Silence Of The Lambs
While many would agree that 80s horror was the absolute coolest type of that genre, as we moved into the 90s and the next big thing, along in 1991 came this almost instant classic, a film so profound that it managed to both reinvigorate and stifle the realm of horror throughout the rest of the decade, since while it stood to many people as a Masterpiece on the level of Psycho (and continues to appear on most respectable cinephilesâ lists as one of the all time greatest films), it spawned a long trend of ripoffs and derivative attempts to channel the cold, evil, clinical mindset of an intelligent serial killer into several lesser endeavors, while never coming close to the brilliance and verve displayed here. It did manage to become only the third (to this day) movie to win the âBig 5â Oscars (Picture, Actor, Actress, Director, and Screenplay), a feat only previously done by It Happened One Night and One Flew Over The Cuckooâs Nest. It also happens to stand as previously lightweight director Jonathan Demmeâs only undisputably great film, marked Jodie Fosterâs place as the greatest actress of her generation, and brought back Anthony Hopkins from the land of Character Acting Hell to being one of the top stars in the business. His Hannibal âThe Cannibalâ Lecter defined movie villains perhaps for all time, even if his part here is more of a showy peripheral role. Foster was never better than she was here as FBI Trainee Clarice Starling, seemingly beautiful and innocent but possessed of a steely will and determination (and whom for most of the movie endures a laundry list of every womanâs worst phobias, both socially and directly), sent by FBI Assistant Director Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn) to interview Lecter in his cell on the possibility of gaining some insight into the mind of a psychotic serial killer on the loose with the tendency to skin his victims post mortem as some sort of trophy for his collecton and who has earned the nickname âBuffalo Billâ. The centerpieces of the film of course are the interactions between Clarice and Lecter, and while Hopkins plays the character in a much more different, overt way than Brian Coxâs supremely subtle style in the prequel Manhunter (later remade with Hopkins as Red Dragon), his presence winds up being so overwhelming even with limited screen time that his evil, psychotic nature becomes almost addictive, making us want more even as the film ends. Not to mention the psychological aspects of their encounters, as Lecter teases knowing the possible true identity of Bill but will only tell more if Clarice agrees to open up more about her own personal traumas in life. This as many may know is what led to problems with the very dismal sequel Hannibal, which decided to run with the ball on the âromanceâ angle between the monstrous Lecter and the pure of heart Starling, and in doing so reportedly managed to sicken Foster when reading the first draft manuscript by Thomas Harris, so much so that she pulled out of the project and was replaced by a lost Julianne Moore, desperately trying and failing to recreate that chemistry with Hopkins in a film that wound up resembling a bad Herschell Gordon Lewis movie with a big budget. Watching Foster here, one could see her reasoning, as her Clarice at no time seems like someone drawn in any way to Lecterâs evil and charisma, and comes across more as someone whoâs frightened to death at the prospect of facing the Devil himself but is still willing to in order to do her job and solve the case, thus showing that in some cases an actor or actress might actually know their own character better than the original writer. The translation from book to screenplay by Ted Tally is impeccable, moreso because Harrisâ novel was one of those impossible to put down tomes which one could conceivably read in one night. And letâs not forget the ACTUAL villain of the movie in Buffalo Bill himself, played by Ted Levine in a daring, perversely uninhibited turn as a sicko wanna be transsexual who has kidnapped and is preparing to kill the daughter of a powerful U.S. Senator, with the scenes in his dungeon playing off as one maniacâs recreation of Hell. The irony is that the worst part may be the ending, as haunting and tantalizing as it is of whatâs to come, if only for the reason that the followup was such a dead on arrival squib. Overall, a film that defined horror for the next decade and showed a human villain with super intelligent, cunning tendencies, which turned out to be quite a change from the semi-supernatural bad guys like Freddy, Jason, and MichaelâŚ
10/10