Editorials
[Reaction] I Beat Silent Hill: Downpour And Here’s What I Thought Of The Sound And Music
The other night, I beat Silent Hill: Downpour. For those of you who are sitting back and scratching your head wondering, “Didn’t this game come out a few months ago?”, you would be right. But here’s what happened. I bought Silent Hill: Downpour and managed to squeeze in a few hours. Then, the following week, I bought Resident Evil: Operation Raccoon City, brought it home, popped it into my Xbox and BAM! Dead Xbox.
So, for a few months, I was without an Xbox 360 and was suffering every moment of this long and unexpected video game exile. It got to the point where I couldn’t take it anymore. I caved, bought an Xbox, and dived immediately into the world of…..Minecraft. Yeah, I had to face some creepers to get my hands used to the 360 controller once again. And after building a badass world with TJ (and a little bit with Adam, even though he likes to destroy other people’s creations), I got my mitts all set again. I was ready to enter that foggy world once again!
I remembered enough of the story to feel comfortable continuing on without restarting. This was also compounded by the fact that I knew I’d be playing the game several times regardless if it was good or bad (I have every achievement in Homecoming), so I’d get a fresh view of the beginning several times over.
Now, one of the things that had me worried and apprehensive was the music and sound. After all, it was the first time that Akira Yamaoka wasn’t at the audio helm. Instead, we have Dexter composer Daniel Licht taking over as composer. As a huge fan of the franchise, the music and sound was something that I was paying very close attention to as I made my way through the game. And, I must say, I was beyond satisfied. Licht not only nailed it, he knocked it out of the park.
Running through the town, the ambient background music did something to me that I hadn’t felt since SH3: it frightened me. I actually felt uneasy and nervous as I walked the streets, enemies hiding behind a blanket of mist, the threat of thunder, lightning, and rain always looming. Like Lovecraftian tentacles, the music wrapped itself around me, making my skin crawl, the hairs on my arms raising as goosebumps the size of mountains dotted my arms.
Then there were the little winks and nods to the history of the sound and music. For instance, picking up an item brings about the same sound that is used in SH2. Then, at the radio station, DJ Bobby Ricks puts on two tracks from the SH1 soundtrack. Whether or not this was Licht’s decision is not known to me. In any case, it shows an appreciation for Yamaoka’s work but an acknowledgement that Licht is now the star.
Also, not since SH2 have I heard music in this franchise that is as emotional and gorgeous in the fear and terror it provides. Yes, the soundtrack to SH3 had some fantastic cues but it was, in my opinion, the beginning of the downward slope of the franchise soundtracks. Slowly fading were the terrifying industrial passages of the SH1 OST and the same with the beautifully haunting SH2 OST, replaced by more drum driven tracks with strong vocal presence. Do I still love the soundtracks from SH3 onward? Yes, absolutely. But, for me, the sublime mystery lessened with each soundtrack. Licht brought back that phantasmagorical emotion that I have been so desperately craving.
In my review of the soundtrack, I was convinced that the music, on its own, stood up to the test of Silent Hill. But experiencing it in the game was something else. I can truly say that, in the end, the music and sound of Silent Hill: Downpour was one of the highlights of the game.
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Having grown up in a religious family, Christian movie night was something that happened a lot more often than I care to admit. However, back when I was a teenager, my parents showed up one night with an unusually cool-looking DVD of a movie that had been recommended to them by a church leader. Curious to see what new kind of evangelical propaganda my parents had rented this time, I proceeded to watch the film with them expecting a heavy-handed snoozefest.
To my surprise, I was a few minutes in when Denzel Washington proceeded to dismember a band of cannibal raiders when I realized that this was in fact a real movie. My mom was horrified by the flick’s extreme violence and dark subject matter, but I instantly became a fan of the Hughes Brothers’ faith-based 2010 thriller, The Book of Eli. And with the film’s atomic apocalypse having apparently taken place in 2024, I think this is the perfect time to dive into why this grim parable might also be entertaining for horror fans.
Originally penned by gaming journalist and The Walking Dead: The Game co-writer Gary Whitta, the spec script for The Book of Eli was already making waves back in 2007 when it appeared on the coveted Blacklist. It wasn’t long before Columbia and Warner Bros. snatched up the rights to the project, hiring From Hell directors Albert and Allen Hughes while also garnering attention from industry heavyweights like Denzel Washington and Gary Oldman.
After a series of revisions by Anthony Peckham meant to make the story more consumer-friendly, the picture was finally released in January of 2010, with the finished film following Denzel as a mysterious wanderer making his way across a post-apocalyptic America while protecting a sacred book. Along the way, he encounters a run-down settlement controlled by Bill Carnegie (Gary Oldman), a man desperate to get his hands on Eli’s book so he can motivate his underlings to expand his empire. Unwilling to let this power fall into the wrong hands, Eli embarks on a dangerous journey that will test the limits of his faith.
SO WHY IS IT WORTH WATCHING?
Judging by the film’s box-office success, mainstream audiences appear to have enjoyed the Hughes’ bleak vision of a future where everything went wrong, but critics were left divided by the flick’s trope-heavy narrative and unapologetic religious elements. And while I’ll be the first to admit that The Book of Eli isn’t particularly subtle or original, I appreciate the film’s earnest execution of familiar ideas.
For starters, I’d like to address the religious elephant in the room, as I understand the hesitation that some folks (myself included) might have about watching something that sounds like Christian propaganda. Faith does indeed play a huge part in the narrative here, but I’d argue that the film is more about the power of stories than a specific religion. The entire point of Oldman’s character is that he needs a unifying narrative that he can take advantage of in order to manipulate others, while Eli ultimately chooses to deliver his gift to a community of scholars. In fact, the movie even makes a point of placing the Bible in between equally culturally important books like the Torah and Quran, which I think is pretty poignant for a flick inspired by exploitation cinema.
Sure, the film has its fair share of logical inconsistencies (ranging from the extent of Eli’s Daredevil superpowers to his impossibly small Braille Bible), but I think the film more than makes up for these nitpicks with a genuine passion for classic post-apocalyptic cinema. Several critics accused the film of being a knockoff of superior productions, but I’d argue that both Whitta and the Hughes knowingly crafted a loving pastiche of genre influences like Mad Max and A Boy and His Dog.
Lastly, it’s no surprise that the cast here absolutely kicks ass. Denzel plays the title role of a stoic badass perfectly (going so far as to train with Bruce Lee’s protégée in order to perform his own stunts) while Oldman effortlessly assumes a surprisingly subdued yet incredibly intimidating persona. Even Mila Kunis is remarkably charming here, though I wish the script had taken the time to develop these secondary characters a little further. And hey, did I mention that Tom Waits is in this?
AND WHAT MAKES IT HORROR ADJACENT?
Denzel’s very first interaction with another human being in this movie results in a gory fight scene culminating in a face-off against a masked brute wielding a chainsaw (which he presumably uses to butcher travelers before eating them), so I think it’s safe to say that this dog-eat-dog vision of America will likely appeal to horror fans.
From diseased cannibals to hyper-violent motorcycle gangs roaming the wasteland, there’s plenty of disturbing R-rated material here – which is even more impressive when you remember that this story revolves around the bible. And while there are a few too many references to sexual assault for my taste, even if it does make sense in-universe, the flick does a great job of immersing you in this post-nuclear nightmare.
The excessively depressing color palette and obvious green screen effects may take some viewers out of the experience, but the beat-up and lived-in sets and costume design do their best to bring this dead world to life – which might just be the scariest part of the experience.
Ultimately, I believe your enjoyment of The Book of Eli will largely depend on how willing you are to overlook some ham-fisted biblical references in order to enjoy some brutal post-apocalyptic shenanigans. And while I can’t really blame folks who’d rather not deal with that, I think it would be a shame to miss out on a genuinely engaging thrill-ride because of one minor detail.
With that in mind, I’m incredibly curious to see what Whitta and the Hughes Brothers have planned for the upcoming prequel series starring John Boyega…
There’s no understating the importance of a balanced media diet, and since bloody and disgusting entertainment isn’t exclusive to the horror genre, we’ve come up with Horror Adjacent – a recurring column where we recommend non-horror movies that horror fans might enjoy.
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