Sure its psychological, but is that a good thing?

Rating: 8/10 (1 December 2004)

A possible spoiler in the text.
I'm more skeptical of this movie than some, although I do give an 8/10. Its sequel Hannibal reveals what interested Hollywood to begin with; a story about profoundly disturbed mind(s) that was a vehicle to unload nasty psycho segments onto a public thats been so desensitized it takes just that kind of imagery to get a horrified response. There's nothing new about that, and depending on the content I'm sometimes a willing victim. I'll give SotL credit for good acting and a good mystery that needs a solution, but they lost me when Claire most unprofessionally blunders into Bill's lair with no backup. Its a totally rookie move made to appear necessary by the fiction of the story. The peculiar relationship between Lechter and Starling is the most interesting part of the movie.