (akin to a lava field where some holes in it allow the fire to show through). She tries to run away and then encounters more such disfigured, fiery creatures that come after her. She races into a building where they follow, reach out and crawl after her before suddenly dissolving away into ashes that lift off into the air. Rose makes her way to the edge of town that looks like the end of the world has been sliced off (it's a huge, jagged cliff). Rose encounters Dahlia, a somewhat creepy and ash covered lady who mutters about losing her child and being deceived by the others. Cybil leads Rose down the road from where they earlier came, but it now ends in a jagged cliff into nothingness. A grossly disfigured human-type creature (that seems to have something under its skin that's trying to get out) moves toward Cybil and Rose in a herky-jerky fashion, spewing a great deal of some sort of acid onto Cybil (burning through her helmet and jacket). Cybil then repeatedly shoots the figure, killing it (with bloody results). Still cuffed (now with her hands in front of her), Rose races into a deserted school and looks around. She then sees some hooded figures in the dilapidated school and races away from them. Rose thinks she sees Sharon and gives chase, this time through a dilapidated school, eventually leading into a bathroom where she hears crying coming from a stall. Rose then cautiously pushes open the stall doors until she opens one and sees what looks like a mummified figure wrapped in barbwire with its feet up by its tilted-back head. Rose nearly vomits from this, but then slowly approaches and cautiously pulls something from its mouth. She then hears someone or something at the door and races to lock it, with pounding then coming from the other side (we then see it's three hooded figures pounding and kicking the door, but they then suddenly race away). An air raid siren then goes off, everything suddenly goes dark and all parts of the room seemingly start to dissolve and flake away. The figure in the stall then crawls out, still wrapped in the barbwire that has its feet attached to its head. Rose gets out of there but then sees the hooded figures writhing in pain in a hallway and on the floor as swarms of huge beetles are all over them. A figure with a large triangle of metal on its head comes out (along with a swarm of large beetles) and Rose runs away. Moments later, the beetles are approaching again, with Cybil saving Rose by slamming a door shut (with a metal bar) and stomping down onto one of the large beetles, with guts squishing out. A figure with a large, metal triangle or pyramid on its head repeatedly stabs a huge sword through a metal door, nearly striking Rose and Cybil who look scared and try to avoid the blade. Large beetles pour through the resultant hole and a huge arm then reaches through it to try to remove a metal bar keeping it closed. Cybil then shoots into that arm several times, resulting in big and bloody holes in it. Just then, the figure leaves and all of the beetles die and then turn to dust. Chris finds a photo of Alessa and notes the striking similarity to his daughter. Rose, Cybil and Anna slowly make their way through an old and dilapidated hotel and then the adjacent building. Rose tries to get over to Alessa and must traverse some exposed girders, nearly falling on one occasion. Alessa is facing away from her, and when she turns to Rose, she says, "Look at me, I'm burning" and suddenly has flames on her before disappearing. Air raid sirens go off, Anna nervously states that the darkness is coming and she, Cybil and Rose then race for a church, as do others. A large figure grabs Anna and lifts her off some steps, rips off her clothes in one move (she's nude but we don't seem to see anything explicit in the flash image) and then grabs the skin on her chest, ripping it off in one move (with bloody/gory results). Cybil hits many hooded figures with her fist and a club, with some blood spurting out from one's head (after that figure grabs Rose in an elevator). When her gun is empty, those men grab and beat her with metal clubs (seen in brief flashes). We then see the motion of them beating and presumably killing her with those clubs (we hear but don't see the impact that's just off-camera - we later see her alive but bloodied). Rose ends up alone in an old hospital elevator that suddenly plummets a long way. Once in its dark and creepy bowels, she heads for her destination but then encounters a group of grossly disfigured nurse-type figures (with massive holes in their heads or what's left of them, etc.) and move in a herky-jerky fashion toward her. When she realizes they're drawn to and seemingly activated by her flashlight, she turns it off and they mostly go motionless. She then slowly and cautiously must walk through them in the hallway, with most frozen and holding scalpels, but some slightly leaning in as if trying to sniff her. One then becomes agitated and lashes out at Rose, missing her but slicing the throat of another (with very bloody results). This causes all of them to be lash out and strike each other, with Rose barely avoiding being cut like all of them (with very bloody results). In a flashback, we see that Christabella and the others have young Alessa tied to some metal contraption that's near a large fire (she's to be sacrificed). But the contraption breaks loose and hits the fire, causing it to spread and everyone to panic. We then see that young Alessa is still alive, but is charred black from burns all over her body. Later, when she's in some sort of hospital, a demon (in the guise of a young girl) visits Alessa and taps into her growing hatred. Hooded figures break down a door and search for Sharon who tries to hide from them. We see that Christabella and the others have Sharon and are going to burn her alive, but not before doing the same to a woman who's bound to a large ladder that's slowly lowered toward a raging fire below her. Her skin slowly starts to burn and then peel away until she's finally engulfed in flames. We later see her charred body still attached to that ladder. Christabella stabs Rose in the chest with a dagger (with Sharon seeing this and crying). Moments later, we see a lot of blood spilling from her chest (dissolving the floor in front of her), but that wound then suddenly and completely heals on its own. Up from a fiery hell ascends a burned and disfigured woman in a hospital bed accompanied by long strands of barbwire that move about like snakes. They grab and wrap around Christabella and others, causing them pain. That barbwire, that has Christabella lifted off the floor, then penetrates various parts of her body, with lots of blood spurting out before they rip her in half. The wire then engulfs a man and he explodes or erupts in a bloody mess. The wire then lifts others who panic and scream. GUNS/WEAPONS Handguns/Clubs or rods/Knife: Carried and/or used to threaten, wound or kill others. See "Violence" for details. IMITATIVE BEHAVIOR Phrases: "F*ck you, you stupid cop," "What the f*ck/is going on/is wrong with you people?" "What the hell for?" and "What the hell /were you doing?" We see miscellaneous graffiti. JUMP SCENES None. MUSIC (SCARY/TENSE) An extreme amount of ominous and suspenseful music plays in the film. MUSIC (INAPPROPRIATE) None. PROFANITY At least 5 "f" words, 1 "s" word, 5 hells, 2 damns, 1 ass, 4 uses each of "Oh God" and "Oh my God" and 1 use each of "G-damn," "For God's sakes," "Jesus" and "Oh Christ." SEX/NUDITY We see Rose in very small shorts and a tight, midriff-revealing tank-top as she searches for Sharon. Rose shows some cleavage. A large figure grabs Anna and lifts her off some steps, rips off her clothes in one move (she's nude but we don't seem to see anything explicit in the flash image) and then grabs the skin on her chest, ripping it off in one move (with bloody/gory results). Some grossly disfigured, nurse like figures show a lot of cleavage. We see some miscellaneous cleavage. We briefly see a nude female mannequin. SMOKING A miscellaneous man smokes. TENSE FAMILY SCENES We see Rose and Chris out at night, yelling for their missing daughter who's out sleepwalking. Throughout much of the film, Rose searches for and worries about her missing daughter. Chris searches for and worries about his missing wife and daughter. Thomas says his father died in the town back in 1974. We see a flashback to Dahlia giving in to Christabella and the others, giving up young Alessa as a sacrifice. Christabella stabs Rose in the chest with a dagger (with Sharon seeing this and crying). TOPICS TO TALK ABOUT We hear that Silent Hill is a ghost town where a coal fire is still burning deep down below it. We see a flashback to other kids making fun of young Alessa (for being illegitimate). We hear that the former residents of Silent Hill were witch hunters. In a flashback, it's implied that a male janitor molests or rapes young Alessa when she runs into a bathroom for protection (the fact that she later has a child, despite being confined to a bed for the rest of her life with bad and disfiguring burns, implies she was raped). The comment that mother is God in the eyes of a child. VIOLENCE After Cybil pulls over Rose's SUV, Rose suddenly takes off and eludes the motorcycle cop, including driving through a fenced gate. Rose crashes her SUV and has a slightly bloody cut on her head. When Dahlia grabs Rose, Rose throws her down to the ground. Cybil holds her gun on Rose when she finds her in her SUV. She then makes her get out, pushes her to the hood and cuffs her. A grossly disfigured human-type creature (that seems to have something under its skin that's trying to get out) moves toward Cybil and Rose in a herky-jerky fashion, spewing a great deal of some sort of acid onto Cybil (burning through her helmet and jacket). Cybil then repeatedly shoots the figure, killing it (with bloody results). Rose cautiously pushes open a bathroom stall door and sees what looks like a mummified figure wrapped in barbwire with its feet up by its tilted-back head. Rose gets out of there but then sees the hooded figures writhing in pain in a hallway and on the floor as swarms of huge beetles are all over them. Rose falls back through a hole in a wall, but we don't see the impact down below. Cybil stomps down onto one of the large beetles, with guts squishing out. A figure with a large, metal triangle or pyramid on its head repeatedly stabs a huge sword through a metal door, nearly striking Rose and Cybil who look scared and try to avoid the blade. A huge arm then reaches through the resultant hole to try to remove a metal bar keeping it closed. Cybil then shoots into that arm several times, resulting in big and bloody holes in it. Just then, the figure leaves and all of the beetles die and then turn to dust. Anna throws something at Dahlia that hits her. Chris breaks into an archives building by breaking the glass in a door (to look up the history of Silent Hill). Anna throws something that hits Dahlia. A large figure grabs Anna and lifts her off some steps, rips off her clothes in one move (she's nude but we don't seem to see anything explicit in the flash image) and then grabs the skin on her chest, ripping it off in one move (with bloody/gory results). When a nun at an orphanage won't tell him what he wants, Chris briefly grabs her to prevent her from leaving. Cybil hits many hooded figures with her fist and a club, with some blood spurting out from one's head (after that figure grabs Rose in an elevator). When her gun is empty, those men grab and beat her with metal clubs (seen in brief flashes). We then see the motion of them beating and presumably killing her with those clubs (we hear but don't see the impact that's just off-camera - we later see her alive but bloodied). A grossly disfigured nurse-type creature becomes agitated and lashes out at Rose, missing her but slicing the throat of another such creature (with very bloody results). This causes all of them to be lash out and strike each other, with Rose barely avoiding being cut like all of them (with very bloody results). In a flashback, we see that Christabella and the others have young Alessa tied to some metal contraption that's near a large fire (she's to be sacrificed). But the contraption breaks loose and hits the fire, causing it to spread and everyone to panic. We then see that young Alessa is still alive, but is charred black from burns all over her body. A person strikes Dahlia. We see that Christabella and the others have Sharon and are going to burn her alive, but not before doing the same to a woman who's bound to a large ladder that's slowly lowered toward a raging fire below her. Her skin slowly starts to burn and then peel away until she's finally engulfed in flames. We later see her charred body still attached to that ladder. Several men strike Rose (including a punch to the face that floors her) when she enters Christabella's church. Christabella stabs Rose in the chest with a dagger (with Sharon seeing this and crying). Moments later, we see a lot of blood spilling from her chest (dissolving the floor in front of her), but that wound then suddenly and completely heals on its own. Up from a fiery hell ascends a burned and disfigured woman in a hospital bed accompanied by long strands of barbwire that move about like snakes. They grab and wrap around Christabella and others, causing them pain. That barbwire, that has Christabella lifted off the floor, then penetrates various parts of her body, with lots of blood spurting out before they rip her in half. The wire then engulfs a man and he explodes or erupts in a bloody mess. The wire then lifts others who panic and scream. It's suggested (but not confirmed) that some people died in one or more car accidents. Reviewed April 21, 2006 / Posted April 21, 2006

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