Editorials
10 Years Ago, The Fog of ‘Silent Hill’ Rolled Into Theaters
Ten years ago today, director Christophe Gans’ vision of Silent Hill came to theaters and presented us with what might very well be the most faithful video game-to-film adaptation ever churned out. While the film didn’t do insanely well, earning nearly $100 million against a $50 million budget, it was praised for its atmosphere, set design, and visuals, all of which are crucial when it comes to a Silent Hill title.
Related: In Defense Of ‘Silent Hill’ (2006)
As many of you know, my love for the Silent Hill games is pretty high up there. I’ve played every game (except for Book of Memories and that’s because I don’t own a Vita) multiple times so that I could earn each ending. At one point, my collection of Silent Hill music in my iTunes library could be played from beginning to end, without any repeats, for several days. I could go on and on about my love of the series but I want to focus on Gans’ film for now because it really was a special moment for me the day it came out.
Ever since the first Silent Hill game came out in 1999, I’d been wanting a film adaptation. Something about the game and its story, no matter how convoluted and messy it got, seemed perfect for the silver screen. After all, here was a game that was inspired and influenced by the likes of Stephen King, Dean Koontz, Clive Barker, and many more of horror’s greatest authors, all of whom I’d read many times in the years leading up to the game.
When the movie was announced, I was beyond excited. I was still young enough to have boundless enthusiasm and loads of wide-eyed optimism, especially when they stated that Gans was going to direct. Having been a big fan of Brotherhood of the Wolf, I felt like this was going to be a faithful recreation of the town that gave me so many delicious nightmares. And you know what? While not flawless, it gave me everything I could’ve wanted and more.
You see, for me I knew that doing a shot-for-shot recreation of the game was out of the question. What I wanted was a lot of practical FX (check), a creepy and exciting atmosphere (check), beautiful music (check), and an ending that was more in line with the game than some BS Hollywood nonsense (check). Yeah, some of the dialogue was kinda corny and the story a bit too nonsensical, but that’s what the game is all about. And while a few people complained about the runtime – which, at over two hours, is long for a movie of its kind – I saw it as more time to spend in that industrial nightmare.
I’m not saying this movie is perfect, because it’s clearly not. But I saw this movie twice on opening day and another two or three times before it left the theaters. I love this movie, I love this franchise, and I’m thrilled that there’s a chance for me to talk about the movie.
Just don’t expect anything like this from me when it comes to the sequel.
Judging from the unprecedented box office success of Kane Parsons’ Backrooms adaptation, you’ve likely already seen the liminal horror hit that managed to make audiences afraid of empty hallways and bad wallpaper. And now that so many of us have already entered the yellow labyrinth (some of us more than once), the time has come to discuss the spoiler-filled details that make the movie so fascinating in the first place.
And if there’s one element here that makes the Backrooms movie stand out from any previous lore/mythology, it has to be the genius addition of the Still Life entities. Warped recreations of real people that somehow wandered into the Complex, these misremembered creatures are responsible for some of the most disturbing imagery of 2026 – as well as laugh-out-loud memes created by one of the film’s very own concept artists.
However, true to Parsons’ word that the movie would rely heavily on practical effects, each of these distorted monsters was brought to life by real actors under heavy layers of makeup and prosthetics (with the occasional splash of CGI enhancements). While Anora and If I Had Legs I’d Kick You actress Ivy Wolk wasn’t among these performers, despite what Letterboxd might have you believe, the creature cast did benefit from veteran players with plenty of genre experience.
For starters, Alien: Romulus alumni Robert Bobroczkyi (who previously brought that film’s horrific Offspring to life during its most memorable sequence) plays the flick’s main antagonist, the Still Life version of Captain Clark. And though there was some obvious CGI involved in making the character’s peg-leg and nightmarish face more believable, Bobroczkyi’s monstrous performance and his natural 7’7″ frame helped to make that final chase sequence a clear highlight among this year’s genre offerings.
The film’s Texas-Chain-Saw-inspired “dinner” scene also features a freaky collection of less-aggressive Still Life creatures in the form of the Bearded Man, the Red-Headed Woman and, strangest of them all, the cheekily named “Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life” (who earned this title among fans and crewmembers as a reference to his apparent affinity for lamps).
While this was the first major horror outing for both Patrick Baynham (The Bearded Man) and Dana Mahmood (Archibald), Rhiannon Roberts has worked as a stunt performer in everything from Yellowjackets to HBO’s The Last of Us adaptation – which is probably why The Red-Headed Woman is the most active out of Clark’s impromptu “family.” That being said, the Archibald Leland Sutter Still Life is my personal favorite of the bunch simply because his anachronistic outfit suggests that the Backrooms phenomenon might be a lot older than the Async Foundation. I also love how hard he tries to be helpful with that little light of his!
That might be it for the Still Life entities, but I think horror fans will also be pleased to hear that the film’s Found Footage prologue stars none other than Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City star Avan Jogia as Naren Warne – and American Mary herself Katharine Isabelle also shows up in a blink-and-you’ll-miss-it cameo at Mary’s house party towards the middle of the story (though I have a feeling that she originally had a bigger part that was likely cut for time).
At the end of the day, Parsons’ Backrooms may have been an auteur-driven project motivated by the young director’s unique take on the classic creepypasta, but film has always been a collective artform, so it’s fun to see just how many talented performers it takes to bring this kind of supernatural nightmare to life in a way that connects with so many people.
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