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This is actually a hard movie for me to review. I remember as a kid walking through a movie theater and seeing a poster for it - the moth over Jodie Foster’s mouth, very distinctive. I had heard about it, of course, knew there was a lot of talk about it. Being 10, my parents wouldn’t let me see it. About 5 years later I had the opportunity to see it at a friend’s house during a sleepover. It was so boring I fell asleep within 30 minutes. Not a very good horror movie, in my opinion. No monsters, no gore, no scary killings.

Time passed, as it is wont to do, and eventually Hannibal came out. I saw it in theaters, and loved it! Anthony Hopkins was the perfect cold-blood psychotic cannibal - how could this movie be so good, when Silence of the Lambs was so bad? I decided I had to re-watch the first movie, give it a second chance. So I did, and it rocked. Everyone in this movie does a terrific job: Jodie Foster as the gumshoe agent Clarice Starling, a woman in the male-dominated FBI; Scott Glenn as her tough boss, Jack Crawford; Anthony Heald owns Dr. Frederick Chilton, the sadistic but controlled doctor running the asylum; Ted Levine, Jame 'Buffalo Bill' Gumb, a wanna-be couturier with a penchant for flesh and large women. Most of all, though, it’s Anthony Hopkins who drives the movie. Never has an actor so seamlessly transitioned from seeming so normal, to completely psychotic, and back to normal again.

Okay, plot summary time. Clarice Starling is assigned to interview cannibalistic-serial killer Hannibal Lector, confined in an asylum for the rest of his life, in the hope that he can help them catch ‘Buffalo Bill’, another serial killer who recently kidnapped that daughter of a US senator. Although completely insane, Hannibal is quite lucid, incredibly smart, and a former psychologist to-boot, so he’s very good at getting in to your head. He agrees to help Clarice figure out who ‘Buffalo Bill’, but he wants something in return, a little ‘quid pro quo’. So the more than Clarice discovers about ol’ Bill, the more Lector learns about Clarice. I won’t ruin the movie, in case you haven’t seen it, but someone gets shot, someone gets soothing lotion rubbed on their skin, and someone loses their face.

A lot of the credit for Silence of the Lambs has to go to director Jonathan Demme. Ultimately, it’s the director’s film - his cast, his composer, his editor - so the success lies at his feet. That being said, this film wouldn’t be what it is with out many fabulous performances, a great score by the inimitable Howard Shore, or the great source material, Thomas Harris’ novel. Although nothing fancy, the sets help completely immerse you in the movie. Lector's cell especially - no bars, just bullet-proof glass, so that no one's great performance is hidden at any point. Definitely a quality production all around, and movie you have to see.

Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, Ted Levine, Frankie Faison

Directed: Jonathan Demme

Released: 1991

Time: 118m/ 1 hour and 58 min.