Silent Hill: A Game - Movie Comparison

Silent Hill has been one of the most popular survival-horror video game series' since the premiere of the first game in 1999. It was created by Konami and spawned three sequels and several spin-offs. In 2006, Christophe Gans directed a film based on the video game. The film follows the basic storyline of the first game, but also incorporated certain elements from the sequel games. The general plot and the depiction of the town remain the same in the movie however, there were certain alterations made to the story and to the characters. The following is a comparison of the famed video game and its cinematic counterpart.

The protagonist of the video game is a widower named Harry Mason. He is searching the town of Silent Hill for his missing daughter, Cheryl. The former resort town is desolate and dreary. There is a constant, inexplicable fall of snow. It is not known for sure where this fictional town is supposed to be located however there are several speculations ranging from New England to California.

The main character of the movie is Rose Da Silva, played by Radha Mitchell. She has taken her adopted daughter, Sharon (Jodelle Ferland) to Silent Hill against the wishes of her husband, Chris (Sean Bean). Upon awaking after a car crash, she realizes that her daughter is missing and she sets out to look for her. The location of Silent Hill in the movie is Toluca County, West Virginia. Silent Hill was the site of a major coal fire that was still burning. The town in the movie was based on the real-life town of Centralia, Pennsylvania, which suffered a massive coal fire. The snowfall in the video game is replaced by the fall of ash, which is more conducive with the storyline.

Throughout the video game, Harry meets a little girl who looks exactly like his daughter. He finds out that her name is Alessa Gillespie. She is the abused daughter of Dahlia Gillespie, leader of a cult known as "The Order." Dahlia tried to bring about the birth of the cult's god by using Alessa. She was almost successful, but Alessa let part of her soul escape and halted the ritual. She suffered severe burns, but still lived. Her mother kept her in a state of agony. This painful state was meant to lure Alessa's other half so that the two could be reunited and the ritual could continue. The "other half" was Cheryl, who represented the pure part of Alessa. When Cheryl is compelled to return to Silent Hill, the two are united and the god is born and subsequently killed by Harry Mason. Alessa uses electricity to kill her mother and presents Harry with a baby who is the reborn soul of Alessa and Cheryl. He names her Heather and she is the heroine of Silent Hill 3, which takes place 17 years after Silent Hill.

In the movie, Dahlia is not evil or a cult leader. Instead, a radical extremist named Christabella is the leader of the Order. Alessa was accused of witchcraft and taunted by her classmates. She was fatherless and did not know the identity of her father. This did not sit well with the Order. Christabella requested that Dahlia bring Alessa to the cult's chamber to be "purified." Their idea of purification was to burn her alive. They believed that this would prevent the apocalypse. The ritual failed and the fire spread throughout the town. Alessa was taken to Brookhaven Hospital for treatment of her severe burns. While in the hospital, a being comes to Alessa and swears to avenge her attempted murder. The town falls under a curse of darkness and is riddled with demons and evil creatures. The cult members refer to this being as the "Demon" and the "Dark One." Alessa creates a baby that is the embodiment of the pure part of her. The baby is brought to the Toluca County Orphanage, where she is adopted by the Da Silvas. After Sharon and Alessa reunite, Rose finds out about Alessa's past and helps her punish those who harmed her. She kills the cult and its leader with her barbed wire tentacles. Unlike in the game, Alessa does not kill her mother.

Harry Mason encounters two characters that are non-existent in the movie: Dr. M. Kaufmann and a nurse named Lisa Garland. There are also several characters added into the movie that were not present in the game, such as: Christabella, Pyramid Head (He was taken from the second game) and Anna, a young cult member. The director of the film is planning the release of a second film in the next couple of years.