Pastoral
Before Silent Hill F was announced, I have always had this itch to play a Silent Hill game based in Japan.
I mean, no hate, but I felt like an American/European themed game is... Well, it's literally the norm, as far as I know. Or maybe I just played too many of those games. So it would be interesting if there's more game that sets in other parts of the world. Like Asia.
Asia is, in my opinion, a gold mine when it comes to horror. Like if you want Islamic horror, go to Malaysia, if you want generic horror go to Indonesia, campy horror -1960s-1980s indonesia, if you want anthology, perhaps Philippines with their Shake Rattle and Roll franchise, ritualistic stuff like Thailand, if you want weird disturbing stuff, go to Japan, and if you want something to cry to, go to Korea.
With that said, learning about Team Silent's origins from japan, I always thought, why not Silent Hill but, Japanese?
Some might say, Fatal Frame! Yeah, but, I don't want to justify why I prefer a Japanese themed Silent Hill than uhm... Fatal Frame? Both great franchises, but I lean more towards SH than I am of FF. Plus, I prefer physical manifestation of your psyche than ghosts.
And this itch is further fueled by the existence of a movie than I can certainly, IN MY OPINION, a Japanese Silent Hill, and I want to share it here.
It's called Pastoral: To Die in The Country. And I can assure you, it is one of the weirdest/disturbing things I've watched. The soundtrack is a masterpiece. JA Seazer? Love his works. The set pieces? Glorious. The cinematography? Fabulous. The general feeling of disturbing? Hit that spot to be a silent hill-esque media. I mean, it's not horror. It doesn't have any monsters or-- maybe it does, I don't know, I remember a floating head or urn-- or something, language barrier. But still. It has its theme of loss, guilts, and desires, so on. And it sets in a rural town.
And returning back to the soundtrack, here are my lists, not in any particular order.
Hymn of Praise / Wasan
Patron Deity of Children
Hell Verse
A Bird's Spring Lament
I may be wrong, so I'm sorry in advance. Just bought Silent Hill F, saw a lot of hate and second guessed myself, but you know what? No. Played Resident Evil Requiem, good game, but forever loyal to Silent Hill.
Edit: Uh, also, MASSIVE TRIGGER WARNING, especially the ending. Just a heads up.
Edit #2: forget the ending, TW to the whole movie.