Return to Silent Hill Director Eyes the Sequel — But Is He the Right Choice?

Two decades after first dragging us into that fog, Christophe Gans is back with Return to Silent Hill. The new movie leans on Silent Hill 2 for inspiration, the reviews are rough, and Gans already wants another go. That about sums up the vibe.

Gans is ready for another round

Even with the lukewarm response, Gans told Variety he would gladly return to the town yet again.

'If I have the opportunity, we will come back to Silent Hill once more.'

He is not treating Silent Hill as just a famous game; he talks about it like modern art: edgy, experimental, and full of chapters worth adapting. He says the next one he would choose would be very different from his 2006 film and from Return to Silent Hill. He likes living in that world, and, in his words, he feels plenty of people think he is doing a pretty good job.

The pressure cooker of adapting a classic

Gans is blunt about how nasty it got last time. When he made the 2006 movie, he says he received death threats from fans warning him they would find him if he messed it up. He approached that film with a heavy sense of responsibility, and even more so with this new one. At the same time, he wanted a version that would work for people who do not play the games, not just the faithful.

So how is Return to Silent Hill actually landing?

• It is a new Gans installment loosely based on Silent Hill 2.
• As of now, Rotten Tomatoes has it at 17% with a 29% audience Popcorn score.
• The 2006 original was not a critics' favorite either, but it has aged into a cult pick.
• Critic Tyler Nichols, a big fan of the 2006 film, enjoyed parts of Return but thought it was cornier and cheaper than he hoped, with some hammy acting and stretches that feel like you are literally playing a game.
• He stayed invested in James' journey, felt it is better than Revelation, but still short of the 2006 movie.
• He called the messaging pretty dark and was not convinced it all comes together, even if the ride itself worked for him.

Where this leaves a sequel

The scores are bruising, but Gans clearly sees Silent Hill as a playground for different tones and ideas. If he does get another shot and shifts to a fresh chapter from the games, there is a path to try something genuinely different. And while numbers are numbers, Silent Hill has a history of being shrugged off at first and finding its people later. Not saying it will happen again, just that it has happened before.