10 Genius Suspense Tricks That Made Horror Movies Great
2. Using POV Shots To Lock Viewers In Lecter's Gaze - The Silence Of The Lambs
The Silence of the Lambs is undeniably one of the most suspenseful films ever made, and surely the most gut-wrenching movie to ever win the Best Picture Oscar.
Beyond the obvious spine-tingling brilliance of Anthony Hopkins and Ted Levine's performances as Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill respectively, though, director Jonathan Demme deployed one special trick to get under the audience's skin - the POV shot.
Demme is well-known for his use of dramatic close-ups, with characters staring directly into the camera lens, and it's a technique he exploits brilliantly throughout this film, particularly with regard to Hannibal.
Countless times we'll be forced to watch as Hopkins stares directly at us while talking to FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), at once playing viewers in Starling's shoes and locking us in Lecter's terrifying gaze.
Demme also uses this technique for many of the movie's other characters when they speak with Clarice, ensuring we as viewers subconsciously identify with her and truly fear for Clarice during her climactic confrontation with Buffalo Bill.