{"id":429331,"date":"2026-01-22T06:01:09","date_gmt":"2026-01-22T06:01:09","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/429331\/"},"modified":"2026-01-22T06:01:09","modified_gmt":"2026-01-22T06:01:09","slug":"the-return-to-silent-hill-reviews-are-in","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/429331\/","title":{"rendered":"The “Return to Silent Hill” Reviews Are In"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"\"<\/a>Davis Films, Cineverse<\/p>\n

While the reviews for \u201cMercy\u201d are bad and the box-office looks weak, it\u2019s in a better position than Christophe Gans\u2019 \u201cReturn to Silent Hill,\u201d which opens Friday.<\/p>\n

With 15 reviews counted, the film sits at a disastrous 7% on Rotten Tomatoes<\/a> and a 30\/100 on Metacritic<\/a>. That\u2019s behind Gans\u2019 original 2006 film at 33% on RT and 31\/100 on MC, and more in line with 2012\u2019s \u201cSilent Hill: Revelation\u201d at 8% on RT and 16\/100 on MC.<\/p>\n

This time, the film serves as something of loose adaptation of the highly acclaimed and iconic video game \u201cSilent Hill 2\u201d which released a celebrated remake in 2024 \u2013 both versions praised for their atmosphere, pervasive dread and storytelling with psychosexual themes of repression, trauma and guilt.<\/p>\n

Reviews for the film, however, paint it as a poor adaptation, one struggling to compress the 20+ hour storyline into 106 minutes. It\u2019s being criticised by fans of the game for major changes that undermine the original story, and by those unfamiliar with it for delivering a narrative that doesn\u2019t seem to work.<\/p>\n

Almost all agree to go out and play the game, as you\u2019ll get a much better experience that way. Here\u2019s a sampling of reviews:<\/p>\n

\u201cLoosely based on the 2001 game Silent Hill 2, Return to Silent Hill can be an atmospheric horror film with original creature designs worthy of Konami\u2019s legendary franchise. But a confusing plot, mediocre visual effects, and over-the-top acting might make director Christophe Gans\u2019 newest Silent Hill adaptation just as divisive as his first attempt 20 years ago.\u201d \u2013 Ashley Bardhan, Total Film<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cIt shouldn\u2019t work, and it doesn\u2019t a lot of the time, but there\u2019s something compelling in how it all wraps up, how decisions that floundered in the moment feel a little more justified once the credits roll (which are awesomely stylish for some reason).\u201d \u2013 Dominic Baez, Seattle Times<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cAs an adaptation of one of the best video games ever made from a filmmaker who successfully translated the games\u2019 world to film before, it\u2019s a major disappointment. As a movie, it\u2019s just bad.\u201d \u2013 Kyle Logan, Screen Anarchy<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201c20 years later Gans still can\u2019t figure out how to escape the open-ended confinement of gameplay, or even give it the forward momentum of a game with a mission.\u201d \u2013 Jesse Hassenger, The Guadian<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cReturn to Silent Hill isn\u2019t the worst entry in this video game movie series, but it fails to accomplish anything that the source material doesn\u2019t do better\u2026 Those craving a truly great psychological horror experience are better off booting up a version of Silent Hill 2.\u201d \u2013 Jesse Schedeen, IGN<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cDirector Christophe Gans understands Silent Hill so arrestingly and vividly when it comes to visual nightmare fuel that it makes it all the more frustrating that, with this story, he still doesn\u2019t \u201cget\u201d what he is adapting\u201d \u2013 Robert Kojder, Flickering Myth<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cWith bad direction, terrible acting, and a world that has no weight behind it (especially since most of it was clearly made in a computer), this isn\u2019t the way to bring Silent Hill 2 to the big screen. This powerful survival horror story has been turned into an ugly, laughable adaptation that proves that maybe we should\u2019ve never gone back\u201d \u2013 Ross Bonaime, Collider<\/a><\/p>\n

\u201cReturn to Silent Hill\u201d opens Friday and is only expected to earn around $1-3 million for the weekend domestically. Where it may prove a hit is China, with a post on Reddit<\/a> claiming the film\u2019s advance ticket sales are outpacing \u201cFinal Destination: Bloodlines\u201d by 50% \u2013 a movie that pulled in a total gross of $28 million in that market.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Davis Films, Cineverse While the reviews for \u201cMercy\u201d are bad and the box-office looks weak, it\u2019s in a…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":429332,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[8],"tags":[64,63,142132,134],"class_list":["post-429331","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-entertainment","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bigslider","tag-entertainment"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429331","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=429331"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/429331\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/429332"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=429331"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=429331"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=429331"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}