Silent Hill: Revelation

Confusion and boredom reign in this belated sequel to the 2006 original, which was based on the popular video game. In this outing the now-grown girl from the first film (played here by Adelaide Clemens) is forced to return to the haunted title town after cult emissaries kidnap father Sean Bean. This is dismal stuff: convoluted jargon related to the game, hosts of deformed monsters, awkward cameos and endless exposition scenes fatally clog up what little narrative logic exists. Bog-standard horror clichés, ugly cinematography and shoddy CGI don't help either, as writer/director Michael J Bassett lurches from one predictable scare to another. The performances are vapid - not counting ever-reliable Malcolm McDowell, who hams it up as an asylum inmate - and the only revelation here is how little impression can be made by throwing so much at the screen.