One of the all time definitive serial killer movies

Rating: 10/10 (11 May 2015)

The Silence of the Lambs surprised everybody by winning all five major Oscars and being only the third film, as well as the last, to achieve this. I say 'surprised' not because it was an unworthy winner, quite the contrary, but because it is only once in a blue moon when the Academy acknowledges any R rated film with any awards such as these.
Based pretty closely on the riveting Thomas Harris novel of the same name, this was the second film to feature his character Hannibal Lecter, the first being the Michael Mann thriller Manhunter (1986). Both movies take differing approaches to their broadly similar material but where the earlier film is almost clinically stylised, Lambs is a little more horror-oriented. This extends to Anthony Hopkins performance of refined malevolence as Lecter, which was one that would propel him to super-stardom. From his first appearance in a cell that looks not unlike a medieval dungeon, Hopkins is in his element playing this extremely interesting character in such a way as to maximise all possibilities. He really steals every scene he is in and this is no disrespect to Jodie Foster who is the definite lead, she also puts in an extremely good turn overall but this will always primarily be remembered as being Hopkins movie. That said, much of the overall credit has to go to director Jonathan Demme for putting together a masterfully paced and edited film, while remaining very faithful to the source novel.
The story has a top FBI student Clarice Starling assigned to a special case where she is to interview incarcerated cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter as a way to help identify another murderer at large known as Buffalo Bill. In doing so she is forced to let Lecter into her mind, with all the inherent psychological dangers that presents.
The Silence of the Lambs remains a very effective thriller that focuses its attention mostly on the psychological, yet is memorably visceral on occasion too. It's pretty intense in places, with all of the scenes involving Buffalo Bill being extremely creepy indeed. But it's also the various details of the investigation that make a huge impact. Layer upon layer of dark intrigue is slowly and expertly revealed to ultimately construct a dark masterpiece. What gives it its extra level of greatness of course is the script and performances. All-in-all, a justifiably revered and iconic film that still packs a punch.