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Wow this is the penticle of psychological horror/thriller movie. I love this film and thought it was one of the best movies I have ever seen. A true classic and a genre masterpice I will always cherish.
Once again Jacques has proven that no one else in the universe should ever make a horror film or thriller and let us other brainless idiots watch it and give our thoughts on what we think might be good or crappy. So to all of you other so called horror fans like me, listen and read what the master of horror has to say because lets face it all horror movies suck balls in the eyes of the ever knowing one. And when he is published all other works of literature watch out because apparently they will be obsolete.
P.S. Silence of the Lambs is one hell of a good film.
Ever since I was a little kid, I was obsessed with reading horror. I’ve read more from the genre than anyone I personally know. Being a soon-to-be-published author myself, I’ve learned more about the genre by reading than by any writing seminar I’ve ever been to. With all of that said, when The Silence of the Lambs, the novel, was released and received mass critical acclaim for being the “perfect” horror-thriller, even being the major genre-whore I am, I could really care less. Why? Simple because I’d read so many books EXACTLY like it, I had no interest. Years later, when the movie was released, I felt the exact same. This is why I’ve waited so long to view this “impossible-to-miss!” film. It was just more of the same. When I finally decided to force myself to watch it, I found my gut instinct was underestimating. The Silence of the Lambs is not only just more of the same unoriginal story that we’ve all heard so many times that it’s second nature, it’s also cheesy, immature, over-glamorized, and, in the end, completely laughable. And here is why . . .
First and foremost: The Silence of the Lambs is, unarguably, 100% unoriginal. There is not a single original—or even creative—concept in the entire runtime of the film. This paragraph of my review is not my opinion. The way I view the world has no bearing on what has or hasn’t been done in storytelling before. Saying that it’s my opinion that The Silence of the Lambs is unoriginal is equivalent to saying that it’s my opinion that the sky is blue. And just as childish. With that said, I can literally point you, scene-by-scene, to where every single idea in The Silence of the Lambs has been written and filmed in the past. From the formula, to the characters, to the situations, to the set-up: it’s all, unarguably, one giant genre cliché. And, as I said, I can point to every movie, every book that has used the EXACT scenes in the past. This isn’t just a coincidence; it’s an unabashed lack of creativity and intelligence from the writer. Just more of the same cliché Hollywood and pulp fiction conventions we’ve seen all our lives. All the standard clichés are here, folks: romantic subplot, tension at the agency, troubled childhoods, etc., etc., etc.
Hannibal Lector himself is, admittedly by the author, nothing but a mash-up of various fictional and real-life serial killers. The two most obvious fictional killers he unabashedly rips-off are Leatherface (The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, 1974) and Mark Lewis (Peeping Tom, 1960). Leatherface’s actions (cannibal, wears victim’s faces) + Lewis’s mind (pretentious, psychiatrist, study’s human behavior, kills people to study reactions, gives long speeches about serial killers, has a supposed vast knowledge of the human mind) = Hannibal Lector. There is not a single character trait that Lector has that wasn’t done nearly 40 years before he was written. Again, a kindergarten lack of creativity. I honestly don’t even know how his character got past copyright laws.
Not to mention Hannibal’s cheesy persona. He pronounces “liver” with slurping sounds at the end. So did 3-year-olds, but I don’t cower in fear of them. He never actually DOES anything on-screen, except talk. And talk. And when he does talk, he talks with the pseudo-intelligence of a high-school dropout who took a semester of psychology. Why? Because his psychological knowledge is laughably limited, and sometimes incorrect all together. He’s supposed to be this oh-so-evil genius, but all he ever does is quote cliché phrases from dumbed-down Freud. He knows NOTHING about psychology. The piss-poor writers just wrote enough cliché psychobabble between his laugh-out-loud cheesy slurping sounds to make it seem like he knew at least as much about the human mind as the average middle-school student. And then, just like all over-glamorized Hollywood, every time Hannibal is on the screen they point the camera up at his face with light shining behind his head as he stares at the ceiling without blinking. That’s not good acting. That’s made-for-TV directing they use in low-budget Jesus movies. Hannibal Lector is nothing but an awkward middle-aged man who is obsessed with talking and breaking copyright laws. How is that unnerving? If I met him, I’d laugh in his face and tell him to grow up.
At root value this is a generic crime thriller. It opens up with a generic cop-meets-killer scene, and ends with a generic killer-in-the-house scene. Everything in between is exactly what you’d expect from a generic Hollywood thriller. It has NO significance whatsoever when it comes to originality. And as far as entertainment value goes, I don’t see what’s so entertaining in watching a middle-age man talk for an hour. If that entertain you, I pity you.
Oh my God! This movie TERRIFIED me! Why? Because an awkward middle-aged man pronounced “liver” like a 3-year-old.
I’ll say the same thing to those of you who gave this movie a high score as I’d say to Hannibal Lector: GROW UP.
This film was the first to sweep the top four Oscars (Best Film, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress) in decades and is probably the greatest horror thriller ever made. Reading some of these reviews I find that we have lost sight of what horror truly is. Blood and gore shock us not scare us. The truly great horror films tend to stay away from excess bloodletting but scare the crap out of us anyway. "Lambs" is a true masterpiece.
this movie scared the shit outta me when i was younger and it still manages to hold that creepy feeling over the years.Wonderful acting by all with VERY memorable charecters!!!
Posted By: gorehound62 at 6:40pm, January 23, 2009
two of the greatest villains ever put on screen in one masterpiece. anthony hopkins is incredible as hannibal the cannibal lecter, and the overlooked ted levine is very creepy as buffalo bill. i think the scariest part of the movie is that buffalo bill is based off of real serial killers, such as ed gein. check out red dragon, too. not as good, but still great.STAY AS FAR AWAY AS POSSIBLE FROM MANHUNTER. ITS BAD.
An absolute masterpiece. Hannibal Lector is a terrific character, so good in fact that many often overlook that this movie has another great villian in Buffalo Bill. Jodie Foster is great in this movie, as is the rest of the cast. Great story, very suspenseful. This movie has a great climax to.
Posted By: tom holiday at 2:06pm, December 10, 2008
great movie to see. Jodie foster and Anthony Hopkins were brilliant.
Jodie Foster is great. Anthony Hopkins is great. The deadpan directing is great. Genuinely disturbing. The best movie of its kind, all others pale in comparison including all the under achieving sequels.
Posted By: thedescent08 at 3:01pm, December 1, 2008
Excellent
Posted By: horrorfan25 at 4:32pm, November 2, 2008
Silence of the lambs is one of the best thrillers of decades because the acting is perfect and you probably wouldn't get acting this good ever again and the story line was top notch. It was very interesting and it wasn't a "torture film" because there was little to no gore. Silence of the lambs is disturbing, brutal, and excellent.
Posted By: tcmassacre at 10:12pm, October 29, 2008
Dr. Hannibal Lecter is my favorite movie character ever!
Brilliant movie and completely ahead of its time when it was made.
Posted By: BK's Finest at 11:01pm, October 18, 2008
Best thriller ever with Seven...
Posted By: KingOfHorror at 7:55pm, October 18, 2008
One of the Greatest And Scariest Movies Ever! Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins are at their Best!
Posted By: awillowcabin at 9:38pm, September 22, 2008
Best goddamn movie ever.
Posted By: bigmo_402 at 10:54pm, September 19, 2008
This is a classic, it is hard to believe there are only 2 reviews. This is as good as it gets.
Posted By: LilaFreakk at 1:19pm, September 19, 2008
Wow, I am second to be astonished for I see only one review for the movie. lol. Well, this is far from your gut spewing slash flick, far far from, my friends, but I do agree that this is a classic and classics shouldn't go without being seen. Forget horror just for a second and believe me when I say this is one of the greatest works in film of all time. All your misconceptions of Hannibal Lecter will be put to flames. He is like a tiger--a magnificent beast we are drawn to for its beauty and majesty, but fear for its potential to kill. Wild and alluring. Whether you are drawn to him or repelled by his power, you will always look to the face of him in total awe. Jodie Foster as Clarice in this is remarkable. It's just great. Watch it. Do it now. You don't even have to leave your seat. Google it or something.
I cannot beleive i'm the fist review on this movie...this IS A CLASSIC!!! if you havnt seen this movie you need to get you butt away from the computer and go rent/buy it and watch it...you should be ashamed...
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