New 'Silent Hill' Movie Being Developed By Christophe Gans

Christophe Gans's Silent Hill film adaptation isn't perfect, but it has some gnarly effects and an altogether great atmosphere. So the prospect of the filmmaker returning to that world is certainly worth paying attention to – and it seems like that's exactly what's happening. In a new interview, Gans says he's developing two different horror projects based on video games. One is a new Silent Hill movie, the other is based on Fatal Frame.

In an interview with French website Allocine (via Bloody Disgusting), filmmaker Christophe Gans dropped the news that he's developing a new Silent Hill movie along with Fatal Frame:

"I have two horror film projects with [producer] Victor Hadida," Gans told the site. "I am working on the adaptation of the video game Project Zero (known as Fatal Frame in the United States, editor's note). The film will take place in Japan. I especially don't want to uproot the game from its Japanese haunted house setting. And we're also working on a new Silent Hill."

Gans directed the 2006 Silent Hill movie, in which a woman ends up in a spooky town while looking for her missing adopted daughter. The movie mostly worked – although I think it had a few script problems. Whatever problems it had, however, were offset by some great make-up, costuming, and production design. The film's portrayal of Pyramid Head is ghastly in all the right ways.

Silent Hill was followed-up with an absolutely terrible sequel, 2012's Silent Hill: Revelation, which Gans did not direct. Having Gans return to the story is a good idea, and I like his additional comments: "The [Silent Hill] project will always be anchored in this atmosphere of a small American town, ravaged by Puritanism. I think it's time to make a new one."

I'm less familiar with Fatal Frame, but per Wikipedia, "The series is set in 1980s Japan, with each entry focusing on a location beset by hostile supernatural events. In each scenario, the characters involved in the present investigation use Camera Obscura, objects created by Dr. Kunihiko Asou that can capture and pacify spirits. The series draws on staple elements of Japanese horror, and is noted for its frequent use of female protagonists." Sounds good to me.

There was previously a Japanese live-action Fatal Frame movie directed by Mari Asato for Kadokawa Pictures released in 2014. A Hollywood take on Fatal Frame has been kicking around for almost twenty years, with even Steven Spielberg being attached at one point to help with the script. Obviously, that version never materialized.