You Will be Led Into This Hypnotic Thriller Like 'Lambs' to the Slaughter!

Rating: 10/10 (31 March 2015)

Jonathan Demme's hypnotic adaptation The Silence of The Lambs, has a solemnity that's been entirely lacking in horror movies lately. Demme's film is frightening on both visceral and intellectual levels, inviting favorable comparison with unnerving classics of the genre. Ingénue FBI agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is sent to interview, the profoundly mad yet seemingly sane psychiatrist Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) to prise clues about another serial killer dubbed 'Buffalo Bill', who has left a rash of unsavory murders along his trail. The killer is abducting corpulent young women, then mutilating them and dumping their bodies. Clarice summons all her courage to face the sadistic shrink, but Lecter has a commanding presence. Relishing the superiority of his intellect, he instantly recognizes her true vulnerability, watching with a self-satisfied smirk as Clarice struggles to maintain her professional composure. Still, there's a glimmer of admiration as Lecter examines Clarice with his penetrating eyes. He offers to help catch the serial killer (who is now holding the daughter of a U.S. senator hostage) but to learn what he knows, Clarice has to engage in his dangerous mind games. Forced to confront her own childhood fears, she hangs on like a terrier until he imparts a vital clue.
The Silence of the Lambs is a movie without unnecessary excess, with all its facets merging perfectly in the telling of the tale. Its ghastliness is more psychological than visual, but there is enough of both varieties to shake up almost anyone. It forces us to look at things we would rather not see but it continues to have a vise- like grip on us. But the true strength of the movie lies in its exploration of a place beyond physical revulsion - in the darkest corners of the souls of both the hunters and the hunted. Jonathan Demme exercises a great level of restraint in the midst of portraying madness, running the gamut of emotions while still capturing a clever wit and a searing intelligence. He implicates the audience, dragging us into a vicarious conspiracy with a murderer.
But no comment about this film is complete without a mention of the lead cast. Hopkin's Hannibal Lecter is a visual treat; a remarkably lucid portrait of lunacy. As the steely-eyed psychopath, Hopkins plays Lecter with such magisterial authority, that you can almost sense the actor relishing the part. What makes him more than your everyday villain is the piercing intelligence and irresistible charm he brings to the role. Jodie Foster imbues Clarice Starling with such humanity that one can't help but feel connected to her and her pain. It is a testament to her abilities that she holds her own against her scene-stealing co-star.
The Silence of the Lambs remains in our minds not only because it frightens, but because it probes and penetrates, tickling our minds while also making our hearts race. A powerfully compelling cinematic experience!