(Note: This is in NO way meant to direct or incite negativity against the 2006 Silent Hill movie or Christophe Ganz. I intend nothing more or less than to address a widespread misconception about the games that originated from this film's development and release)
As a longtime series fan, it is disappointing to me how so many in recent generations have been deceived into believing and perpetuating this particularly popular misinformation.
Apart from being historically inaccurate, it misrepresents and undermines the legacy of time, research, and creative effort Team Silent put into designing these games and the town. Countless videos, reviews, blogs, articles, and conversations I myself have been involved in continue to spread this myth, which has affected younger fans' perception of the games. While I certainly can never hope to eliminate all misunderstandings surrounding this franchise, I can at least make an effort to educate whomever reads this. With all that in mind, here is the truth behind this myth. Feedback's welcome:
Centralia did NOT inspire the town in the original Japanese games created by Team Silent.
That place and its history were French director, producer and screenwriter Christophe Ganz's cited inspiration for the 2006 live-action Silent Hill movie adaptation, some details of which were then used for reference in future games by Western developers. This would not take place until after Konami disbanded Team Silent, following the release of their final series entry Silent Hill 4: The Room in 2004.
The three biggest elements taken from the movie were featured in 2008's Silent Hill: Homecoming, specifically: A) The nightmare world transformation, B) The live-action nurses' designs, and C) The rising smoke & ash from the underground fire. When it comes to the original four titles developed by Team Silent, however, former members of the group have commented multiple times in interviews which have been public record for years that the town itself was NOT based on any real world location.
As any dedicated reader who's combed through these interviews will tell you, there is no credible evidence to confirm or imply any Team Silent member taking influence from Centralia, nor any documented mention of the town's name by a Team Silent member prior to the Silent Hill film's release in 2006. In fact, two specific interviews and a tweet referenced below establish the opposite.
**Quoted from a March, 1999 PSM i
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In Colt 45 can coffins
Lets wipe our noses on the neighbors lawn
Crackerjack on ice
Sold by the beauty pagent bygones
Left our cousin at the mall
To ride the eminent domain
We'd gone insane
We met a man from Couberg
Drove the windmill train along the shore
Said "son don't count our headaches"
Then lit up his daughter's guarantor
Took her to the Drive-In
She was chewing tar
Eased the seat back in our car
Track and field is buried under
Art school daydreams in geography
Its covered like affairs
In second guessed autobiographies
Cool off every evening
And fill the pool
With diesel engine fuel
Head down returning bottles
They caught us on CCTV
Walk home empty handed
As bulbs grow on the willow trees
We're absolute beginners
Or the pills don't work
I guess we'll see
When we were kids, my parents would take us on day trips to Centralia. It's a little town in central Pennsylvania. It'd be just like any of the dozens of other secluded towns in central PA except for the fact that it's mostly abandoned. Some kind of underground fire that forced everyone to flee.
Mostly everyone anyway. If all of this sounds kind of familiar, it's because they made a movie about it a few years ago. Well it was a movie based on a video game, but for the film's script, they took elements from Centralia's history.
I bring this up because the success of the film turned the town into sort of a tourist trap, though the locals certainly don't think so. One glance at their Facebook page and you'll see dozens of complaints and angry rants focused on the usual "teens and hooligans" that keep trespassing, looking for a thrill. I guess I can't say I blame them.
Like I said, my parents used to take our sister and I there from time to time. This was before the film came out, so the place was just an interesting, mostly empty footnote in PA's history. My parents found it peaceful I think. They'd tell us to explore to our heart's content for an hour or two while they went looking for some alone time. We'd do our thing, though we always left in a total hurry. Weird, sure, but as a kid I didn't think much of it.
Anyway, I hadn't thought about the place in a long time. That is until a few years ago, the guy who wrote the movie came to my film school in Pitt. Nice enough guy, though he was involved in a fatal hit and run that landed him in prison. Part of a lessened senten
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