I read the book first then saw the film

Rating: 10/10 (26 February 2001)

Silence of the Lambs is one film that outdoes the source material, in this case the novel by Thomas Harris. What is really interesting are some neat camera tricks. Demme shows us shots from night vision goggles, something I believe was copied by Jurassic Park and The Watcher.. When Starling and Lecter are doing the quid pro quo banter, we are looking at Clarice but we can see Lecter in the glass separating them.
Catherine's POV from the hole is unique, we see what she sees when Jame is staring down at her. Extreme closeups of Lecter and Starling in Tennessee when discussing her childhood and the slaughter of the lambs.
Other things I found different from other suspense/horror films: Usually you don't have 2 villains, and of those that do, usually the 2nd villain doesn't help the good guys... Nothing really jumps out at you, did The Sixth Sense take off from that?
I love this movie and I am truly excited about the sequel, Hannibal. I didn't like the novel but what the hell, I heard they changed the ending some so perhaps it won't be that bad.
4 out of 4 stars, highly recommended.
A.J.