Legend

Rating: 10/10 (21 August 2009)

Before 1991 horror movies were less about psychology and more about the actual killing and monsters. The Silence of the Lambs changed the genre.
The story starts with our main hero, Clarice Staling (Jodie Foster), a novice FBI enforcer, being sent by her boss to an asylum, where she must talk to one of the most ruthless serial killers – Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins). His alternate name, "Hannibal the Cannibal", sums up why he is so notorious. Dr. Lecter apparently has some information regarding Buffalo Bill, another serial killer, who gained his name because of his sick "tradition" of skinning his victims, all women, and who, unlike Hannibal, is on the loose. Clarice must find out where Bill is and stop him.
Jodie Foster is great as Clarice, playing the role of an average woman, who has wanted justice since she was little, when her father was killed by two thugs.
But the forte point of the movie is Anthony Hopkins, who won an Oscar for the role, the shortest Oscar-winning performance in cinema history. He's screen time is about 20 minutes, but the impression is beyond powerful. He managed to show both sides of Hanibal Lecter – the gentle, calm and yet diabolical Hannibal and the monster.
Ted Levine, who played Buffalo Bill, never got the same reputation that Foster and Hopkins got, despite giving life to a twisted freak.
The movie is part horror, part psychological thriller. Clarice is trying to do the impossible, while the clock is tickingThe Silence of the Lambs is an absolute masterpiece, recommended to all cinema fans.
Final Score: 5/5 or 10/10