Silent Hill
Silent Hill (Japanese: サイレントヒル) is the title of a survival horror video game franchise, produced by Konami.
As of 2006, there are five Silent Hill games available (one available only in Japan), all of which were released to strong sales and critical acclaim. What distinguishes the Silent Hill games from other survival horror games (such as Resident Evil) is that Silent Hill focuses on story, character, and atmosphere rather than action and violence. There are plenty of monsters to fight in Silent Hill, and plenty of weapons with which to fight them. But there are also complex puzzles to solve, detailed--and often disturbing--environments to explore, and engaging stories revealed through numerous cinematic cut scenes. Each game unfolds like a movie with several possible endings; the player's choices during the game determine which ending actually occurs.
What is Silent Hill?
Silent Hill is a secluded, lakeside resort town in the United States which--like many such small towns in horror fiction and movies--is permeated by an ancient evil. Demonic creatures roam the streets and buildings, and the town continually shifts between normal reality and a decaying "Otherworld." In the first two games, the protagonists are drawn to the seemingly abandoned town; in the third and fourth games, the town's evil reaches out to the characters.
Though Silent Hill's streets and buildings remain superficially unchanged from game to game, the horrors each character encounters are specific to him or her, reflecting his or her own psyche. Images and symbols recur throughout each game, providing insight into the character, plot, and underlying themes and creating a tightly interwoven and very personal horror story. This subtle continuity––the strong sense of underlying significance––increases the game’s feeling of dread. The recurring imagery also provides clues to the ultimate mystery underpinning each game and foreshadows the end of the story.
- The first game focuses on Harry Mason and his search through Silent Hill for his missing daughter, Cheryl. He finds that the secret of Cheryl’s birth is closely tied to the activities of an ancient cult in Silent Hill. The game liberally mixes Christian religious imagery with hermetic and occult symbolism, as well as including many images related to children, childhood, and corrupted innocence. Images and symbols tend to be benign in the real world but take on a twisted, grotesque malevolence in the Otherworld, a dualism that will continue throughout the series.
- Silent Hill 2 follows James Sunderland who comes to Silent Hill searching for his wife. The game is filled with sexual imagery and symbolism, as well as images of torture, torment, and hell. In this game, the town acts as a metaphorical incarnation of a person's troubled psyche––a kind of purgatory in which people punish themselves for––or perhaps revel in––past crimes.
- The third game is a direct sequel to the first, this time following Harry’s daughter, Heather Mason, as she’s drawn back into the supernatural machinations of the Silent Hill cult. Silent Hill 3 combines the religious imagery of the first game with the psychological surrealism of the second, notably in the use of mother–child, birth, abortion, and miscarriage imagery, which foreshadow the story’s final revelations.
- In Silent Hill 4, the game’s imagery and symbolism reflect the psyche not of the game’s protagonist, but of its antagonist, Walter Sullivan. The player––like the protagonist, Henry Townshend––is drawn into Sullivan’s nightmare world and must slowly piece together his history through the creatures and settings encountered there. This game provides metaphors for birth, mothers, and references to the other Silent Hill games.
Because so many scenes in the Silent Hill games can be interpreted symbolically or metaphorically, it is often unclear whether the town’s grotesque transformations and the creatures and other characters the protagonist encounters are hallucinations, dreams, or reality. The games encourage this sense of altered reality: the main character might experience a dreamlike encounter with a character who died earlier in the game, step through a door and find himself transported to an unknown location, go back into an elevator and find a button for a floor that didn’t exist earlier, or have to make his way through a location called “Nowhere,” a twisted combination of previous locations with no guiding map. One of the possible endings in the first game even reveals that the entire story has been Harry Mason’s dying hallucination.
Where is 'Silent Hill'?
Determining the exact location of Silent Hill is complicated. The games portray Silent Hill as a small, secluded town, smothered in fog, surrounded by large hills, and flanking a lake, but this could be any one of a hundred towns in the United States. The manual to the first game describes Silent Hill as a small New England resort town, and the town's surroundings--particularly the fog--are similar to the region. The town might be located in Northern New England, possibly Maine (the setting for many of Stephen King's horror stories). In the second game, the number plates on all the cars are from Michigan. The fourth game takes place in a town called Ashfield, which resembles Fall River, Massachusetts, home to famous alleged axe-murderer Lizzie Borden (dark American folklore is one of the series' influences).
Evidence of Silent Hill's location can be seen in the first game when Harry searches the school. Placed on some classroom walls are flyers with "Chicago News" printed in bold type. With the rocky climbs nearby, it's possible the town is situated near Lake Michigan. It's an uncertainty though as Silent Hill is situated more in the middle of nowhere than close to a city (see: the road signs stating Brahms and other areas' long distances in Silent Hill 2).
The town of Silent Hill is also located near a large body of water called Toluca Lake, which suggests a Southern California location. This is reinforced by the fact that Douglas' car in Silent Hill 3 has California tags, although to wit, Silent Hill 3 does not initially take place in the town, which itself is only visited in the second half after both Douglas and Silent Hill 3 protagonist Heather Mason go on a long, overnight drive. Again, this provides a fair amount of ambiguity about Silent Hill and its surrounding environment.
However, the Japanese version of the Silent Hill 4 soundtrack lists an address for Heaven's Night, a strip club in Silent Hill, and the state is listed as Maine, so many fans have decided that Silent Hill is in Maine.
The film adaptation Silent Hill, scheduled for release in Spring of 2006, places Silent Hill in Toluca County, West Virginia. Given the nature of the games, it's entirely possible that there is more than one Silent Hill with similar appearances and lore, which are linked by the town's otherworldly occurrences.
On the other hand, while the town may be an actual "resort town", the "otherside" of the town that the protagonists encounter (with the pulsating walls and creatures roaming around), could be argued as being the physical manifestation of the darkness in the protagonist's minds. Put simply, the town could mostly be in these people's minds.
Atmosphere
The games' visual design has come in for strong praise, depicting dark, fog-enshrouded, decaying environments enhanced by chilling (and very sudden) sound effects and thoroughly unnatural and disturbing creature designs. Composer Akira Yamaoka has provided atmospheric and emotional music for the series, which ranges from the first game's post-industrial noise music to more traditional melancholy piano solos to heavy rock pieces. Many fans and reviewers have referred to the Silent Hill games as among the most disturbing ever made.
Film adaptation (2006)
In 2003 a motion picture based on Silent Hill was announced, with French director Christophe Gans (Brotherhood of the Wolf) attached. The movie will feature a story line very similar to the events in the first Silent Hill video game, but with the protagonist being a woman named Rose. She travels with her daughter to Silent Hill because her daughter has recurring dreams about the town. When they arrive, events occur similarly to the story in Silent Hill 1. It will feature music from the game series. Filming was done in Brantford, Ontario, Canada, but is set in a West Virginia coal town. Shooting commenced in April 2005 and principal photography ended on July 22nd, 2005. The film has a planned release date of April 21st, 2006.
The official film synopsis is as follows:
"A woman desperate to find her child finds herself trapped in an alternate dimension as she searches for her daughter in a world of decay inhabited by strange beings. Rose (Radha Mitchell, "Melinda and Melinda", "Finding Neverland") cannot accept the doctor's verdict that her daughter Sharon (Jodelle Ferland, "Tideland") should be permanently institutionalized for psychiatric care. Over the protests of her husband (Sean Bean, "The Island", "Lord of the Rings"), she flees with her child, heading for an abandoned town to which the child seems drawn. Sharon disappears in the town, and Rose follows what she thinks is her daughter's silhouette into what seems like an alternate reality. It's soon clear this place is not like anywhere she's ever been. It's smothered by fog, inhabited by a variety of strange beings and periodically overcome by a living Darkness that literally transforms everything it touches. Joined by Cybil (Laurie Holden, "Fantastic Four", "The Majestic") a local police officer, Rose searches for her little girl while learning the history of the strange town and realizing that Sharon is just a pawn in a larger game."
- The official SILENT HILL website features stills and a trailer for the film.
Main Series
As of 2006, The Silent Hill series has four games, plus one 'gaiden' game, and another planned for release onto the next generation PlayStation 3 console. The series plays in a continuous chronological order, meaning each game takes place after its predecessor.
Silent Hill (1999)
The first Silent Hill was released in 1999 for the Sony PlayStation. The plot of the game was centered around Harry Mason arriving in Silent Hill and his subsequent attempts at finding his lost daughter, Cheryl.
Silent Hill: Play Novel (2000)
In 2000, Silent Hill: Play Novel was released in Japan on the Nintendo Game Boy Advance. It featured a subplot set in the first game. It has not yet seen an official release outside Japan.
Silent Hill 2 (2001)
A fully new sequel, Silent Hill 2, was released in 2001 for the Sony Playstation 2, Microsoft Xbox and PC. This title is sometimes known as Silent Hill 2: Restless Dreams. The plot centered around James Sunderland, who had received a letter from his deceased wife that was postmarked from Silent Hill and his subsequent arrival there in an attempt to find her. The game's story may be an adaptation of the tale of Orpheus' journey to the netherworld to retrieve his wife Eurydice, or perhaps the similar Japanese tale of Izanagi and Izanami.
Silent Hill 3 (2003)
2003 saw the release of a third full sequel to the Silent Hill series as Silent Hill 3, released on the Sony Playstation 2 and PC. Highly tethered to the events of the first game, the plot surrounds Heather Mason and the mysteries that surround her past.
Silent Hill 4: The Room (2004)
Although not originally intended as a part of the Silent Hill series, Silent Hill 4: The Room was released in 2004 for the Sony Playstation 2, Microsoft Xbox and PC. Largely unrelated to the previous games and only briefly set near Silent Hill, the plot follows Henry Townshend who finds himself mysteriously locked in his own apartment until a hole appears in his bathroom wall. The game features characters that are mentioned in previous titles and possibly related to other personas therein. http://ps2media.ign.com/ps2/image/object/608/608237/silenthill4_ps2box_usa_org_000boxart_160w.jpg <<< Image Game / Silent Hill 4 : The Room For PlayStation 2
Silent Hill 5 (TBA)
Much is still unknown about Konami's next Silent Hill title. While very little has been officially confirmed, Chief Designer of Silent Hill 5 Masashi Tsuboyama stated in an interview that the game would not appear on any of the current Video game consoles[1]. According to IGN, many speculate that the game is already in development and that the game is likely to be released on the Sony's yet to be released PlayStation 3 Video game console, however nothing of that nature has been officially announced[2]. . However, many rumours and hints have arisen around the plot and gameplay style of the game. Many people believe that it will be set in a mental Asylum (perhaps Brookhaven hospital), and will be told in a series of flashbacks depicting how the main protagonist got to this point. These rumours are unconfirmed.
The next Silent Hill game of the series has been confirmed to be coming out on PlayStation 3. The game title is still unreleased.
Silent Hill comic books
A series of comic books written by Scott Ciencin with artwork by Ben Templesmith, Aadi Salman, Nick Stakal and Shaun Thomas have been published by IDW Publishing.
Silent Hill: the Original Graphic Novel (2000)
An original Silent Hill graphic novel was completed in 2000 by British comic company Com.X, but for some undisclosed reason the book was never published. Com. X and Konami have repeatedly officially stated that they still intend to publish the book, but no confirmed date has been set. Interestingly, IDW was unaware that this project existed when they pursued the license.
Silent Hill: Dying Inside (2004)
This particular story arc was released as five issues, with the first two dealing with a doctor and patient. The remaining three issues cover a group of punk kids. It was later released as a trade paperback.
In the first two chapters, Dr. Troy Abernathy wants to cure Lynn DeAngelis from her delusions, which began after she went to do a movie in the town of Silent Hill. Abernathy takes her back to the town... only to discover a world built from his inner fears, and ruled by a demonic little girl -- Christabella -- who seeks guilty souls. From Chapter 3 until the conclusion, a punk girl named Lauryn finds Lynn's movie and plans to go to Silent Hill to do the same stunt so her group can earn some cash. There, a final confrontation with Christabella occurs.
Silent Hill: Among the Damned (2004)
The central plot in this story arc concerns a soldier dealing with "Survivor's Guilt." Soldier Jason is drawn to Silent Hill to decide whether or not he's worthy of being spared during a war that took away all his comrades, including his childhood friend Aaron and being loved by his friend, Dahlia.
Silent Hill: Paint it Black (2005)
In this story we find an artist, drawn to the resort town of Silent Hill when he needs to find inspiration for his latest work. A homeless painter named Ike is told that Silent Hill is a place where he can find food and shelter. There, he witnesses creatures that demand paintings for their deeds, such as killing tourists. Things begin to get a little peculiar when a group of strange cheerleaders stop in town and challenge the monsters.
Silent Hill: The Grinning Man (2005)
State Trooper Robert Tower is on his last day of retirement when his new replacement, Mayberry, arrives. Despite the fact that Tower enters Silent Hill on a regular basis to look for missing people, he's never been exposed to the horrifying creatures that roam its streets. However, to play a prank on Mayberry (a firm believer in not only the lore of Silent Hill but also several other consipracy theories and supernatural concepts). He stages a "Monster" attack with two other officers. However, there is a new force in the town of Silent Hill -- A smiling madman with a mastery of both magical spells and firearms who considers the city his own personal hunting ground. The truth about the city is exposed to Tower and the showdown between him and the mysterious Grinning Man ensues.
See also
References
- ^ EuroGamer. Silent Hill 4: Two Guys In A Room 25 August 2004, 09:00.
- ^ EuroGamer. Silent Hill 5 coming to next gen 17 August 2004 16:57
- ^ IGN Silent Hill 5
External links
- Official Silent Hill 2 site (Konami Europe)
- Official Silent Hill 3 site (Konami Europe)
- Official Silent Hill 4 site (Konami Europe)
- Silent Hill series (Konami Japan)
- Welcome to Silent Hill The official site for the 2006 movie, contains teaser and information.
- Silent Hill movie news coverage at The Horror Channel
- Translated Memories English translations of Konami's Book of Lost Memories, The Sulivan Victims, and Another Crimson Tome, containing notes and commentary from the games' designers and background material originally published on the official Silent Hill 4 website.
- Silent Hill Series at MobyGames
Note that the Silent Hill fan community is quite large and maintains numerous websites related to the game.
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