The Strange Connection Between 'Silent Hill' and 'Kindergarten Cop' You Never Noticed And Can't Unsee

Aside from both being products of the 90s, many people wouldn't be able to draw a connection between Kindergarten Cop and Silent Hill.

At the beginning of the decade, Kindergarten Cop was a hit comedy staring Arnold Schwarzenegger.

Towards the end of the decade came Silent Hill, which became a best-selling survival horror game that sent shivers down the spines of everyone that owned a PlayStation.

As pop culture goes, these two appear to be like oil and water. But some eagle-eyed fans have noticed a strange hidden link between the creepy video game and the silly family comedy.

So let's take a look and find the connection ourselves.

In Silent Hill, you have control over Harry Mason, a father who is searching for his daughter, Cheryl in the deserted town of Silent Hill. If you remember, the things Mason uncovers are not only strange, but also gruesome.

Early in the game, Harry finds a school, Midwich Elementary School, which may spark a hint of deja vu for '90s kids with a good memory.

Further clues present itself when you venture inside of the school.

Along with the creepy grey children you encounter, you'll notice that the walls are covered with various posters.

These same posters, including the distinctive one with the dog on it, also covered the halls of the school in Kindergarten Cop.

Further into your investigation you'll eventually come across a medicine cabinet that is clearly like the one from the movie.

Finally, you will come across a yellow school bus that looks remarkable similar to the one in the movie, even though it has seen better days.

So are these just a coincidence?

While the references may seem subtle to many players, the links cannot be mistaken. So when rumors first came out in 2012 that Silent Hill could actually be a sequel to Kindergarten Cop , director of the game, Keiichiro Toyama spoke out.

Admitting that he set out to make a game that was infused with both influences from some of his favorite American films and TV shows.

“What I am a fan of is occult stuff and UFO stories and so on; that and I had watched a lot of David Lynch films," he told Polygon in 2013. "So it was really a matter of me taking what was on my shelves and taking the more horror-oriented aspects of what I found.”

While Kindergarten Cop may be the most bizarre movie reference in the game, it's not the only one.

Elsewhere you can spot a newspaper headline which references The Silence Of The Lambs, and nods to movies including The Shining, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, Psycho, and 12 Monkeys.

The town's street names are also named after respected sci-fi and horror writers including, Robert Bloch, Dean Koontz, Ray Bradbury and Richard Matheson.

While Kindergarten Cop seems like a strange and unexpected reference in the movie, it gave developers an ordinary American school to build their game on.

Did you pick up on the references? It's probably time to replay the game after knowing this!

Inspiration: Mental Floss / Silent Hill Forum