I’m going to have to agree somewhat with 55, though I have to call him out on one thing. Vatra did not make any other Silent Hill title, the only one they have and are working on is Downpour. First three games were made by Team Silent. Homecoming was made by Double Helix, Shattered Memories and Origins were made by Climax Studios. Vatra didn’t come in to this until recently. So countering his argument, yes they were made by the Japanese.

However, I will agree with him for the fact that psychological horror is NOT exclusive to the Japanese.

In fact, many of the inspirational works for Silent Hill come from American movies, books and comics, Jacob’s Ladder being the most prominent.. Many things were borrowed from that [The next post I'll post will tell exactly how.]

Others include The Exorcist III, Event Horizon, Alice, The Cell, and Nightmare on Elm Street. [Other examples of not just inspirational movies but books and comics as well can be found here: http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Inspirational_works_of_Silent_Hill It also gives reasons as to how they are related]

The film has many settings in common with Silent Hill, such as the hospital and subway. In the first game, Harry Mason dies and everything was just a hallucination in the “bad ending.” In the second game, James Sunderland shares the initials of Jacob Singer and his jacket is very similar to Jacob’s US Army jacket. In the third game, Heather Mason must find the Bergen Street platform. There is a scene of Jacob, strapped to a gurney, going down a nightmarish hospital hall that is reminiscent of the scene in which James is wheeled through a hall on a gurney in Brookhaven Hospital. In the texture files, the same poster Jacob Singer sees in the subway can be found. Among other things, the “twitch” that many monsters do with their heads, one example being Valtiel, was inspired by the film. The hospital scene in the movie depicts a bicycle’s wheel turning by itself, similar to a wheelchair seen in Brookhaven’s basement by Heather. A few moments later, a humanoid is seen in a sort of frame/box, which has also been seen in the series, such as the corpses in Pyramid Head’s lair in the Labyrinth, and around bosses such as Mary and Abstract Daddy.

I’m going to have to agree somewhat with 55, though I have to call him out on one thing. Vatra did not make any other Silent Hill title, the only one they have and are working on is Downpour. First three games were made by Team Silent. Homecoming was made by Double Helix, Shattered Memories and Origins were made by Climax Studios. Vatra didn’t come in to this until recently. So countering his argument, yes they were made by the Japanese.

However, I will agree with him for the fact that psychological horror is NOT exclusive to the Japanese.

In fact, many of the inspirational works for Silent Hill come from American movies, books and comics, Jacob’s Ladder being the most prominent.. Many things were borrowed from that [The next post I'll post will tell exactly how.]

Others include The Exorcist III, Event Horizon, Alice, The Cell, and Nightmare on Elm Street. [Other examples of not just inspirational movies but books and comics as well can be found here: http://silenthill.wikia.com/wiki/Inspirational_works_of_Silent_Hill It also gives reasons as to how they are related]

“I’m intrigued by Book of Memories, though I’ve not seen it yet. And good question on The Room — wonder why they didn’t include it.”

With the PS3 using the BluRay format it surely can’t be a storage space issue. Most certainly it was omitted as to sell it to us in the Silent Hill Collection Volume 2. It would be included with Shattered Memories, Silent Hill Origins, and maybe even the original Silent Hill from the PS ONE. I’m almost certain that’s what Konami will do with the Metal Gear Solid Collection being that the current collection if far from complete.

Also, the game was not developed by “American’s”, it was developed by Vatra in Brno, Czech Republic – a country with volumes of dark history that aided in the structuring of the game.

Now, I could be wrong, and Downpour might be a total POS, but I really believe the game and its developers are attempting at making a true to form Silent Hill game. I can’t wait to play it (especially on my PS 3D Display). We will only know once we see the final product.

Also, keep in mind that the main reason psychological horror isn’t so popular in film and other mediums is because studios won’t take million-dollar risks on a niche genre (especially after the 2011 dead-zone in film that theaters hit).