10 Movie Villains You Wish Got More Screen Time

Anthony Hopkins' performance as cannibalistic serial killer Hannibal Lecter is the stuff of cinema legend. Lecter has become so ingrained in movie-goers' minds as the face of unadulterated evil, it's a wonder to think that he's on screen for only sixteen minutes of the two hour and twenty minute long movie in which he first appeared.

Lecter himself isn't actually the main villain of The Silence of the Lambs (1991), as that honour goes to the horrifying Buffalo Bill, but there's no question that the doctor is what people remember about the film.

On the DVD commentary for the film, director Jonathan Demme went on record to say he wished he included more about Lecter's past in the movie, and regrets not giving Hopkins more screentime. This would have been an interesting narrative decision, allowing audiences to understand the killer more thoroughly as the film played out.

Plus, Hopkins was so good in the role, no one would have complained if he stuck around longer.

He may have been given more story in the film's sequel, Hannibal (2002), but since that film is neither as good nor memorable, it just makes Lecter's short tenure in Silence all the more disappointing.