Hannibal the Cannibal

This post contains spoilers for the movie "The Silence of the Lambs."

It seems fitting, now that we are nearing the month of October and the holiday of Halloween, to begin to review horror movies. This week will be "The Silence of the Lambs." This one is, in my opinion, one of the most terrifying horror movies out there, but mostly because I am afraid of cannibals and being eaten. This movie was more of a psychological horror movie than a bloody thriller full of action. One of the villains plays mind games with his interrogator most of the movie, and there is only one or two truly bloody, horrifying scenes.

The movie begins with the investigation of the case of a serial killer called "Buffalo Bill," who targets larger women, skins them, and leaves them in ditches or streams. An FBI agent in training named Clarice is working on this case and she is assigned to speak with Dr. Hannibal Lecter, who is trained in psychology (or something similar to that) and has a brilliant mind. However, he was jailed for murdering and consuming the body parts of many people and is very insane. He ruffles Clarice's feathers as she continues investigating the case. After the daughter of a US senator is captured, Clarice receives Lecter's help on the condition that they move him to a different location. After Lecter is moved, though, he escapes after murdering a few of his guards. Clarice discovers the home of Buffalo Bill while other federal agents believe it to be somewhere else. She rescues the senator's daughter after killing Buffalo Bill in self-defense. At her graduation, she receives a phone call from Lecter asking her not to follow him, which she disagrees to because she knows she must. The film ends with Lecter walking off in a foreign, tropical country.

In the scene of the movie where Clarice first meets the incarcerated Hannibal Lecter, he is completely able to get under her skin and unsettle her. She remains unsettled by him, obviously, as he is a vicious murderer and known cannibal. However, he appears to be fascinated by her, a fascination that grows throughout the entire movie.

One scene in this movie is both psychologically frightening and very bloody. After Lecter murders his guards, he bites the skin off the face of one and puts it on his own face. He throws the body of the dead guard down an elevator shaft to throw off investigators and get into an ambulance to escape. While Lecter's plan was brilliant, it was also shocking and horrifying. The fact that people just kill in cold blood and then have no respect for their bodies is sickening.

Although this is just a film, this movie still makes a huge impact. It is a good psychological horror film with a good plot and great actors. If I were rating it, I would give it ten out of ten!