Is Stranger Things the Silent Hill Movie We Deserve?

[Fox12]

I'm about halfway through Netflix's Stranger Things, and boy howdy is it good. Probably a top contender for best tv show being aired. However, pretty early on I was pretty blown away by where the story was clearly headed.

Spoiler

Basically there's another universe that seems to inhabit the same space as ours. People can be whisked away to this monster infest hellscape, which seems to have quite a lot of snow and dust. Sound familiar? I did some reseach, and sure enough, the creators listed Silent Hill as one of their major influences. While their doing their own original take on the idea, as a Silent Hill fan the series seems to be a much better adaptation then the two films we've been plagued with so far.

It's a pretty exciting experience. It's like Twin Peaks, Silent Hill, Akira, and ET all got dropped into a blender and produced something beautiful. I'm excited to see where the series goes from here, especially since the creators seem to know their stuff. They aren't just borrowing concepts from different stories and mediums. They seem to have a real understanding of what makes these tropes work. Thoughts?

 

[Casual Shinji]

I wouldn't compare it to Silent Hill, as (for all it's strangeness) it's pretty straight forward. They have the seperate universe in common sure, but in ST it's its own parallel dimension, whereas in SH it's a force that warps your mind.

As for the show itself... I really liked the first three episodes, but after that it dropped off quite a bit for me. As soon as the mystery is largely uncovered I don't feel the show has much to work with other than story concepts and characterisations that have been well trodden. I know part of its charm is the familiarity of the types of characters (as well as the overall nostalgia), but it never reaches beyond that or does anything interesting with it. It felt like a slightly better Super 8 in show form.

Also, you forgot Elfen Lied in that blender.

 

[Dalisclock]

I liked the idea, but once they revealed the "evil alternate universe that monsters occasionally pop out of" it feels like it decided to call it a day. There really isn't much mystery beyond that.

I think watching the kids try to figure things out was the only reason I really kept watching. I was hoping there would be more to the lab and the upside down, beyond what we pretty much already suspected, but was disappointed.

 

[Silentpony_v1legacy]

I mean not really? Stranger Things is closer to a bad Stephen King story than anything Silent Hilly. Mostly because Silent Hill is just one big long metaphor for PTSD. Its all in your(meaning the character's head). Pyramid Head being Jame's sexual frustration, the big titted nurses being nurses with bit tits, Alex being tormented by guilt from getting is brother killed on a boating trip, Murphey trying to get over the guilt of letting his brother/son get killed by the one dude, hell Silent Hill 3 is so littered with pregnency and sexual imagery it literally ends with Heather taking a magic pill that ends her pregnancy when she doesn't even remember who got her pregnant to being with. If I recall correctly there's even a dude, after talking to Heather about her murdering everyone, says something like "Oh, they look like monsters to you?" and Heather is all like 'Oh fuck no...'

Its all about being trapped in your own personal hell in your mind because of trauma.

Stranger Things doesn't really have a metanarrative. Its just kinda' a spoopy show what has spoopy things that happens. I forget which ZP, but there's one where he's making fun of a AAA dev who just wants a 'horror game' and when asked what its about, what are the themes and ideas, his response is 'Horror, horror and horror. Jesus, why are you so hard to work this?!'

That's what Stranger Things feels like. It is a horror show, about horror, and horror things happen. Because of horror.

 

[Kae]

It's more of a what if a single tv show was every 80s movie ever than Silent Hill, I mean that is not to say it doesn't have some influence from Silent Hill but it has very little in common with it, in fact besides the alternate evil dimension it doesn't really have anything in common with it, it's more like a cheesy Horror movie than a thoughtful Psychological thriller, I mean the thing wears it's Evil Dead, E.T., The Thing, Alien, Twin Peaks and many other influences on its sleeve so really not at all, I mean even Will who was trapped in the alternate dimension for a week I think did not seem to experience any of the psychological torment of Silent Hill, not saying that being alone with a monster in an evil dimension isn't terrifying but it's not the same kind of horror.

 

[bartholen_v1legacy]

I haven't even played Silent Hill, and I'd still say no. It's more like a spinoff season of X-Files with kids and a continuing storyline instead of a monster of the week structure. It's a rather typical americana mystery with clear cut good guys and bad guys, dark secrets and coverups, but not a fundamental warpedness which I've understood to be Silent Hill's forte.

That said, I enjoyed the show quite a bit. It loses steam after the first 3 episodes, but considering it could have gone full on Lost on us so easily I'll take it. The crafting of mystery and suspense was borderline masterful, and the child actors were the best I've seen since Game of Thrones' first two seasons. It did feel like a copypaste job of every iconic 80s movie in history though, complete with one dimensional bully and jock characters, but there were enough modern sensibilities in it to feel fresh enough.

 

[Chimpzy_v1legacy]

It did feel like a copypaste job of every iconic 80s movie in history though, complete with one dimensional bully and jock characters, but there were enough modern sensibilities in it to feel fresh enough.

The series is meant as a hommage to 80's pop culture, so I guess it's only to be expected that it uses a lot of those tropes and cliches, along with liberally borrowing from Spielberg, Stephen King, George Lucas and John Carpenter. To its credit, it does emulate that 80's style and feel pretty well.

 

[Scarim Coral]

I finally finish watching this today, I know I'm late to the party! I thought it was good, like it felt like how Super 8 was suppose to be. Yes I read other comment that it the twist or whatever was reveal too soon but whatever, I felt the creator intended that way (now every should have to keep the twist/ secret for long).

OT- Ok technically I don't know the Silent Hill franchise that well but does it stern from some witch girl power and the monster was a manifestion from a guy? Granted I don't know if that apply to all of the sequels. Anyway I don't really see that in Stranger Thing since the Upside Down was already there and not created by a girl? Well ok maybe Eleven may have created it when she came in contact with the monster?

Either way no, I don't really see the similarity with Silent Hill other than one or two things like there was only one monster and not several.

 

[Dizchu]

I loved Stranger Things but I don't really see the Silent Hill comparison beyond the aesthetics of the alternate world. Really what made Stranger Things good for me was the characters, specifically the children. Child actors aren't usually any good but Stranger Things really delivered on that front even if the writing was a bit cliche at times.

 

[RedDeadFred]

I guess it must get better. I watched the first episode and didn't really care for it. The Sheriff was the only character I liked.