Playing a video game like “Silent Hill” in the dark is the equivalent of drinking a cement mixer for the first time — it’s a sure-fire way to mess you up.

Rose Da Silva — Radha Mitchell — is the adoptive mother of Sharon, a young girl who constantly speaks of a town called Silent Hill in her sleep. Against the wishes of her husband Chris Da Silva, played by Sean Bean Rose takes Sharon to Silent Hill, a desolate ghost town, only to be pulled into a foggy shadow world filled with twisted ghouls and cult-like psychos. Now, Rose must search for her missing daughter with the help of tough-as-nails policewoman Cybil Bennett — Laurie Holden.

Directed by Christophe Gans, “Silent Hill,” simply put, looks amazing. The monsters are something out of a Clive Barker nightmare. Gans effectively uses disjointed camera work to emphasize the decrypted and pained nature of the monsters’ lurking steps.

The acting is also right on cue with the characterization. A hallmark of the “Silent Hill” games is the every-person nature of the protagonists. Forget Milla Jovovich, as these characters are normal, vulnerable people without big guns, superpowers and insane martial arts skills.

Unfortunately, the film suffers the same flaw as Gans’ previous “Brotherhood of the Wolf” — it drags on and on. This is due somewhat to the shifting of antagonists, from the creepy demons that inhabit Silent Hill to a bunch of blabbering cultists. Bluntly put, these people just aren’t that interesting, save for one particularly ill-fated character. The gore of the movie is also a problem, because it’s all CGI. It’s so unrealistic that Gans seems unwilling to linger on the splatterfest, quickly turning away at inopportune moments.

Still, “Silent Hill” is the best video game yet. Haunting and melancholy, it will also stay with you through the night. You’ll never listen to the static of a radio the same way again.