Fueled by it's atmosphere and great performances The Silence of the Lambs is a horror masterpiece

Rating: 9/10 (21 May 2014)

The Silence of the Lambs
Director: Jonathan Demme Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins
I honestly feel bad sometimes for the people faint of heart. Not in an insulting way I just do. I love movies that can scare me and some of the greatest are great because of creepy atmosphere that creeps up on you and grabs you and throws you into a world where everything is mysterious and scary. This is one of those movies. Dr. Clarice Starling's (Jodie Foster) tale of finding the killer Buffalo Bill with the aid of the cannibalistic Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) is a creepy, well acted, and not for the faint of heart film that has many thrills in store for the viewer. The greatest thing that this film has to offer is the atmosphere. It's engrossing. The dark hallways,and the unblinking eyes of Hannibal Lector shake you to your core. That alone without the well done mystery could make the movie. Oh, but it is a good mystery. Jodie Foster is Clarice Starling a new FBI psychiatrist who is ordered to interview the cannibal Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) for the purpose of finding a killer. Foster's character is optimistic and more upbeat. This is good because of the dark nature of the rest of the film. She's kind of like the balance for the creepy stuff happening, and light in the darkness. That also kind of help her character. See she's optimistic at first, but as time goes on she seems to fall deeper and deeper into this world her character changes to someone more hardened. This is perfect character development. Then there is Anthony Hopkins. This is one of my favorite performances of all time. He is unblinking,scary and smart. It's unsettling. Hopkins said that the way he played Hannibal Lecter was still. I now know why. See people are always moving and doing something. Lecter is completely still and extremely soft spoken. Even more menacing is that Lecter is actually smarter than Clarice. He outsmarts her. This just adds to the fact of how menacing he is. He's not the villain though. The real villain is a creepy transvestite murderer named Buffalo Bill. His story arch is interesting, but it comes to an abrupt close. He is scary none the less and is also a little weird. I mean a transvestite whoÂ… I'd rather not write it. It's messed up and the details will shock you. The actors really do drive the story and everything comes off very shocking and convincing. For better or worse.
The acting is really good,but so is everything else. The production design in this movie is grounded in reality,but still is creepy. The prison set that was built for the film looks very good and the darkness of the whole this adds to the atmosphere and makes everything pop. The camera-work is good, but also nothing special, yet at moments the camera having a staring contest with the wide eyes of Hannibal Lecter add to the sheer unsettling nature of the film.
This is overall an incredible movie. Scary, atmospheric, and chalk full of performances that are Oscar worthy (and won Oscars). I give The Silence of the Lambs a 9.8 out of 10 Seriously though it's really messed up.