31 Days of Halloween – The Silence of the Lambs

While not a traditional horror film, I thought that The Silence of the Lambs definitely deserved a spot in our 31 Days of Halloween. No one can deny that there is a whole lot of creepiness in the movie, and some genuine terror in the climactic scenes with Buffalo Bill. Oh yeah, and there’s that little character who became one of the most terrifying in all of filmdom: Hannibal Lecter.

What I love about Lecter so much is that he is not your traditional murderer or psychopath. He’s not a supernatural creature out looking to kill teenagers. He’s not some crazy inbred trapping tourists in the countryside. No, no, Lecter is far from any of that. He’s a brilliant man, a man of refined tastes, and yes, a complete and utter nut job. If there is anything more terrifying than a cold blooded killer who wants to eat your corpse, it’s a cold blooded killer who wants to eat your corpse and is way, way smarter than you. Lecter is a classic movie villain and one of the best of all time. I think it says a lot that in a career as long, prestigious, and award-winning as Anthony Hopkins’, Lecter is his most well-known role, and the only one to bring him home an Oscar.

Oddly enough, though, he really isn’t the villain in The Silence of the Lambs. Not in the traditional sense, anyway. That honor goes to the skin-wearing, penis-tucking killer Buffalo Bill, played so well by Ted Levine. Once I realized that the benevolent police chief on Monk was played by Levine as well, I could never look at that character the same way. More of a generic mentally ill killer, Buffalo Bill brought his own brand of creepiness to the film. The climactic scene with Jodie Foster’s Clarice caught in the pitch dark with Bill stalking her, the camera switching to his point of view through night vision goggles, is one of the scariest I can remember watching. Watching the killer’s hands reach out to Clarice’s hair and face is enough to make anyone afraid of the dark.

Next time you want a good scare with a good amount of brains, pull out The Silence of the Lambs, a nice bottle of Chianti and have an old friend for dinner.

Clacked by Bob Degon
on Oct 24, 2011 @ 21:53 EST5EDT