I definitely enjoyed it, but did not love it

Rating: 7/10 (3 December 2012)

I'm definitely a fan of horror films and films of most types and I certainly love movies such as the Shining and I thought that this film would greatly entertain me as Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal is like the Jack Nicholson as Jack Torrence.
I must say the film is definitely very good, but I cannot quite understand why its regarded as so good. It definitely was a good mystery film and the acting by Anthony Hopkins was breathtaking and it pretty much kept the whole movie going nicely. Judie Foster was also brilliant in this film and these two are the stand outs.
However, what I like about this film is that there are two completely different villains in the film and of course Hannibal stands out!
The score by Howard Shore is great, as usual and the cinematography and special effects are great for a 1991 film.
***SPOILERS*** The scene where Hannibal is served dinner in his cell and he kills the two officers was absolutely awesome and to me, that was the moment of the movie. When we see the "dying" police officer inside the ambulance and he stands up and removes his face and it turns out to be Hannibal, that was the other standout of the film.
The end of the film with Hannibal Lector calling Clarice and saying that he has an old friend to catch up with, whilst following Dr Chilton was a great and suspenseful ending to the film as the mainly focused villain throughout the movie was Buffalo Bill. This ending pretty much reminded us that Hannibal was also a bad guy.
***END OF SPOILERS***
I, however wish that instead of Buffalo Bill being the main villain, it was Hannibal as the film would've been more entertaining and suspenseful that way.
Overall, I certainly enjoyed the film but cannot understand why this film is so highly praised and has won 5 Oscars.