Colin, also known as The Janitor, appears in the Silent Hill film. He was the janitor at Midwich Elementary School.

Once a pedophile who chose to act on his desires and sexually molested Alessa Gillespie when she was a child, traumatizing her extensively, he, like many others, was punished and became a tormented monster.

Background

In 1974, Colin was cleaning the bathroom at the school when Alessa Gillespie ran into the room to hide from bullying classmates. Aware that Alessa was hated by the townspeople of Silent Hill, Colin used the opportunity to rape her and left her crying and frightened.

Not long after, Alessa was burned alive by the town's cult, causing her to manifest psionic powers; although it is implied Alessa already possessed powers before her burning, her immolation likely amplified them. She used her powers to torture and kill Colin, leaving him strung up with barbed wire in the same stall in which he assaulted her.

After Alessa split her soul and created the Otherworld, the Janitor appeared in her world as an undead monster in the female restroom. Barbed wire is wrapped around his ankles, tying them behind his head and digging into his eyes, forcing him to crawl on his genitals. He flicks a blackened, dirty tongue and screams in pain as he drags himself along the floor, his agony doubtless a result of Alessa's desire to punish him. Everything he touches turns to decay, symbolic of a sexually transmitted disease. His decay summons Creepers.

Silent Hill

Before Rose Da Silva enters the Otherworld, she finds the corpse of the janitor in a stall with the message "DARE YOU DARE YOU DOUBLE DARE YOU" written on the wall and an arrow pointing to the janitor's open mouth. Rose reaches into his mouth and grabs half of a tablet with "-ND -OTEL" on it, hoping it is a clue to her missing daughter's whereabouts.

As she walks away, a siren sounds, and Rose is transported into the Otherworld, an alternate reality containing a corrupted version of the town eroded by Alessa's rage. Colin starts to move, and Rose runs from the bathroom before he can reach her. As Rose runs down the hallway outside the bathroom, Colin's screams of torment can still be heard.

Symbolism

The Janitor is a symbol of Alessa's memory of him after he sexually assaulted her. The janitor monster's appearance is specifically made to resemble someone whose body has been eroded by a venereal disease, and he has a blackened tongue that he flicks in a sexual manner. The barbed wire that ties his feet to his head forces him to crawl against his genitals at all times and makes any sort of sexual action impossible.^{[citation needed]}

Trivia

• He is portrayed by Roberto Campanella, who is also Red Pyramid.
• Director Christophe Gans got the idea for the janitor from a corpse found in the stall of the original Silent Hill.^{[citation needed]} However, while both Colin and the video game corpse are both found in Midwich Elementary School, Colin is located in the girl's washroom, and the video game corpse is in the boy's washroom.
  • The "DARE YOU DARE YOU DOUBLE DARE YOU" may be a reference to the Leonard Rhine message.
• The idea for the monster's tongue to stick out was Roberto's idea: he stated in the behind-the-scenes extra in Silent Hill that with his legs and arms tied, the only thing he could think of to create a conspicuously morbid, sexually grotesque aura for Colin was to flick his tongue about wildly and in a clearly suggestive manner.
• The janitor's legs were fake legs connected to Roberto's head, while his real legs were encased in neon green pants and later edited out of the film. They were called his "kermit pants".
• Akira Yamaoka personally approved of the design of the janitor and even asked Gans if he could use it for a future Silent Hill release. This may have served as the source of inspiration for Caliban in Silent Hill: Origins.
• Silent Hill: Revelation, the sequel to Silent Hill, originally contained a reference to Colin, in which Heather Mason sees a janitor mopping in the hallway at her school and notices that his badge says "Colin". However, this scene was not put in.
• The Janitor also appeared in two different Halloween-themed parks. He was in the Californian Welcome to Silent Hill Halloween maze, in which an actor crawled towards visitors in a room with a set up similar to that of Midwich School's bathroom. Colin later showed up in Halloween Horror Nights, a Silent Hill-themed haunted house, in which Colin was seen hanging in his bathroom stall. Instead of being played by an actor, this incarnation of Colin was a model strung up with fake barbed wire.

Gallery

Concept

Concept artwork.

Concept art showing the key in the Janitor's mouth.

Sketch of the Janitor.

Storyboard of the Janitor and the Creepers.

Poster.

Model used for Colin's corpse.

Model used for Colin's corpse.

Silent Hill (film)

Rose discovers Colin's corpse.

Colin's corpse in the stall.

Close-up of Colin's corpse in the stall.

Rose takes a clue from the mouth of Colin's corpse.

Colin comes alive in the Otherworld.

Colin rises.

Colin crawls forth.

Colin's hand infects a wall.

Colin screaming in pain.

Colin suffering.

Other

Colin at Halloween Horror Nights.

Colin at the Welcome to Silent Hill maze.

Colin at the Welcome to Silent Hill maze.

References