Review – The Silence of the Lambs

This is a much more serious treatment of Thomas Harris’ Hannibal Lecter character than we got from Manhunter. Sure, Anthony Hopkins eats more than his share of the scenery as the good doctor, but he still gives the audience a couple of chilling moments. This film was immensely popular when it came out, and it even managed to garner a few Oscars, rare for a movie this close to the horror genre. Of course that’s got to be at least in part because it’s rare to see Hollywood devote this big a budget to a movie about psycho-killers. As a result, you get some stuff in this one (ranging from decent performances to decent film stock) that most other slasher flicks lack. But when you get right down to it, this is still Texas Chainsaw Massacre at heart (in fact, both films were inspired at least in part by the same set of crimes committed by famed Wisconsin cannibal Ed Gein). Worth seeing