Silent Hill: Revelation 3D [Blu-Ray]

In the very brief sole supplemental item included with the 3D Blu-Ray of Silent Hill: Revelation, writer/director Michael J. Bassett discusses taking the basic plot from the third Silent Hill game, trying to follow the story of the superior original film. He notes attempting to take characters and elements from the videogame series, but states that he included his spin, trying to make something new out of the existing franchise. Unfortunately, what he added wasn't a resonant cinematic dimension that would heighten the pseudo-existential thematic examinations of the subconscious and Heideggerian notion of being. Rather, Michael J. Bassett threw in some breasts, a mannequin spider and an endless array of flying severed limbs in 3D. The plot, which is delivered almost entirely in flat, subtext-free exposition, follows Heather (Adelaide Clemens), the (presumed) teenage daughter of Harry (Sean Bean), who never did find his wife (Radha Mitchell) after the events of the first film left her trapped in Silent Hill. They're on the run from cult types with a propensity for bodily mutilation and Metatron worship, drawing on the broad duality — good/evil; heaven/hell; love/hate — that attempts to give this tacky sequel thematic cohesion. For the majority of the film, Heather wanders around a new high school being followed by another new classmate (Kit Harington) and a private investigator (Martin Donovan) that recognizes her from the past. Occasionally, her reality is distorted by Silent Hill imagery, which is brought on without the subtlety, engrossing tonality or artistic flair of the original. Instead, it's very similar to a latter Nightmare on Elm Street dream sequence, only with extended close-ups of mutilated flesh that don't reinforce the central cursed cult leadership underworld plot. And since the dialogue ("you are crazy, just as your grandfather was crazy") is so unbelievably bad, much like the acting from a melodramatic, strained Kit Harington, most of Revelation is spent painfully waiting for them to get to the titular, ash-covered alternate reality so that at least the monsters will make an appearance. Of course, once they do, the only things reminiscent of the videogames are the cheesy cut-screen plot development scenes, where flat verbiage is presented to progress the game. It's all incredibly unfortunate, since Christophe Gans basically handed down a compelling, cinematically vital universe with his much more astute interpretation of the eerie tone of the game. Bassett merely took what he thought was cool and added a crap load of tacky gimmicks to propel a plot that's far too literal for its own good. No other supplements are included with the Blu-Ray, but the actual 3D presentation of the film is comparable to the theatrical release, insomuch as the severed fingers and decapitated heads look clear when they fly out of the television screen.