Return to Silent Hill Movie Connection to Games and Original Films, Explained

Summary

• The upcoming Silent Hill movie has brought renewed interest to the film franchise.
• The movies are based on an anthology video game series.
• The latest film is based on a specific Silent Hill game, and takes place in a different universe than the OG film.

The upcoming horror thriller Return to Silent Hill features Jeremy Irvine (War Horse) as James, a man who is devastated after losing the love of his life. When he receives a mysterious letter from her, saying that he can find her in the town of Silent Hill, James travels to the town to try to find some answers.

Fans of the Silent Hill video games will immediately recognize this plot: it’s the story from Silent Hill 2. But what exactly is the connection between this story and the first Silent Hill movie? Or, for that matter, the world of the video games?

The threads are a little complicated, so we’ve teased them apart for you.

Where It All Started

Silent Hill is a video game published by Konami in 1999. In the story, Harry Mason searches for his adopted daughter after she goes missing in the mysterious town of Silent Hill. There, he gets pulled into the machinations of an end-of-the-world cult trying to use his daughter to bring about the birth of a new god.

Many Silent Hill video games have followed, with the series following an anthology model. All take place in the town of Silent Hill, but the story lines aren’t always connected – and the town manifests differently in the various games.

Silent Hill 2 introduced James, who comes to Silent Hill in search of his dead wife. Although the first game had monsters that existed quite literally, this version of the town has characters dealing with the manifestations of their own guilt.

With its psychological thrills and emotional storyline, Silent Hill 2 is generally considered the best game in the series. (Unless you like more wacky plots, with cults and souls getting split in half. Then the first one is for you.)

The Original Movie

2006 saw the release of feature film Silent Hill, directed by Christopher Gans.

Gans was a huge fan of the video games, and the movie is loosely based on the first Silent Hill game (again: that’s the world of cults, gods, etc).

Reviews were lukewarm, but Silent Hill pulled in more than $100 million worldwide – so of course a sequel HAD to happen. Gans wasn’t available to direct, and Silent Hill: Revelation was panned. It underperformed at the box office and carries an 8% on Rotten Tomatoes.

Silent Hill: Revelation is a direct sequel to the first movie, but has absolutely nothing to do with the video game Silent Hill 2.

In other words, it’s the second Silent Hill film but it has nothing to do with Silent Hill 2. Clear? Good.

Is Return to Silent Hill Set in the Same Universe as the Original Movies?

Return to Silent Hill is also a return for Christopher Gans. The director is now adapting the video game Silent Hill 2, with its psychological examination of guilt and grief.

Gans has been quick to clarify that this movie takes place in a ’different universe’ than the first Silent Hill movie. As in the video games, this is a different take on the town and its mysterious monsters.

Although fans already know the storyline that Return to Silent Hill will follow, that doesn’t mean they’ll be able to guess the ending – the video game had six possible conclusions.

Return to Silent Hill will be released later this year.