When Silent Hill was released earlier this year, its clock was critically cleaned as underwhelming, nonsensical and plodding (read the CHUD review
here). Yet, using a rusty machete in a
real-life manifestation of the road to hell being paved with the best
intentions, Silent Hill carved up some guilty fascination
and laid it firmly on my plate. The look and tone of “destroyed beauty” (thanks for the term, Epic) set by Gans and
company as they tried to unravel a mystery in purgatory was eerie, gorgeous and
worth the price of a ticket, even if the story was almost nonsensical and characters were stock, murky and pastiche. In the end, however, Silent Hill, having made $100 million in box office and DVD sales, can lay claim to being the third
highest grossing horror film of 2006 . And you know what that
means.
According to director Christophe Gans, as quoted by his countrymen
in a big fat article, work is ramping up for a second visit to Silent Hill.
Gans is also quoted as he explains the machinations of the film- why
it felt hollow, why characters were added and why he doesn’t feel the film was
completed (Gans finished it 10 days after the
like to right the wrongs of the first film as he focused more on the look
(gorgeous and creepy) and less on the scares (ummmm… none). He
also, rightly, takes a rhetorical dump all over the U.S./Region 1 DVD art.
The real story, however, is that money talks and in this era of
sequel-it is, with Neill Geiman and Roger Avary rumored to be writing the script
for part two, things sound like they’re going to happen. Whether Gans is on
board is another story, as he’s readying another video game adaptation,
Onimusha, where a Samuarai seeks to rescue a princess and defeat a kingdom overtaken
by demonic forces in feudal
Sweet, sweet Geekgasm.
As an aside, all you Eragon fans should get those l’il chins
up with the decent showing Eragon has made overseas. Its success could possibly
mean good news in the form of Eldest for all Eragon fans, and six pack of piss
and vinegar to fuel all Eragon not-fans.
But that’s just me speculating. Join me, won’t you?
UPDATE: Gaiman on screenwriting for Silent Hill 2, from his blog:
"I’m afraid that I don’t think I am — I mean, it’s the first thing I’ve ever heard of it, and I’m sure that if they make a sequel Roger would want to write it himself. I am writing Black Hole with Roger (we’re one draft in right now), and we already wrote next year’s Beowulf. If I get home to find an invitation to write Silent Hill 2 with Roger is waiting for me I’ll let you all know, but for right now I think it’s a discredited internet rumour."
There you have it. Gans has officially joined the ranks of the internet rumormongering club.