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While we still don’t have a release date for the upcoming horror movie Return to Silent Hill, the hype for that project is still as strong as ever. That’s thanks to director Christophe Gans’ return to the franchise after his previous Silent Hill adaptation kicked off the Konami franchise’s cinematic era. Now that the helmer has released some details about how that 2006 film has influenced his second turn at bat, the fan in me really appreciates what he had to say.
Christophe Gans’ Approach To Silent HIll’s Story And Creatures Helped A Lot
As the latest Silent HIll Transmission gave details for the Silent Hill 2 remake game, which is set for release this October, the appreciation for that 2001 PlayStation 2 title didn’t stop there. But when Gans described his approach to delivering a follow-up to his vision from Silent Hill ‘06, he clearly laid out this formula for how what’s coming up compares to that last picture:
I consider that the first film was like an epic journey of horror. This one is much more like a deep dive into some psychological horror.
Seeing as Return to Silent Hill is adapting the second game’s story of James Sunderland and the journey into his own personal hell after his wife’s death, that comparison check out. As a player who devoured Silent Hill 2 back when it first came out, Christophe’s approach fits with the ins and outs of where James’ story goes.
This isn’t a story about change though, as Christophe Gans’ philosophy on the creatures he’s bringing to life has stayed the same since 2006. So hearing the following remarks spoken during this Return to Silent Hill sizzle reel had me even more excited to see him back in the director’s chair:
I kept one of the main ideas of the first film, which is that all the creatures are played by dancers and acrobats. … So all the monsters on this film are played by a real person, with [physical] gifts. They have created a level of strangeness into the monstrosity of these things. Which I think is actually very disturbing.
We mostly see rehearsal and audition footage of the actors hired to be Return to Silent Hill’s monsters, but that’s enough to sell me on that tactic working like charm again. That’s especially important for the nurses, as they carry a little more meaning in the story of Silent Hill 2. Which is something that leads to the next huge advantage this new film has in its arsenal.
Return To Silent Hill’s Crew Are Huge Fans Of The Series
To nail the look and feel of something like the town of Silent Hill, you can only explain it so much before you need to sit someone down in front of a PlayStation and have them experience it. Thankfully, not only did Christophe Gans get that intricacy, he didn’t have to go through all the extra steps.
Continuing to describe his good fortune in making Return to Silent Hill, the Brotherhood of the Wolf director was positively gleeful when recounting the following:
I was thinking to myself, ‘Okay, I will have to explain a lot of this film to my crew.’ And in fact, no. I didn’t have to. Because there was a 2.0 generation of Silent Hill lovers, and that helped me a lot.
That advantage was felt throughout many of the on-set creative fields that make up Return to Silent Hill’s total crew. As Mr. Gans rattled off production design, makeup and costumes as examples of where the fans were hard at work nailing that look, I found myself even more comfortable about this sequel’s chances to get it right.
When Christophe Gans’ first Silent Hill movie came out, I was thrilled at how he took story elements from the entire series at the time and made a moving, yet horrifying picture. Seeing the work he’s done so far on Return to Silent Hill, and listening to him describe the care that’s being put into bringing Silent HIll 2 to the screen, I’m excited all over again.
Especially because while I haven’t seen it myself, Silent Hill: Revelation’s dismal reputation had me worried it wasn’t possible to get another quality entry in this disturbing universe. And trust me, I’ve been burned before with the promise of “quality,” lest we forget the debacle that is Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City. This looks like more than a false promise, and I’m ready for all the restless dreams that will come as we wait for a closer look.
At the moment, there’s no release date for Return to Silent Hill. However, that just means there’s more time to revisit Christophe Gans’ Silent Hill, which at the time of this publication is streaming for those with a Netflix subscription.