Synopsis:

Silent Hill: Restless Dreams was my first real big fan edit in terms of popularity. I did the original version from the Sony DVD about 15 years(!!) ago, and updated it a few years later with a 720p HD version that made a few changes but largely kept the edit as it originally was. After a very long hiatus (and many dozens of requests and compliments) I'm revisiting this edit to create my "Final Cut," hopefully in time for the release of Return to Silent Hill* later this year.

Intentions:

The major goal of the edit is the same as it's always been: keep the focus on Rose in Silent Hill, and cut/reduce Sean Bean's character as much as possible. I'm happy to report I was completely successful. Kim Coates as Thomas Gucci still appears for a few quick shots during the flashback. I had cut these out in the past, but decided to keep them here to aid the sequence. Lines that spoon-feed information to the audience (for example, "We need to go to room 111" in the hotel scene when they find a clue pointing them there) or that don't make sense (Rose asking Cybil if she's "heard a single word I've said" after getting handcuffed as at that point all she's said is that there's something weird going on) have been cut. I've made one addition that I've wanted to make for a while: the Shout!/Scream Factory edition (which I used as my base) included the original trailer in FHD that included a shot of Rose's car skidding through Alessa's ghost as seen in the opening of the original game. Up until now, I've never been able to locate a satisfactory version of the trailer to include this shot, and I'm happy to say it's here. This also serves as her "entrance" into the fog world of Silent Hill.

Change List:

Note: The cut list doesn't list every single scene with Christopher that I cut, but rest assured, he doesn't appear for even a single frame. - Added Fanedit warning and AFC bumper. - Changed the music in intro. - Cut Christopher looking at the Ghost Towns of America website and Rose driving. - Patched Music to cover cut. - Rearranged Cybil talking to Sharon and Rose in the diner to help flow. - Cut Rose's card declining and Christopher calling her. - Cut overhead shots of Rose driving. These are really nice shots and I hated to cut them, but it helped the overall flow of the sequence. - Inserted shot from trailer of Rose skidding through Alessa as a nod to the game. - Added Title card after Rose crashes. - Removed Rose saying "ashes" when she wipes the ash from her face. - Removed a couple shots of Rose finding the disemboweled miner to help the scene flow a bit better. - Cut Chris at the garage. Patched music to help flow. - Cut Rose asking Cybil if she's heard what she (Rose) has been saying. She hasn't said anything beyond "there's something weird going on" sooooo... - Cut Chris meeting Gucci at the roadblock and going to Silent Hill. - Cut Rose saying "Fuck you, you stupid cop." - Removed Cybil asking "what's going on?" when her radio starts freaking out. - Removed the long distance shot of Cybil raising her gun as this motion is repeated in the next shot. Also cut Rose telling her to shoot the lying figure. - Cut Cybil telling the lying figure to stay where it is and to stop approaching before it sprays acid. - Cut Chris and Gucci driving the streets of Silent Hill. - Cut the flash of students harassing Alessa when Rose opens the desk. - Cut Rose reading Alessa's name out loud off the book. - Cut Rose saying "it's happening again" when the siren goes off in the school. - Cut Colin screaming while Rose is running down the stairs and the extra shot of him in the bathroom. - Cut Rose watching the miners get swarmed and screaming. - Cut Rose running up to a dead end and screaming for help. - Cut Rose yelling "come on, come on!" before running down a catwalk. - Cut Chris searching the school with Gucci and the intercutting in the school as Rose flees from Pyramid Head. - Cut Rose screaming when she gets away from Pyramid Head. - Trimmed Rose getting the pipe to block the door for Cybil. She doesn't need to be urged and isn't as clumsy. - Cut Rose asking if "last mag" means they don't have a lot of bullets left. - Trimmed Pyramid Head's approach to the door. Cybil no longer asks if Rose hears that scraping (obviously she does) and Rose doesn't confirm "that's him" (unnecessary). - Trimmed Pyramid Head attacking the door twice. He stabs through once and starts swinging; when he reaches through the door he goes right for the pipe blocking it. - Removed Rose saying "It's here" when entering the hotel with Cybil. - Removed Rose and Cybil telling Anna they aren't going to hurt her. She wasn't concerned about that. - Cut to the hallway after Cybil says she found the drawing in the box for 111. - Cut the beginning of the hallway search, removed "we are wondering..." etc. - Cut "What is this place?" and following line. - Altered Anna's death. Now Pyramid Head rips off her skin as he pulls her dress off. The original version was very weird and borderline sexual assault-y. Now it's just murder-y. Moved a shot of Rose to smooth cut. - Cut Rose asking "who are you to judge?" when Christabella asks her about her faith. - Cut "...but I'm her mother..." from Rose. - Cut Cybil clarifying that an "innocent" is a child. - Cut "Rose, she's killing you" and following lines. - Cut "So this will actually work?" and following lines. - Cut Cybil saying "find her" as she pulls the brace out of the elevator door. Makes a bit of a jump cut but I'm okay with it. - Cut the shot of Rose standing in the elevator and screaming as the descent starts. This, to me, is a totally reasonable reason to scream your head off but it looks very silly. - Cut Cybil being beaten. - Removed all voice over exposition from the flashback scene, made cuts and trims and re-arranged shots as needed. - Cut Rose asking what "satisfaction" means and Alessa's clarification. - Cut Christabella gloating when she finds Sharon. She doesn't tell Dahlia "I knew you hid this child." This movie would have been a lot shorter if she knew that from the jump. - Cut "That child was sin incarnate" exchange. - Cut "...God is not here." - Tweaked Christabella's death so she doesn't appear to be ripped apart twice. - Cut the final phone call to Christoper. - New end credits using "Overdose Delusion" from Silent Hill 2.

Additional Notes:

Aspect Ratio: I've altered the AR/framing of the film ever so slightly. There are three reasons for this: There's a shot of Rose getting pulled over that the side of the frame is missing. It's not really a big deal, and would have been unnoticeable back on the SD and the first HD version as overscan on TVs and monitors was still a major thing. It's not any more, and I wanted to correct this defect. There are a couple moments where I have the picture fade to white (in line with the same or similar moments in the theatrical cut). This required doing cropping according to the letterboxes, and Vegas isn't precise precise. It's damned close, but I noticed it changing for these moments and I decided to keep the altered AR throughout to maintain consistency. Messing with the color (more on that below) also messes with the letterboxes. By working from a cropped image, the integrity of those remains intact. How much is changed? I haven't done an exact measurement, but it's still largely the same. Still scope, and probably no more than a 1-2% difference, not far off from official releases of other films. We're probably talking 2.34:1 as opposed to 2.35:1. Slight slight slight. Music: It's not really something that probably crossed a lot of people's minds, but in anticipation of the question, I'll answer it now. When the remake of Silent Hill 2 came out last year, Akira Yamaoka redid a lot of the OST, where it sounds different enough but largely the same. The film uses a lot of music from SH2, and while I have considered using the new instrumentals in a few parts, all the music is from original game soundtracks, not newer versions/re-orchestrations. Color: A change I made (that was not without a little controversy) between the SD and HD versions was the change in color/tint in certain scenes. The Fog World was tinted blue/cool, and the Otherworld was red/warm. The first time I did it, I kept the preset as it was in Vegas with no changes. I tweaked it this time, and did custom filters and adjusted saturation (black and white) and contrast, different settings for the fog world and Otherworld and the church (variations for the fog and Otherworld). The real world and the flashback sequence are unchanged. The real world is kept the same to establish a baseline (so to speak) and the flashback because it's already so filtered and processed that I didn't want to muck it up. Other changes: The biggest change I made was to the school sequence. In the theatrical cut, she spent most of the sequence running around and screaming. Some of this is justified, as some of what she sees is really horrifying. But then when the sequence ends, she's ready to pick up a machine gun that would be at home in Aliens to burn the town down to find Sharon. Her terror in this sequence has been greatly reduced (but not totally eliminated) so her change in attitude isn't quite so extreme. I've also made changes to the flashback. I removed all the voiceover and most of the audio. We don't hear Christabella talking near as much, and the lines that remain allude mostly to Alessa being assaulted by the janitor. I flipped some shots around so it appears as though Christabella pressures Dahlia into the ritual, and there is no mention of Alessa not having a father. I've done this before and I'm going to do it again: with all the scenes for Sean Bean and Kim Coates that I'm excising, I'm going to put together a short that follows Christopher and his search. They're not bad scenes, they just don't serve the main narrative and slow down the pacing some. I haven't really started working on this yet. The ending is going to be the same one that I did with the original HD/720p version: Rose and Sharon drive into the fog, fade out, end credits. It leaves it open enough for the sequel, but can be a definitive ending as well. Instead of rebuilding the opening sequence of the game, I opted for a simple "white text on a black background" approach to credits. Final (for now) thoughts: The release is 1080p with 5.1 surround and comes in at 15GB (give or take). I have no plans on upscaling to 4k or doing another version if/when an official 4k comes out. I'm not saying "never," more so "don't hold out for it." I may also revisit this if an unrated/extended cut ever gets released. Supposedly one exists somewhere, but I've been unable to find it. Also, before it's asked: re-doing my edit for the sequel to this film is not completely off the table, but it's not on the table at the moment either. *I may do an edit of the new film, but that of course depends on the film itself.

Other Sources:

Silent Hill 2 Original Game Soundtracks

Special Thanks:

Too many to list as this project has existed for a very long time now, but everyone who provided feedback and encouragement over the years. There have been a lot of kind words spoken/written about this project, and every single one has been meaningful.