The Silent Hill franchise has gotten a whole lot of goodwill lately. From the remake of one of the games that defined the series, Silent Hill 2 Remake, to the warmly received Silent Hill f, it does look like Konami is finally getting their heat out of their butts and starting to publish good games again. Then again, it’s not like it started off well as they did release things like Silent Hill: The Short Message and Silent Hill: Townfall.

All of this made me curious for Return to Silent Hill. This was a movie that actually had a good chance of being good. It had Christophe Gans returning from directing the first live-action Silent Hill movie. You know, the good one. It’s also based on one of the best, if not the best, games in the Silent Hill franchise, Silent Hill 2. But will it follow the path that Silent Hill 2 Remake and Silent Hill f blazed or will Konami be Konami and just mess it up? The only way was to watch Return to Silent Hill myself to find out, which I just did. And here is my review for it!

Before I do get into the review proper, I do have to mention this is a SPOILER FREE review. This is very important to note because, even if you have played Silent Hill 2, both the original and the remake, Return to Silent Hill does not follow their plots. This is less of a retelling of what was covered in those games and more of Christophe Gans, who wrote and directed the film, telling a pretty unique tales based on the games. Think of it the same way Silent Hill: Shattered Memories is to the first Silent Hill game. So, yeah, SPOILER FREE indeed!

Return to Silent Hill does follows James Sunderland who is in the middle of a downward spiral. One fateful night, he receives a letter from estranged girlfriend, Mary, telling James to return to the town of Silent Hill. Without hesitation, he jumps in his car and he returns to Silent Hill. Unfortunately for James, it turns out the idyllic seaside town isn’t what he remembers anymore.

Although I did say Christophe Gans did write a new story, Return to Silent Hill does have the same bones as Silent Hill 2. At the very least, the premise of the main plot is pretty much the same. But that’s pretty much it. All of the characters from the game, Maria, Angela, Eddie and Laura, do appear throughout the town but they’re all a little bit different. I know some fans might be upset that they didn’t make a “faithful” movie that follows the game’s story exactly. But for me, this was great! Silent Hill 2’s story has already been dissected for all its symbolic imagery and whatnot. So, seeing a totally fresh take did take me for a loop. But it was a loop I wanted to take.

While Return to Silent Hill does diverge quite a bit from the source material, it does become predictable as, if you know what to look for, you can understand the symbolism that Christophe Gans is trying to show you. He even throws in a few twists and turns here and there. But, like I said, if you know what to look for, you can see these twists coming from a mile away. That’s not necessarily a bad thing. It’s just kind of disappointing. After all, you try to do a fresh take on something already known, only to dive back and rehash twists from other stories.

The overall writing also needed some tweaking or reworked in some places. There was just a lot of exposition peppered throughout the movie’s 106-minute runtime. I understand why it was done this way as the story might get confusing and convoluted here and there. The problem is the exposition felt very unnatural. It was less like a human being talking and more like someone spouting off a Wikipedia explanation.

Speaking of the characters, let’s talk about the acting. There is a lot to like and a lot to dislike here. I do have to say that Jeremy Irvine, the actor who plays James, gives a pretty functional performance. Nothing great here but nothing I would say that’s bad. Hannah Emily Anderson, who plays Mary, does much better but not by a lot. Still, I do love what she did here as there were some surprising moments in her performance which did catch me off guard. I can’t really say any more because this is a SPOILER FREE review. But it’s suffice to say she has some range when it comes to her acting chops.

I also did like Evie Templeton, who is essentially revising her role as Laura as she did play her in the Remake. But, like I said, these aren’t exactly the same ones in the game. So, once again, I was caught off-guard by some of her acting as I didn’t expect what she was going to do at times. Unfortunately, I really hated Pearse Egan‘s take on Eddie. If I were to describe his performance, it looked like he was channeling Jack Black. That’s not just because they made Eddie look a whole lot like Jack Black. It’s because he would go overboard with his performance.

The visuals are pretty hit-or-miss. The sets are pretty amazing. There are some scenes that do seem like they’re pulled directly from the game. Even the camera angles perfectly mimic the game at times. However, there are going to be some, such as Wood Side Apartments, that look a little too modern. In retrospect, that seems to be intentional but still weird, especially when you try to hard to copy the visual look of some specific scenes.

The same can also be said for the visual effects and some of the costume. The creature designs themselves are really cool looking. I will say I wish Pyramid Head came off as a little more intimidating but he does work for the most part. I do have issues with some of the special effects shots as they they fall right in the uncanny valley. I know we’re basing this movie is based on a PlayStation 2 game. But we didn’t need the visuals to come from a PlayStation 2 as well! I also thought Maria’s wig came from the uncanny valley as well. That thing did not look real at all!

Despite some bad CGI and bad wigs, I will say the best thing about the movie is the atmosphere. The Silent Hill games have always felt sad and weighty. Christophe Gans, like with the first Silent Hill film, manages to capture this perfectly. It’s very moody in a good way.

Of course, it certainly doesn’t hurt you have Akira Yamaoka, the composer of the first few (and good) Silent Hill games, doing the music for Return to Silent Hill. The background score always does a great job of getting into the proper emo mood. I did find it odd that there was a lot of music from the games that carried over here. Not really complaining since songs like Letter – From the Lost Days are really good. Still, a part of me wishes Akira Yamakoa composed more new songs instead of just pulling from the games.

Even with all of my complaints, I will say I did enjoy Return to Silent Hill… but in a more B-movie kind of way. The story is a fresh take on Silent Hill 2 and, even though it does feel like it needed another rewrite or two, is more than functional. The atmosphere and tone more than make up for it. While I do recommend it, I don’t think you have to go rush out and see it, even if you are a fan of the games. If you do have the time and the money, please do so. But if you don’t, I say just wait for it to be available on streaming.

Have you seen Return to Silent Hill? What did you think of it? Let me know in the comments section below!