Good, but hardly a classic

Rating: 7/10 (13 August 1999)

calling this the scariest movie ever made or one of the best is a bit much. What it is is a suspenseful, well acted thriller with a villain who is physically as well as verbally aggressive (kind of a rarity). It's also noteworthy for giving us a tough, but still vulnerable heroine (also a rarity). But I don't understand why people applaud his escape at the end; to me it's just as much of a cheat as so many horror movies where the killer is seen in the last frames. I also don't think Lecter is as scary as Scorpio in DIRTY HARRY or THE HITCHER's John Ryder. But as a horror fan, I was glad to see a lot of respect paid by the Academy to this.