The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Review

The Silence of the Lambs is directed by Jonathan Demme and stars Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins. The film is about a young FBI trainee (Clarice Starling) trying to hunt down a serial killer known only by Buffalo Bill, with the help of a imprisoned cannibal psychopath by the name of Hannibal Lector, what follows is an intense manhunt for the murderer before he can kill again, in the process Clarice deals with psychological tournament from the locked up Hannibal. The film was made on a $19 million budget and grossed $272.4 million worldwide.

This is probably the best film in my horror marathon I’ve seen so far, don’t get me wrong I love over the top splatter flicks I can sit back and enjoy but Silence of the Lambs wasn’t easy to watch. This film reminded me of a scene from a film, I can’t remember what film it was from or if it was from a movie at all, but it basically showed small lumps crawling under the skin of someone’s arm, he slices his wrists and hundreds of insects scuttled out. The Silence of the Lambs reminded me of that because that’s what it does, it’s a horrible, disgusting creature that gets under your skin and doesn’t scare you with jump scares or the supernatural but with very real and psychological horrors. I’m not the easiest guy to scare and I didn’t particularly loose sleep from this film either but it did unnerve me to know that these people can exist and have existed in the past, it’s realistic and gritty tone just added to the uneasy feel.

The aesthetics of the film also impressed me, it was nice to see more unique camerawork after seeing a lot of bland cinematography in the films I have been watching lately, some shots were beautifully crafted and the way scenes were shot added to the story and the tone they were setting. The use of extreme close-ups got you up close and personal with these people, weather good guys or deranged psychopaths you didn’t feel like the distant spectator but someone trapped in the middle of all these people and events. The gore also creeps you out, when you’re watching something gory like Braindead or a regular zombie flick you know its fantasy and the gore looses it effect, but when you’re thrust into this ultra realistic world with fantastic gore and makeup it is very unnerving and at some points disgusting. The grotty sets and locations mixed with rotting bodies really shook you.

With such a intelligent and excellent script with very natural and realistic dialogue you can’t help but think it’s real, the scenes with Hannibal Lector where spectacularly written and he made a very threatening and creepy villain, even when he’s caged you don’t feel safe and that’s what I love about the character, he’s always so calm and in control even in a secure asylum he feels like a massive danger, so when he gets loose things get very suspenseful. Hannibal wasn’t the only great character even though he does stand out; Clarice was a fantastic heroin you connect with immediately so when she gets into danger the film gets very tense. At one point the story takes a huge twist and you know right from the moment it happens things are about to get serious and I legitimately shot up and shouted “OH SHIT”.

That being said, the rest of the cast was pretty weak, while Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins delivered groundbreaking performances everyone else seemed “meh” in comparison. You didn’t care about them and when they were on screen you just felt bored until the main characters showed back up again, this doesn’t happen often as most of the screen time is dominated by Clarice and Hannibal but it would have been nice to have liked the smaller characters a bit more.

In conclusion The Silence of the Lambs is a white knuckled, nail biting psychological thriller that gets under your skin and stays there long after the film has finished, with brilliant performances and an amazing script accompanied by a creepy, gritty and realistic atmosphere (and a great score by Howard Shore). I don’t recommend that you see this film I demand you see it; it’s probably one of the best horror films I’ve seen in a very long time. It psychologically tortures you and I love it.

9/10