Day: October 26, 2012

Pyramid Head Takes Another Hack: LFM Reviews Silent Hill: Revelation 3D

By Joe Bendel. Heather Mason’s teenaged years have been difficult. Her name is actually Sharon Da Silva, but she and her father Christopher, currently known as Harry, constantly move to new towns under assumed identities. Supposedly he is on the run from the law, but it is really to keep a step ahead of a bizarre death cult. They constantly call Sharon/Heather back to their shunned ghost town through supernatural means, and there will be a macabre homecoming in store for her in Michael J. (Solomon Kane) Bassett’s Silent Hill: Revelation 3D (trailer here), which opens today across the country.

Considered one of the better film adaptations of a video game, the first Silent Hill struck some chords with viewers by seriously addressing themes of faith and sacrifice. To save her daughter, Rose Da Silva accepted banishment on the other side of Silent Hill’s dimensional portal. Her husband has done his best to protect Sharon/Heather alone. However, when Rose sends him a Candyman-style inter-dimensional warning, it may already be too late. In order to save her father, Sharon/Heather resolves to give her tormentors the showdown they want.

Those who have played the survival game will know that there is a complicated backstory to Silent Hill, involving Alessa, the all-powerful witch-girl, whose curse holds the cult’s powers in check. There are also a number of bizarre entities living in this netherworld, including fan favorite Pyramid Head. Apparently one of the knocks on the first film was his relative lack of screen time, so it is rather odd Revelation also uses him rather sparingly again. However, Malcolm McDowell has a long and unpleasant scene as blind bogeyman Leonard Wolf, the former cult leader committed by his own daughter. (Gee whiz, it has been quite a while since his career-defining work with Lindsay Anderson, hasn’t it?)

Adelaide Clemens in "Silent Hill: Revelation."

Frankly, it is pretty easy for non-gamers to follow Revelation’s first two acts, but once Sharon/Heather arrives at Silent Hill, all bets are off. Sure, there is a clear narrative chain of events, but the underlying logic of the how’s and why’s is rather vague. In fact, it is rather like watching someone playing a videogame when you do not understand the rules.

Adelaide Clemens is perfectly credible horror heroine, even delivering a promo-reel worthy speech early in the film. Of course, Sean Bean certainly knows his way around a special effects-driven production by now. As Da Silva, he helps elevate the proceedings with his earnest everyman presence. In contrast, McDowell and Carrie-Anne Moss do not exactly make classic villains as the Wolf family cultists.

In all honesty, Revelation still probably represents the high end of the bell curve for video game adaptations. Good and evil have very real meaning here. While as a gamer Bassett was reportedly already steeped in the game’s mythos, he loses control of the third act, letting the film descend into poorly lit mayhem. There is a measure of payoff, but it comes after a head-scratching sojourn through the titular town’s sub-basements. Only for diehards franchise fans, Silent Hill: Revelation 3D opens today (10/26) in New York at the AMC Kips Bay and Regal E-Walk, obviously scheduled with Halloween in mind.

LFM GRADE: D+

Posted on October 26th, 2012 at 11:30am.

A Bad Year to be an Orphan: LFM Reviews The Secret of Crickley Hall on BBC America

By Joe Bendel. On the anniversary of their young son’s disappearance the Caleighs try to heal their grieving family by renting out the most haunted house in England. Most of the former orphanage’s charges supposedly died in the great flood of 1943, but the truth is far more sinister. It might also have very personal implications for the Caleighs in The Secret of Crickley Hall, a special three hour adaptation of James Herbert’s novel, which airs this Sunday on BBC America.

Eve Caleigh blames herself for the apparent loss of their son, Cam. So does everyone else, but they try not to say so. She was the one who dozed off at the playground and woke up to find him missing. She used to have a pseudo-psychic connection with her son, but since Cam vanished she has not felt his consciousness—until they move into Crickley Hall.

Convinced her son is still alive and in danger, Caleigh starts investigating the old house. It is not pretty. Most of the orphans were supposedly sucked into the well dug into the cellar during the tragic storm, but two remain unaccounted for. Her best source of information is the old gardener, Percy Judd, who understood the grim realities of Crickley that the rest of the town was unwilling to face. He knew the headmaster was badly abusing the children – particularly a shy Jewish refugee – despite the heroic efforts of his potential girlfriend (the new teacher at Crickley), as viewers witness during the frequent flashbacks to 1943.

Suranne Jones in "The Secret of Crickley Hall."

Thematically similar, Crickley is sort of like the TV miniseries version of Nick Murphy’s The Awakening. Considering that they still have two perfectly good daughters to lose, it is hard to believe the Caleighs do not turn on their heels as soon as they take a gander at that ominous looking well. (What more do they need, a desecrated cemetery in the backyard?) Yet Gabe Caleigh stubbornly refuses to accept his wife’s ghost talk, despite all the spookiness going on around them. Certainly director-adaptor Joe Ahearne wrings plenty of chills and suspense from the eerie setting.

Although the ensemble does not have a lot of big names by the standards of Hollywood television magazines, it holds plenty of geek interest. Suranne Jones, (co-star of a fan favorite Doctor Who episode) is compellingly guilt-ridden as Eve Caleigh. Playing another mournful husband much like his character in The Fades, Tom Ellis is about as sympathetic and convincing as possible as the frustratingly incredulous Gabe Caleigh. However, it is reliable veteran David (Tron, Time Bandits) Warner’s Judd who really gives the film heart, while Game of Thrones alumnus Donald Sumpter also bears watching as the mysterious old parapsychologist come to allay everyone’s fears.

Even though none of the revelations are shockingly original, Ahearne still pulls it all together rather effectively in the third hour. He plays the old dark house card for all it is worth and juggles the two narrative time periods fairly adeptly. Still, the well produced, half-period Crickley’s three hours could have easily been condensed into two without losing much. Of course, it is important to bear in mind that Herbert is a major best-seller in the UK, so a longer Crickley would make sense for the BBC over there. All told, it is fairly scary stuff for an early Sunday evening. Recommended for fans of British supernatural programming, The Secret of Crickley Hall premieres this Sunday (10/28) on BBC America.

LFM GRADE: B-

Posted on October 26th, 2012 at 11:29am.