The Silence of the Lambs

Released: January 30, 1991

Studio: Orion

Genre: crime drama/thriller

Box Office (numbers in millions):

Domestic: 130.73 Worldwide: 272.73

Adjusted for Inflation:

Domestic: 261.80 Worldwide: 604.09

Directing: Jonathan Demme

Screenwriting: Ted Tally

Starring: Anthony Hopkins, Jodie Foster, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Brooke Smith, Lawrence A. Bonney

Review:

The Silence of the Lambs is an “incredibly suspenseful story” ^VD and “genuinely-frightening, violent, psychological thriller” ^FS based on Thomas Harris’ 1988 best-selling novel of the same name. The FBI is on the hunt for a serial killer known as “Buffalo Bill” (Levine) who skins his victims. In an effort to uncover his identity and methods, senior agent Jack Crawford (Glenn) sends novice Clarice Starling to interview Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter (Hopkins). The “imprisoned legendary serial killer…earned his nickname from turning his victims into meals.” ^VD

From his “claustrophobic, underground prison cell” ^FS Lecter probes Starling’s “haunting, deepest secrets and memories about her childhood and the slaughter of lambs.” ^FS “Hopkins’ incredible performance” ^VD and memorable lines like “I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti” “turned the twisted character into a cult figure.” ^VD On the set, Foster deemed his improvisational mocking of her southern accent to be “a personal attack, later realizing her reaction was what he sought.” ^MSN

The movie is one of only three (the others being It Happened One Night in 1934 and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest in 1975) to win the top five categories of Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Screenplay. It is also the only horror movie to ever win Best Picture.