Movies You Gotta See: Is ‘The Silence of the Lambs’ the best serial killer film?

By Jalen Maki

“Well, Clarice? Have the lambs stopped screaming?”

I cannot imagine a scenario in which this is not one of the four or five most disturbing questions a human being could ask another. And, considering it was asked by a maniacal cannibalistic serial killer about a woman’s childhood trauma, it probably cracks the top three.

Before we dive into The Silence of the Lambs, Jonathan Demme’s incredible 1991 psychological horror thriller, I’d like to provide a proper Heads Up that this movie is pretty well-deserving of its R-rating. I’ll put it this way: you’re not going to find this one streaming on Disney+ any time soon.

Ok, here we go: Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is a bright and motivated FBI trainee who wants to eventually work in behavioral sciences – basically, the study of human behavior. Clarice’s boss, Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn), is looking for insight into a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), who has a growing body count and has evaded authorities. Crawford sends Clarice to interview Hannibal Lecter, formerly a respected psychiatrist who was incarcerated in an insane asylum for killing and eating people. Crawford hopes that Lecter can shed some light on Buffalo Bill’s psychology, which might lead to his arrest.

I’m gonna have to stop here for a second; the name “Hannibal Lecter” needs to be addressed. I mean, c’mon. What are the odds that a cannibal would happen to be named Hannibal? That’s like a guy who loves to set stuff on fire being named Larsonist.

Anyway, as you can imagine, the first encounter between Clarice and Lecter isn’t exactly like running into your old favorite elementary school teacher at the ice cream parlor. Lecter’s a big-time weirdo from the jump – but a clever big-time weirdo at that. He immediately sniffs out that Claire was sent by Crawford to see if he can offer some insight into the Buffalo Bill killings. Lecter refuses to take the questionnaire Claire brought, but the trip wasn’t a waste of time: Lecter tells Clarice to visit his former patient, Miss Hester Mofet.  

The first scene with Lecter is a perfect introduction to the character. In the span of just a few minutes, we learn that he is, indeed, Cuckoo for Cocoa Puffs. But he’s also brilliant, and perceptive, and oddly curious about Clarice on a personal level.

Claire begins digging into Lecter’s past. Since Lecter had destroyed or altered most of his patients’ records before he was caught and tossed into a grim basement prison cell, Clarice doesn’t find any proof that Mofet existed, but she’s able to piece together clues from her conversation with Lecter that lead her to a storage facility in Lecter’s old stomping grounds: Baltimore. In what might be the darkest and creepiest storage unit on Earth, she finds the usual stuff: dusty relics, some furniture, an old automobile, and a severed head in a jar.

Turns out, “Miss Hester Mofet” is an anagram for “miss the rest of me,” and the head belonged to Benjamin Raspail, an ex-patient of Lecter’s. But, Lecter didn’t kill Rapsail – or so he says. Lecter implies that Buffalo Bill did the deed and proposes a deal: he’ll help the FBI by profiling Bill in exchange for a transfer to another facility so he can get out of the orbit of Dr. Frederick Chilton (Anthony Heald), with whom Lecter has beef.

After one of his Bill’s victims is discovered in a West Virginia river, Crawford and Clarice head there, and on the way, Crawford explains that, for reasons unknown, Bill keeps his victims alive for three days before shooting and skinning them. Upon arrival, Clarice examines the body and discovers that a death’s head moth, native to Asia, had been placed in the girl’s throat. Meanwhile, Buffalo Bill abducts a young woman named Catherine Martin, the daughter of United States Senator Ruth Martin. With a sitting Senator’s daughter now suspected to be Buffalo Bill’s latest victim, pressure builds on the FBI to crack the case. Lecter and Clarice agree to a quid pro quo: Lecter will continue assisting with the case if Clarice provides information about her past. Shortly thereafter, Chilton reveals that the deal was just a gambit to get Lecter to play ball, and Lecter and Chilton strike their own deal, similarly involving Lecter aiding in the capture of Buffalo Bill and the safe return of Catherine. Once the agreement’s in place, Lecter’s flown to Memphis to meet with Senator Martin.

And that, folks, is where I’ll end the recap, because, simply put, the final hour of this film is about as good as it gets, and anyone who hasn’t seen it should be allowed the privilege of going into it spoiler-free. But, I will say this: There are two sequences in the back half of The Silence of the Lambs that are as thrilling as anything I’ve ever seen in a movie. What’s so impressive is that the first one is executed with such flawless precision that it seems out of the question that Demme could possibly top it; yet, he does! It’s simply remarkable stuff.

The film’s reputation in popular culture is largely (and not incorrectly) shouldered by Hopkins’ iconic turn as Lecter. What makes Lecter so impactful and memorable as a character is his limited screen time. Hopkins makes every second count, delivering a performance that exceeds its legendary stature. Meanwhile, the few scenes we have with Lecter not only highlight Clarice’s beyond-her-years skill as an investigator, but they also showcase Foster’s phenomenal talent. She goes toe-to-toe with one of the greats in Hopkins and doesn’t blink. You could argue that another actor could’ve pulled off Lecter (in fact, Brian Cox played Lecter in Michael Mann’s 1986 film Manhunter); but The Silence of the Lambs probably doesn’t work as well without Foster’s singular presence. It’s a perfect casting.

Later on, the film sort of hones in on the juxtaposition of Clarice’s clear objectives – to catch Buffalo Bill and rescue Catherine (and maybe advance her career along the way) – with the murkier intentions of Lecter. One could assume Lecter, in the most basic sense, wants to ultimately escape custody, but why is he so keenly interested in Clarice’s past? What does he get out of it? Is this somehow the key to his freedom? Or is there another scheme at play? And how much of herself is Clarice willing to give up to Lecter to put Buffalo Bill behind bars? The way in which Clarice and Lecter size each other up, trying to get the most out of their brief encounters without showing their hand or revealing too much, is genius writing.

One of my favorite smaller details about the film is its camera work. In numerous scenes, men who are in conversation with Clarice talk directly into the camera, while Clarice’s eyes are just off-center. Clarice is a woman working in a largely masculine field, and this allows the audience to share with Clarice what she experiences on a daily basis: the uneasiness that comes with a man’s inherent lack of respect for a woman. There’s one scene in which Clarice does meet our gaze – when she’s speaking to another woman. This subtle creative choice, coupled with a spellbinding use of night vision later in the film, further elevate an already astounding movie.

So, in the pantheon of serial killer movies, where does The Silence of the Lambs rank? There are several films worthy of discussion here. David Fincher’s 2007 masterpiece Zodiac (which gives The Silence of the Lambs a run for its money, in my opinion), as well as his 1995 classic Se7en, both deserve shoutouts. Also, I’d be remiss if I didn’t mention Alfred Hitchcock’s 1960 classic Psycho. Without Norman Bates, we wouldn’t have Hannibal Lecter, and without Psycho, we wouldn’t have The Silence of the Lambs. But to me, a serial killer movie is only as good as its killer. In this case, we have not one, but two fascinating antagonists in Lecter and Buffalo Bill. Combine Lecter’s enduring legacy in the public consciousness with the film’s near-flawless pacing and Howard Shore’s soaring, mournful score, and you’ve got a movie that risesabove its counterparts. It’s a film that warrants revisiting on semi-regular basis, but you might not want to watch it alone – maybe have an old friend for dinner.

Jalen’s columns, “Movies You Gotta See” and “The Free Play,” can be found online at www.medium.com/@jalenmaki.

Follow Jalen on Letterboxd at www.letterboxd.com/jalenmaki182/ to see what he’s been watching.