Silence of the Lambs

10/10

"If Catherine lives, will the lambs stop screaming?"- Hannibal Lecter...

In 1991, cinema history was changed forever with a film so disturbing, and so iconic that the horror genre got a whole different mold, and the name Hannibal Lecter became a household name. "Silence of the Lambs" is a movie based off the 1988 novel of the same name.  It has been lauded by both critics and audiences since right after its release, and is still known as one of the best movies ever. I personally love it too, for its unique portrayal of scares, it's realism, and the amazing cast. 

The movie begins at a training camp for the FBI, and we see Clarice Starling running in the woods. She is then brought aside by her leader, and is told that she has her first assignment; an interview with Hannibal Lecter. According to Crawford, Hannibal is a former psychiatrist that was out away in the asylum because of his cannibalism and insanity. The reason they need Clarice to try to talk to him is that he won't cooperate with anyone else. During the interview, Clarice begins to ask Hannibal about Buffalo Bill; a serial killer that takes the skin off of his female victims. He doesn't exactly take this well, and sends her off without letting her do the test she needed. The one thing that he does do to help is give her a lead to one of his old patients so she can talk to her. This beginning was quite brilliant, because the viewer really gets to know the characters somewhat, and it was very suspenseful. 

On the journey to find Moffatt, Clarice goes to an old storage facility that is allegedly hers. In this place, many strange objects are found, including mannequins, and an abandoned car. Much to her surprise, this person is fake, and the garage was rented by Hannibal. This was revealed when a head of a man in heavy makeup is seen. Hannibal tells her that this man was a patient of his, and a cross dresser. Benjamin had been murdered, but not by Hannibal. Lecter then offers a psychological examination of Buffalo Bill, on the condition that Clarice gets her moved. Times get desperate as more another murder took place, and they grant the offer to Hannibal. In the rest of the movie, the journey to catch Buffalo Bill heightens, as he strikes again with a woman. Will they be able to save her? Or will it be too late. 

"Silence of the Lambs" has a lot of amazing things about it, but the most striking quality in its favor was how gritty and realistic it was.  Every scene had this, and it made me feel like I was actually there. This worked very well, because it made me more engaged, and I cared for the characters more. One of the scenes(without giving away spoilers to a more important scene) that show this well is the autopsy. In it, you can almost smell the dead body because of how bad it reeked for the officers, and you can feel the pain and anguish that Clarice goes through as she analyzes what happened. The way that these scenes played with the sense was just brilliant, because it gave a whole dimension of viewing, and is why the movie is still considered one of the best ever. 

The next amazing part of the film(that won two Oscars) was the casting. To begin with, Jodie Foster gave a very strong and likable performance as Clarice. Watching her, you could tell that she had at least some connection to the character, because her emotions were on point, and she molded into a whole different person. She was a perfect person too, because she is tougher in real life, and that was the absolute essential for the character. Her Oscar was definitely deserved, because you could tell that she put every drop of sweat, blood, and tears into the portrayal. The other Academy Award winner was Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal. Hopkins did such a perfect job, because he really let himself become the psychopath, and he had the ability of going from a kind man to a complete monster. His delivery of lines was absolutely flawless too, as he gave a feeling of brilliance in every word. The last reason why he was awesome as the deathly look he could give with his eyes, because it was extremely terrifying, and has become a staple to the film's possibility since. One of the most underrated actors in the film for me was Ted Levine as Buffalo Bill. His performance as the killer was the scariest of the film, because he had such a mocking way about him to torture the souls of his victim. It was really neat how you could see Levine convey the pain that Bill had from his past abuse from others, especially in the scene where his dog "Precious" was injured. He really showed that this elevated the insanity even more, and it was heartbreaking to watch. Scott Glenn was pretty good in the role of Crawford, because he made sure that he gave a likable feel to the character, yet could also be stern too. I thought that Brooke Smith was pretty great as Catherine, because even though she was the victim, Smith made it hard to feel sympathy for her, because of her horrible personality. I thought this was a smart twist to the typical storyline, because even though we want her to live, no one truly loves the character. 

 Surprisingly, this film was barely violent at all(except two scenes with blood).  Regardless, this movie has different ways of being scary. The first is a true suspense of not knowing what is going to happen. Right up until the end, there is the potential of danger in every character's life, and it really does get freaky. The next thing is just simply the subject matter. Even though none of these things are shown on screen, the ideas of cannibalism, skinning, and insanity give a much tenser feel, and almost a smidgen of disgust. This wasn't my first viewing of the movie, and honestly it gets more intense every time. 

The climax was pretty amazing in my opinion, as time grew shorter for saving Catherine. Things become very high-octane, and the final result is not expectable at all. The best part of the last twenty minutes is the night-vision goggle scene, which like the closet part in "Halloween" has gone down in history as one of the best horror moments ever. The ending itself was shocking in its own way too, because it leaves the viewer with a very dark foreshadowing of the future. I thought that while it was simple, it was 100% appropriate for the storyline. 

Overall, "Silence of the Lambs" is one of the best movies I've ever seen. It is extremely intense, well acted, and masterfully made. It deserved every Oscar it got, and maybe even deserved more. Every fan of cinema needs to see this film, because it is one of the greatest installments in the psychological horror genre.