Blood has sticking power at the Canadian box office, if Silent Hill’s track record is any indication. The horror movie, based on the popular video game of the same name, maintained its top spot among Canadian films at the domestic box office, taking in $406,000 on the May 5 weekend, according to its domestic distrib Odeon Films.

Despite negative reviews, Silent Hill expanded from 210 to 223 screens in its third week, scoring a $1,821 per-screen average.

According to U.S. studio estimates, Silent Hill was the number seven film in the States and Canada that weekend, taking in over US$3.9 million. Sony Pictures is the U.S. distributor.

Meanwhile, the hockey biopic The Rocket trailed Silent Hill over the April 28 to May 4 week, at second place with $167,203. Alliance Atlantis, the film’s distributor, could not provide figures for the May 5 weekend by press time.

Breaking back into the top five for that same week was C.R.A.Z.Y., the resilient, award-winning crowd-pleaser. At week number 45, the film was playing at six cinemas for another $4,115.

‘I think the Jutra and Genie Awards helped,’ says C.R.A.Z.Y. producer Pierre Even of Cirrus Productions, referring to its recent awards sweeps. Even notes that the film opened in France on May 3, selling 90,000 tickets in its first six days. ‘This film continues to deliver and we couldn’t be more excited about it.’

Notably absent from the list is Terry Gilliam’s Canadian-made Tideland, which Capri Films had slotted for a late April or early May release date. The film, which stars Jennifer Tilly and Jeff Bridges, is a surreal story about a young girl (Silent Hill’s Jodelle Ferland) who is abandoned in a dilapidated Prairie house by her parents. Capri Releasing general manager Robin Smith says the date has been bumped to August to synchronize with its U.S. date, after Tideland’s U.S. distribution was sold to ThinkFilm.

‘The critical reaction at TIFF was very abrasive,’ notes Smith. ‘But I think that Terry Gilliam has a very loyal following and I think this film will find an audience in the art-house setting. This is a very unusual film.’