People are voting emotionally.

All of these films share one commonality, that being a kind of emotional center that humanizes a cast of monsters.

It’s not bad or unwatchable but despite the amplitude of the spectacle, the end result is underwhelming.

One of the worst ways to make a cult movie is to set out to make a cult movie.

Since the release of the original game all those years ago, the "Silent Hill" franchise has become something of a phenomena in the world of survival-horror gaming, quickly transforming into one of the most widely beloved and highly recognized examples of the genre. Through now countless entries and follow-ups or one sort or another, the series has grown beyond the confines of its humble beginnings and now exists as a media franchise unto itself. However, there is one constant that has always been accepted as pure fact... that no matter the quality of later sequels or spin- offs, or of spin-off media including comic- books and film, nothing has ever quite reached the quality and class attained by the original three games, released between 1999 and 2003. Some have come close... very close, even. But there's just something about that initial trilogy that rings true in the hearts of gamers as being pure.The third entry in the series, "Silent Hill 3" is one of the two fan favorites that constantly vies for the title of the best. And while I do think it may never quite reach the exceptional quality of its immediate predecessor "Silent Hill 2", the fact still remains: this third chapter in the series is an immense achievement and continues to this day to be one of the most frightening and harrowing exercises in pure horror ever crafted for a home gaming console. In every way exceptional, "Silent Hill 3" is a game that begs to be played and replayed over and over again, and I'm more than happy to indulge in it.We follow Heather, a feisty teenage girl who is haunted by disturbing nightmares of a treacherous and dark alternate reality to our own. Upon learning that she is being followed by a Private Investigator while visiting a mall one day, she attempts to flee, only to find herself gradually being pulled into a living version of her nightmare. And this journey will lead her through Hell and back as she struggles to discover what is happening and how to escape from the clutches of this seemingly demonic realm... Along the way encountering other characters who will slowly reveal the depths of the intriguing and twisted story she now finds herself in. And eventually, it will lead her to the freakish and haunting domain we know as "Silent Hill."Differentiating itself from the previous entry, "Silent Hill 3" is far more focused on story than character this time around, and it helps lend to some nice contrast that sets this entry apart and allows us to absorb it without the burden of comparison. It is established early on in the game that this is a definite continuation of the tale first began in the original entry (though to what end remains a bit of a mystery that I will not spoil), and when viewing it as a direct sequel, it's a refreshing return to familiar grounds with just enough different to set it apart. It features an extremely intricate and intriguing plot that relies greatly on the player's ability to interpret symbolic imagery and subtle storytelling, which gives it an infinite replay value in order for the player to pick up on new details.This is very much in my opinion the most disturbing and frightening entry of the series, thanks to it's absolutely mind-shattering use of atmosphere and design. Team Silent outdoes themselves yet again when it comes to the fear department, with perhaps the best-realized version of the iconic "Otherworld" in the entire series. With a predominately red-based color scheme and a new focus on creating environments that appear to be living and breathing in their own way, you'll be left on the edge of your seat on a near-constant basis, feeling yourself being pulled into the world alongside Heather. The creature design is also ramped up dramatically. If you thought Pyramid Head was the scariest monster of the series, wait till you get a load of what the team has in store for you here!Characters are a bit more archetypal here, but still never anything less than compelling and thoroughly likable in every respect. It's fascinating to suddenly shift to controlling a young girl for the first time in the series. Though there may be a degree of initial worry in how they will handle her character, there is nothing to fear, as Heather is extremely complex and never falls victims to any of the classic clichés available. I also highly admired the supporting character of Douglas Cartland, a Private Investigator hired to track Heather down for reasons unknown. He makes for a compelling and even touching character, and you learn very soon on that he will become one of your most invaluable of allies. And our new villain Claudia Wolf is just wonderful and an ideal foil to the charismatic young Heather. A recurring figure you'll continue to meet throughout your quest, Claudia is very much one of the most threatening forces in any entry of the series. Just a great cast of characters all around.All of this builds towards creating an absolutely stunning and deeply intense gaming experience unlike any other you have ever played. While I do think it might lack the emotional resonance of "Silent Hill 2", this in no way invalidates the game in any way. It's still a perfect entry in the series, and to this day is still well worth your time. Just be sure to bring a change of pants, because with how creepy this game can (and does) often get... you're gonna need it!"Silent Hill 3" is another perfect 10 out of 10 for the franchise.

((States that is may 'contain spoilers' for safety reasons.)) Recently, I have just gotten into the Silent Hill games, I was determined to play it for years now, but, I never got around to it, just because, I truly never understood what it was about, and even though I have a love for all things horror, I didn't want to get myself into something I didn't enjoy. So eventually, I purchased the original Silent Hill off of Playstation Network, and devoured it in two days, I laughed, I cried, I screamed, I jumped, it was an amazing game. Three months later, Easter was coming, and I asked for Silent Hill 2 and 3, upon realizing the HD collection was cheaper, my grandmother purchased that instead. Though, I wasn't pleased, I didn't fuss over it, because it was still Silent Hill, regardless of new voice overs. After completing Silent Hill 3 to six stars, I have to say, I like this game more than the first, and the second. The story was as immersive and appealing as I hoped it was, and I was pleased to find out that it was a direct(not so direct?), sequel to the first game. Like the second and first, I too, devoured this game in almost one sitting. It features everything I loved from the first game, as well as little easter eggs to the second. Heather, to me, is one of the most appealing Silent Hill protagonists so far, just because she has one of the most appealing back stories, I won't spoil it for anyone who hasn't played, but trust me, if you enjoyed the others, you'll enjoy this one. Buy this game, play it, and love it, just like I did, treat it with kindness and respect, and it will do the same to you.

No, I mean it, I am in a state of utter awe of this ability to continue producing grade-A results. This is a review of the PC version. All that appears to mean is that you can save at any time(with a few delectable exceptions), and are not limited to the well-placed(if arguably plentiful) checkpoints. In ways, this is less hard than the others(on the other hand, it is challenging, yes, also on the easiest setting, of the three for puzzles and four for action... yep, adjustable difficulty, so anyone can play this). It's about as long as the first one(in general, it takes a bit of inspiration from it... including in a way that I'd have preferred it didn't, but I understand that others did want that; you should definitely try to play the original one before this, you will appreciate it on another level), but the well-done puzzles seem simpler(that, or I'm getting better... and I tend to think it's the former, not the latter; meanwhile, this has the greatest riddle-solving system yet), if there may be about the same amount of them. On the other hand, this one may have about twice as many types of creatures. They are grotesque and nightmarish again, and this time, a few are downright bizarre in appearance, resembling nothing that we can recognize. All of the design is impeccably done. This again uses our own imagination in conjunction with the unnerving sights and audio to build up the psychological terror. The atmosphere is chilling, carefully established and maintained throughout, by the grisly sights and the incredibly well-done and meticulously crafted sound-side that is either shocking or hinting, never noisy or dull. This has amazing music, if there may be more lyrics than earlier in the series; then again, they are fantastic, and like the second, this does, as it needs to, distinguish itself(without deviating so much that we get alienated), they can't all be carbon-copies, they have to do something new. This hits the nail on the head in that regard. The plot is marvelous, if not as deep as that of SH2. I refuse to give it away. The story-telling is well-done(I swear to you, I was literally touched a handful of times during this, not only scared) with you finding details as you go along, and then the scripted, in-engine cut-scenes(there are no CGI ones in this one, and they are not missed), with a free cinematography(with that said, were there an excess of shots from below the protagonist, or was that just me?), a wide range of animations and rather articulated faces and the like(I do not personally find the introductory movie as compelling as the other two, perhaps that is only me... it might be the pop song, if I will grant that it's sufficiently sad in tone). This has astonishing graphics, and the lighting, shadows and weather effects(love the "grain") are brilliantly done. You now play as Heather, a teenage girl not afraid to speak her mind. I wasn't bothered by the gender in the least, and her personality isn't irritating(I've yet to come across a single obnoxious person in this franchise up to this point); however, her vocabulary, well, fits her age, and it does take away from the mood when something is called/described using words like "boring", "gross" or "yuck". Well, it didn't bother me enough to take me out of it, even briefly. All of the characters are credible, diverse and well-developed, and there are so few of them that you remember everyone and they all matter, none of them can be left out with no impact. Vincent is one of my favorites of all three games. The acting tends to be magnificent. This is instantly engaging and quite exciting. It takes a while before you realize what exactly is going on, without this losing any of its gripping tension. It is a cinematic experience with its strange, interesting and effective angles, and the dynamic camera that you can exert limited control over. The button for this can get you third person view, and that is invaluable in this. It won't work everywhere, still, it will when you have to, as the video-game won't always automatically do so. One thing I suppose one could say is that the enemies can be frustrating, to an extent not seen before this entry. And there are a lot of weapons, if not any that are superfluous. I've heard complaints about the Uzi... well, can *you* use it constantly? Besides, these are not about the combat. The lead now turns her head at nearly everything you can interact with, which at best takes getting used to, at worst is an annoyance. They split up Enter and Use into separate functions... not sure why. There are several endings and other things to unlock. This revisits areas from the previous incarnation, though they do new things with them. Several of your surroundings are creepy places to begin with, like a subway station and train. You now see the elevator as its moving, another of the countless eerie situations in these. It's all so abandoned, so close to quaint, and yet absolutely not. The interface remains unchanged as it should be, and once you are used to the directional keys(shouldn't take long), the way you move in this is rather intuitive, and you can get into this almost immediately. This does tinker with game-play mechanics a tad, all improvements. You can run a nice and fitting distance before tiring, for example. There are immense loads of brutal, bloody, strong violence and disturbing content, as well as a little sexuality in this - you should be able to figure out pretty quickly if you can handle it or not. I recommend this warmly to any fan of the other ones, and of other smart survival horror VG's. An acquired taste that ages like a fine wine, and that I wouldn't dream of doing without. Return to Silent Hill... if you dare. 10/10

Welcome back to Silent Hill - the third 'game' in the series, and second on the Playstation 2.All those familiar with either of the other two epics will immediately be familiar with this offering. This time however, you take the role of "Heather"; a woman battling to discover who true identity and destiny. It's rather difficult to discuss the game without spoiling the story, so i'll just briefly other aspects of the game.Silent Hill - the original on PS1, was a classic, it had everything; the story, the music, the atmosphere, tension, and the sickening creatures. Silent Hill 2, seemed somewhat rushed, beautiful lifelike FMV's (for a 1st generation PS2 game) , a truly twisted story, but long loading times and poor level design with pathetic monsters.With Silent Hill 3, the dirctor seems to have learned his lesson and got it right in all aspects. GONE are the hideous loading times between rooms and an updated interface now makes inventory interaction so much easier.The graphics are incredible, as good as you're ever going to see on a PS2, they are almost of XBox quality.There is now a massive variation in the types of creature that inhabit the World too, somewhere between 10 and 20 different types.The music is hauntingly familiar, and the atmosphere created by the sound FX makes the hairs on your arms stand on end sometimes - especially when the static from the radio comes on when a creature is close (brrrrrr)I'm not really into all this use of FMV for telling a story, so I am glad you can skip through it with the START button, although one nice feature is that if you have a SH2 save game on your memory card then you can interact with some of the FMV's which is a nice feature.This game definately is not for young children ! Also, not for those of a Christian persuasion, the game is EXTREMELY blasphemous ! (You want to see someone puke up "God" and then another eat the twitching Foetus ?? Well you will in SH3)Silent Hill 3 is probably overall, the greatest Survival Horror game on the PS2 - therefore on all consoles. It has everything the others in the series had, and yet whilst not genre defining, it certainly ups the ante and makes the rival "Resident Evil" series seem VERY creaky by comparision.