10 Best Horror Movie Misdirections Ever
9. Clarice Visits Buffalo Bill (NOT The FBI) - The Silence Of The Lambs
The Silence of the Lambs is a stone cold masterpiece for many reasons, not least that it's superbly edited, and in turn nabbed a well-earned Best Film Editing Oscar nomination.
There's a single, ingenious editing masterstroke which most everyone still remembers over 30 years later, when the FBI gets ready to raid serial killer Buffalo Bill's (Ted Levine) house, just as officer Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) visits someone who knew his first victim.
The FBI ring what is apparently Bill's doorbell while undercover as deliverymen, and as Bill goes to answer, he's greeted not by a fleet of FBI agents dogpiling him but Clarice.
It's a dread-soaked "Oh s**t!" moment, instantly revealing that the FBI had the wrong address and Clarice has no damn idea what fresh hell she's just walked into - sans-backup, no less.
Editing switcheroos can easily feel lazy and manipulative, but in this case it was absolutely perfect, using the language of film itself to get one over on the audience in a deeply gut-wrenching way.