#1 Thriller of our Time!!!

Rating: 9/10 (27 January 2006)

There should be no questioning why Sir Anthony Hopkins & Jodie Foster won Oscars for their roles in Silence of the Lambs. Hopkins as Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter is terrifyingly superb portraying the fiendish & super-intellectual imprisoned psychiatrist. Hopkins speaks eerily, never blinks, & commands fear from all those near him. Foster as FBI trainee & former farm orphan Clarice Starling gives a very convincing naive, wide-eyed, & reluctantly courageous young woman faced with finding a sadistic "Buffalo Bill" serial killer & getting to know the infamous Dr. Lecter. Both actors make you believe in their characters & leave you further engrossed in the movie.
SOTL is the story of a manhunt for a serial killer dubbed "Buffalo Bill" because he skins his "humps" or victims. FBI trainee Starling is summoned by Behavioral Science Dept. guru agent Jack Crawford to make a visit to Baltimore Psych. Hospital & talk to its most famous patient, Dr. Hanibal Lecter. Starling is briefed on the physical procedures used with Lecter by conceited & aloof hospital director Dr. Frederick Chilton, who Lecter despises. After a brief encounter with Lecter, Starling uses the doctor's clues to find a patient of his, also a victim of the serial killer. The decapitated head is that of Benjamin Raspell, who Lecter knows intimately. Lecter gives Starling clues to catching the killer as long as she provides him with very personal information about herself. Starling is warned about Lecter's devious ways but decides to cooperate with him to get more clues. After more victims & a U.S. senator's daughter kidnapped by Buffalo Bill, Starling is on a race against time to save her from certain doom. Starling goes to W. Virginia with Crawford to examine the body of one of Bill's latest victims. Starling discovers a object forced into the girl's throat which happens to be a moth, scientifically known as the Death's Head Moth. After Starling & two entomologists index and identify the pupa, she discovers the moth is a grisly calling card. Starling also finds the same moth pupa in the head of Benjamin Raspell, a former patient of Lecter & lover of Buffalo Bill. With Crawford leading the way & Lecter agreeing to guide her for favors, Starling follows the trail to Memphis, TN., where she meets the Cannibal on last time to pick his remarkable brain for clues. Lecter makes a deal with Memphis authorities & Senator Ruth Martin to assist in identifying Buffalo Bill in exchange for access to books, etc. & an annual trip to Plum Island for a short retreat under S.W.A.T. team surveillance. Starling speaks with Lecter shortly as she is escorted to a plane back home by Chilton & Memphis police. Lecter makes his move by ordering a 2nd meal consisting of extra rare lamb chops in Starling's honor. Lecter upchucks a small metal object behind a screen in order to free himself of handcuffs used by police to enter his make-shift cell. Of course, Lecter escapes confinement by trickery, kills the policemen guarding him, & makes his way out of trouble posing as a wounded cop.
Starling stumbles upon a surprised Bill at his home who must either run from or kill the young trainee. Starling prevails by killing Bill, saving the Governor's daughter, & graduates from Quantico at the delight of Agent Crawford. Lecter, now on the loose & following his nemesis Dr. Chilton, licks his chops at the notion of "having an old friend for dinner". Lecter slyly walks the streets abroad to surprise Chilton with his usual "calm sociopathic demeanor."
SOTL will scare you, surprise you, & make you remember Hannibal Lecter for days to come. If you like a thriller with "bite", this film will give you your fill in spades. Superb nail biter that will have you on the edge of your seat from start to finish. A must see!!!