Silent Hill: Revelation

Silent Hill: Revelation is a 2012 psychological horror film, directed and written by M. J. Bassett. A sequel to the 2006 film Silent Hill, it stars Adelaide Clemens, Kit Harington, Martin Donovan, Malcolm McDowell and Carrie-Anne Moss, along with Sean Bean, Deborah Kara Unger and Radha Mitchell returning from the previous film. It is based on the survival horror video game Silent Hill 3 by Konami.[6] Revelation's plot follows adult Heather Mason (Clemens) who, discovering on the eve of her eighteenth birthday that her presumed identity is false, is drawn to an alternate dimension existing in the fictitious American town of Silent Hill.

Silent Hill: Revelation
Theatrical release poster
Directed byMichael J. Bassett
Produced by
Written byMichael J. Bassett
Based onSilent Hill 3
by Konami
Starring
Music by
CinematographyMaxime Alexandre[2]
Edited byMichele Conroy[2]
Production
company
Distributed by
Release date
  • October 26, 2012 (2012-10-26) (Canada)
  • November 28, 2012 (2012-11-28) (France)
Running time
95 minutes[3]
Country
  • Canada
  • France[4]
LanguageEnglish
Budget$20 million
Box office$56 million[5]

Bassett had expressed her openness to fans' suggestions of actresses for Heather's role. On a total estimated $20 million budget, filming lasted from March to May 2011 in Canada, with the 3D RED Epic camera used for the process; audio mixing took place in France.

Silent Hill: Revelation was released in Canada on October 26, 2012 by Open Road Films and on November 28, 2012 by Metropolitan Filmexport. The film was a moderate box office success, grossing over $56 million worldwide, but received negative reviews by film critics and fans alike.[7][8][9]

Plot

In January 2011, Heather Gillespie (Adelaide Clemens) and her adoptive father Harry (Sean Bean), have spent the past few years moving from town to town and assuming different identities, including the names Heather Mason and Harry Mason. Heather believes that they are on the run from the police because Harry Mason (Christopher Da Silva) killed a man in self-defense and that her adoptive mother Rose Da Silva (Radha Mitchell) died in a car crash. In fact, he has been protecting her from a cult of Silent Hill, called the Order. Rose was able to free Heather (Sharon) from the fog world using one half of a talisman called the Seal of Metatron, but she herself remained trapped in Silent Hill.

Heather meets fellow student Vincent Cooper (Kit Harington), but she is haunted by hallucinations of Silent Hill. She is approached by private investigator Douglas Cartland (Martin Donovan) regarding her identity. Heather warns her father, but he is abducted by the Order and taken to Silent Hill. Unaware of this, Heather goes to a mall to wait for him, but enters the mall's Otherworld. Douglas explains he was hired by the Order to find Heather, but decides to help her when he discovered who his clients were. A monster, the Missionary (Liise Keeling), kills Douglas. Heather returns to the real world and flees, unfortunately leaving her a suspect of Douglas' murder.

Vincent escorts her home, but they find a message instructing Heather to go to Silent Hill. On the way to rescue her father, Heather reads a letter from her father detailing the truth of her background and lost memories. Heather and Vincent travel to the town, but stop at a motel, where Vincent reveals that he is the son of the Order's leader Claudia Wolf (Carrie-Anne Moss), and was sent by her to ensure Heather came of her own volition to Silent Hill. He reveals that Heather is a part of Alessa Gillespie (Erin Pitt), a girl whose immolation 38 years earlier by the Order led to creation of the town's shifting dimensions. The resulting argument triggers a shift to the Otherworld. The Missionary grabs Vincent, but not before he tells Heather to find his grandfather Leonard (Malcolm McDowell), who possesses the other half of the Seal of Metatron.

Heather ventures into the foggy dimension to find her father. She encounters Alessa's mother Dahlia (Deborah Kara Unger), who reveals that Claudia intends to complete the purpose intended for Alessa at her burning. After a shift to the Otherworld, Heather finds Leonard who, after informing her that the Seal of Metatron will reveal "the true nature of things," fuses Heather's half of the amulet with the one he possesses and becomes a monster. After being knocked out and carried off, Heather regains consciousness and grabs the amulet from within his body, killing Leonard. As she runs away, she summons Pyramid Head (Roberto Campanella), the entity created to protect Alessa (and by extension Heather), with her pleading and hides from him. Shortly after, she witnesses Vincent being taken away by the Order after being deemed insane by Claudia for betraying them.

Heather saves Vincent and they go to Lakeside Amusement Park where the Order's sanctuary is hidden. Dark Alessa (Erin Pitt and Adelaide Clemens), the manifestation of Alessa's wrath, confronts Heather who embraces her counterpart, absorbing her, and making Alessa complete once again. Heather confronts Claudia, who is holding Christopher and Vincent hostage. Claudia explains that Alessa's destiny was to be the incubator for a deity worshiped by the Order, who would punish all sinners upon its birth, completing Heather's destiny as well. Remembering Leonard's words, Heather gives Claudia the Seal of Metatron, revealing her to be the Missionary. Heather summons Pyramid Head, who kills the Missionary, allowing Heather to rescue Vincent and Christopher.

As the fog fades from the town, Christopher decides to stay in Silent Hill to find and free Rose, leaving Heather and Vincent to care for each other. They manage to hitch a ride away from the place in a truck driven by Travis Grady (Peter Outerbridge). Travis mentions to Heather (now referring to herself as Sharon) and Vincent that they were lucky he was there since he had not been driving in that direction for a long time. A couple of police cars, followed by a prisoner transport, enter the area of Silent Hill, which is then consumed by the fog. In a post-credits scene, Pyramid Head is seen walking through an unknown area in Silent Hill.

Cast
  • Adelaide Clemens as Heather Mason / Sharon Da Silva, the troubled adoptive daughter of Rose and Chris Da Silva, who has been running away from Silent Hill with Chris for six years; and as Dark Alessa, in teenaged form, the tormented daughter of Dahlia Gillespie, who was severely burned by the cult and exacted revenge on them.
  • Kit Harington as Vincent Smith, a classmate of Heather and secretly a member of the Order and the son of Claudia Wolf, sent to take Heather to Silent Hill.
  • Sean Bean as Harry Mason / Christopher Da Silva,[10] the adoptive father of Sharon, who has been keeping Heather's true identity and memories a secret out of protection for six years.
  • Carrie-Anne Moss as Claudia Wolf, the priestess of the Order of Valtiel, sister of Christabella and Dahlia, daughter of Leonard, and the main antagonist of the film, who holds Christopher captive.
  • Malcolm McDowell as Leonard Wolf, the grandfather of Vincent and father of Claudia, who was chained down and abandoned by the cult.
  • Martin Donovan as Douglas Cartland,[11] a detective hired by Claudia to spy on Sharon and Vincent to capture them.
  • Deborah Kara Unger as Dahlia Gillespie, the ragged and depressed biological mother of Alessa Gillespie, who wanders through Silent Hill's alternate dimensions.
  • Radha Mitchell as Rose Da Silva, the adoptive mother of Sharon and wife to Chris, who is trapped in the fog world after the events of the first film.
  • Heather Marks as Suki, a girl who took a wrong turn and got lost in the fog.
  • Roberto Campanella as Pyramid Head,[12] a humanoid monster wearing a triangular shaped helmet who protects Sharon and Alessa.
  • Erin Pitt as Young Alessa Gillespie, the tormented daughter of Dahlia Gillespie, who was severely burned by the cult and exacted revenge on them; and as the younger Sharon Da Silva, along with Dark Alessa, who is seen frequently haunting Heather.
  • Peter Outerbridge as Travis Grady, a character from Silent Hill: Origins who makes a cameo near the end of the film.

Production

Development

Following the release of Silent Hill, Christophe Gans, its director, stated that a sequel "is officially ordered and is already well underway." However, he then declined to direct the film, stating he "had other projects in mind."[13] Silent Hill's writer Roger Avary had planned to return to the sequel, before his arrest in 2008 for vehicular manslaughter.[14] M.J. Bassett replaced Gans and Avary as writer and director.[6]

In 2009, video game artist Masahiro Ito, who participated in the development of multiple installments of the Silent Hill series of video games, was asked to design the creatures and the look of the "Otherworld" dimension featured in the film, but declined the offer because of other obligations.[15] Jeff Danna and Akira Yamaoka composed the film's soundtrack.[1]

Casting

Bassett expressed in her official blog that she was open to fans' suggestions of whom to cast as main protagonist Heather Mason, provided that the actress could provide a realistic portrayal of an eighteen-year-old and that she would be "well known;" having a page on the website IMDb was cited as a requirement.[16] Australian actress Adelaide Clemens was eventually cast in the role. Radha Mitchell, Sean Bean, Deborah Kara Unger, and Roberto Campanella were all contacted to reprise their characters, which they accepted.

Filming and audio mixing

Principal photography began in Toronto, Ontario, Canada on March 7, 2011[17] and wrapped in May 2011,[17][18] with the 3D RED Epic camera used for the process.[19] Street and bridge scenes were shot in Galt from March 21 to March 26,[20] and scenes set at Silent Hill's Lakeside Amusement Park were filmed at the Cherry Beach park on April 7, 2011.[21] The final theatrical mix for the film was completed on February 2, 2012.[22] The film's audio mixing took place in Paris, France, and was handled by a team of six people.[23]

Release

Silent Hill: Revelation had its premier in Hong Kong on 25 October 2012. It was theatrically released in the U.S. through Open Road Films on October 26, 2012.[24] Two clips were screened at San Diego Comic-Con International 2012, and a trailer was issued on July 27, 2012.[25] The film was released direct-to-video in Australia[26] on March 6, 2013.[27]

Reception

Box office

Silent Hill: Revelation opened at #5 at the box office, taking in a weekend number of $8 million, and grossed a total of $55,975,672 worldwide.[7][8] This made it a moderate box office success from its $20 million budget.

Critical reception

Silent Hill: Revelation was panned by film critics, and currently holds an 10% approval rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, based on 60 critics, with an average rating of 2.96/10. The site's critical consensus reads, "Mediocre effort even by the standards of video game adaptations, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D features weak characters and an incomprehensible plot with a shortage of scares."[9] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 16 out of 100, based on 14 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike."[28] Dennis Harvey of Variety said that Silent Hill: Revelation 3D is a "cheaper, cheesier sequel that's worse than its predecessor on every level (save being a half-hour shorter) and takes no special advantage of the stereoscopic process."[29]

Possible sequel

In October 2012, M. J. Bassett stated that if she was to make a sequel, instead of adapting from an existing game, she would prefer to use the stories in the graphic novel adaptations.[30]

In January 2020, Silent Hill director Christophe Gans expressed an interest in working on a new film, stating that he is developing a script. It will be set in a small American town ruled over by Puritanism.[31]

References
  1. Bassett, Michael J. (October 31, 2011). "Silent Hill Composer is..." Michael J. Basset official blog. Archived from the original on January 23, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2011.
  2. "Mitchell, Bean and Unger Reunite for Silent Hill: Revelation". ComingSoon.net. CraveOnline. March 15, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  3. "SILENT HILL - REVELATION". bbfc.co.uk. British Board of Film Classification. October 4, 2012. Retrieved October 5, 2012.
  4. "Silent Hill: Revelation (3D) (2011)". en.unifrance.org.
  5. "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (2012) - The Numbers". the-numbers.com.
  6. "Silent Hill 2 Filming This Winter". IGN. November 8, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  7. "Silent Hill: Revelation". The Numbers. Retrieved November 19, 2012.
  8. "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D - Box Office Data, DVD Sales, Movie News, Cast Information". The Numbers. Retrieved 2013-01-23.
  9. "Silent Hill: Revelation (2012)". Rotten Tomatoes. Retrieved April 26, 2018.
  10. Noble, McKinley. "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D Pretty Much Means Sean Bean Will Die Horribly". EGM Now. EGM Media, LLC. Retrieved 14 August 2012.
  11. Bassett, Michael J. (November 10, 2011). "Cartland". Michael J. Basset official blog. Archived from the original on November 13, 2011.
  12. "New York ComicCon Report on Silent Hill Revelation 3D". Best-horror-movies.com. 2012-10-14. Archived from the original on 2015-12-22. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  13. Boyes, Emma (December 30, 2006). "Silent Hill 2 movie confirmed". GameSpot. Archived from the original on June 9, 2009. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  14. Magrino, Tom (November 4, 2010). "Silent Hill: Revelation film detailed". GameSpot. Archived from the original on December 3, 2010. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  15. Ito, Masahiro (November 10, 2010). "Twitter" (in Japanese). Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  16. Bassett, Michael J. (November 20, 2010). "Casting Heather". Michael J. Basset official blog. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved December 22, 2010.
  17. "In Production". Ontario Media Development Corporation. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved February 3, 2011.
  18. Bassett, Michael J. (May 14, 2011). "It's A Wrap". Michael J. Basset official blog. Archived from the original on May 14, 2011. Retrieved May 14, 2011.
  19. Gingold, Michael (March 15, 2011). ""Silent Hill", Other Genere Vets Return for "Revelation 3D"". Fangoria. Archived from the original on October 11, 2011. Retrieved October 11, 2011.
  20. "Silent Hill 2 movie to be shot in Galt". Cambridge Times. March 9, 2011. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved March 10, 2011.
  21. "Scene: Foggy Film Shoot in the Port Lands". Torontoist. St. Joseph Communications. April 8, 2011. Archived from the original on September 28, 2011. Retrieved September 28, 2011.
  22. "Michael J. Bassett'S Blog". Michaeljbassett.wordpress.com. Archived from the original on 2012-06-27. Retrieved 2012-10-29.
  23. Bassett, Michael J. (January 9, 2012). "Update January 9th". Michael J. Basset official blog. Archived from the original on November 9, 2012. Retrieved November 3, 2012.
  24. "Have a Revelation and Visit Silent Hill This Halloween!". Silent Hill. Dread Central. April 18, 2012. Retrieved April 18, 2012.
  25. "The Trailer for Silent Hill: Revelation 3D Hits". Comingsoon.com. July 27, 2012. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
  26. "Silent Hill Revelation 3D Review". October 26, 2012. Retrieved November 12, 2012.
  27. "Silent Hill: Revelation". JB Hi-Fi. Retrieved November 6, 2013.
  28. "Silent Hill: Revelation 3D Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved March 30, 2018.
  29. Harvey, Dennis (October 26, 2012). "Review: 'Silent Hill: Revelation'". Variety.
  30. Crecente, Brian (15 October 2012). "Silent Hill movie director would love to explore graphic novels, create new stories for next film". Polygon. Retrieved 28 March 2015.
  31. Tyler Fischer (January 31, 2020). "New Silent Hill Movie Announced". comicbook.com.
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