Silent Hill

The facts ring true. It is either this or Resident Evil. While they are able to co-exist, Silent Hill and Resident Evil fans are not only incapable of sharing passions without violence (SH has that as ambience alone so, you know) and they cannot share passions because Resident Evil sucks every kind of ass in the world at once and spits in your face. And that is just by turning on your game console. Essentially, you cannot like both and still be a good person. Also, you cannot like Resident Evil as survival horror (instead of just action) and still be a good person. So if you are a fan of both or just like Resident Evil because having someone beat the game for you to give you unlimited ammoe scares the shit out of you then, I do not have to respect your opinion. Do you know why? Because you are a bad person. And no, you will not get unlimited ammoe after I kill you (though, I admit, that would be awesome).

The story is perhaps more morbid than Michael Jackson's childhood. It starts in "Ihavelostmygoddamnmind-Ville" and ends at "whatthefuckjusthappened-Ville". That might be because of what the Japanese call doing their goddamn jobs. The real reason why the series has not achieved the kudos that match the amount of people who buy the games, love them and give them recognition is probably because of the personal nature of it all. It is the same damn game on every DVD but it is like a combination of a vision quest and a rorshach test. The perspectives of the games range from it just being a Resident Evil knock-off (fuck you. With so much fire!), to another cool game or even a test of faith (by losers) or a state of mind that allows you to delve into a fictional character's psychosis. Most people in the world at least see it as a decent game. However, there are also the people who take it too far and try to live by the eponymous cult's philosophies. Then again, who wouldn't?

The first game was a trend setter. From music to plot, it is responsible for many of the erie or psychologically disturbing horror flicks that came afterward. Of course,that doesn't count for Japan because Silent Hill is just another hallmark of Japanese horror in the first place. But it piqued an interest in the genre and the musical stylings of Akira Yomaoka. Remember the movie Elektra or any other movie that had a foghorn-esque background song? Or what about the trend of mixing classical music with Industrial (NOT industrial rock)? That was from Silent Hill. A different composer may have made it (though, I doubt it) but the musical piece is almost exactly the same. Of course, if it was Lustmorde it doesn't count because they were Akira's inspiration for the music. But the thing about those clone-pieces is that none of them have any place in the scenes they are in. They are usually in forests or even castles or some shit! In Silent Hill, you are in one of two places: an alternate hell-world located in a setting resembling a facotry or oil rig brought on by sirens or a town located somewhere either on the West Coast or upper-north route 66! So the reason why there are foghorns in the soudtrack is because they are going to be heard in the location of the story, not just because it is "scary".

The gist of the story is that a young girl with psychic powers named Alessa Gilespie is burned alive from a boiler accident while her mother (Dahlia) is trying to place a God inside of her. She manages to split her soul in two (like your mom) and sending the one that is her most good to live a happy life while she wrestles with her inner evil. Her mother tortures her to attract the other half of her soul to birth her God. That plan, unlike the more crucial don't-kill-my-medium-for-God plan, is successful. Seven years later. That is the beginning of the first game. The events seven years before that are handled adequately by the makers of the prequel. However, that game got really mediocre and stilted towards the end. They didn't quite grasp the events described in the first game, which actually would have made for a much better prequel. Anyway, the villains may seem a bit incompetent but the reality is that the forces that they are dealing with are just unstable. Oh, and more than half of them are psychotic fanatics of a doomsday cult that is on the side of the bringer of death and living rot. They think that it is all beautiful and miraculous (though they may not see what the gamer sees). It is like a specially depraved blend of Clive Barker and good ol' Howard Lovecraft. Eventually, Harry Mason who is the adoptive father of the second half of Alessa's soul (Cheryl), is dropped into a maze that seems to be the Universe's "Visual-Aid Dictionary" entry for "Holy Shit!". He (the player) forces through a heap of very shitty circumstances to see the God eventually birthed, though it is improper thanks to some asshole doctor. Dr Kauffman, who kept Alessa a secret in the basement of his hospital since her burn accident throws the "magical weakness" all immortal, omnipotent villain-Gods seem to have on Alessa who has become one with Cheryl and prematurely ejaculates "God". I am sure some reading this can relate, only it isn't as destrucitve, bloody and fiery (maybe). Chances are the God dies and you escape or your daughter dies forever and the whole thing was a dream during the lapse of a concussion. Oh, and you die.

The second game is much more macabre and freaky. Alessa sparked the latent power of the town's land (that was used by Native Americans to talk to the dead) and it starts to call to people who are troubled or really shitty by nature and they are judged by the otherworldly labrynth of the town. It is nothing like Pan's, Leviathan's or David Bowie's. It is just the town itself fucking with you. You discover that the monsters are real people (really fucking subtely, and implicitly suppoprted in the 3rd game). Okay, so we have James who got a letter from his dead wife who presumably died from the disease Harry's wife died from, a guy who loses his shit (not in a badass way) and kills things that are pissed at him for valid reasons and then vomits, a little girl who was friends with James' wife, a rape victim who was daddy's joy-toy and a stripper who looks identical to James' wife. Gee, doesn't that sound like fun? Especially considering that there is no good ending. At all. The badness is proven in the 4th game. This is a good and freaky game with lots of twists and turns. Also, links to the town's past. There is little more that can be said without wasting space or spoilng things that need not be spoiled.

The 3rd game is Alessa's reincarnation, named Heather, retaining her powers and being contacted by a childhood friend who she does not remember because she is a different person. Also, it has been 18 fucking years, making Silent Hill an affair of the 80's however, the God is not dead. It is still in Heather (Alessa). In a Resident Evil-esque move (dickmove), your powers are only alluded to in the actual story and can be awakened by killing 333 enemies. In a move that proves that this is NOT Resident Evil (and puzzle oriented) that usually takes at least 2 play-throughs. Also, while they help, they are not cure-all problems as your stamina runs out while running in this game (not your health) and the same happens when your powers are used. There are a lot of allusions to pretty-girl-soldier anime' in this game for some reason. It isn't without purpose as it gives you more stamina and boosts your power. I guess it is a staple of Japan, or something.

The rest of the games suck. The only good things are the continuation of the story. The fifth game is decent except that it isn't in the spirit of the previous games, has out of place additional moves that barely work, and is too much like the movie. The movie was good as an alternate universe or a "what if" kind of a thing. It is also an amalgamation of the first four games. Most people say they do not like it but rarely give good reasons. If you did not like the story or the acting, then it is cool. But you can't say it didn't explain the story when the movie stops in the end specifically to do just that (the most common complaint) and you can't say that it is an attack on Christianity (a short-lived but rampant complaint during opening week) when there is no Jesus to be seen (except in the "good" orphanage) and the religion of the cult is obviously more Freemason-esque. Oh well, you can't please everybody as the movie was meant to be an homage for the fans to enjoy. The only downside is that the movie fails to cover that the town itself is a sentient character, which would have been interesting to watch considering the similar avenues to Dark City and Phenomenon that could have been explored.

The real bitch here is that the only good thing left about the series is the music. America is supposed to make shit better but, they have decided to ass it up with guns and soldiers and shit all to have an excuse for crap story-telling, over abundance of action and revoltingly impassible monsters. The invincibility is not what is so scary. Imagine that you are a bully. You see a nerd who is covered in snot and wearing a tutu all to spend more time with your girlfriend because she needs a man who is more "attentive" to her needs. Now imagine that you shoot his ass. Not only have you gotten more sexy points in my book, you have unlocked the wrath of a Silent Hill monster. Now, he is twisting and dancing in your direction making sounds alien to the kind of body he possesses. He is killable but he is also coming to get you and dangerous to the touch even though he shouldn't be. Just like a nurse made out of latex or a walking rectum, that nerd is dangerous. For no damn reason. And you are stuck in a labrynth of these fuckers until you kill their boss. Then you are back in the real world with a murder on your hands. That is what was so scary about Silent Hill monsters, not that they were near-invincible mutated attacks to your manhood.