2. Hannibal
Certainly very different from The Silence Of The Lambs in both tone and the relationship between the key duo, Hannibal is viewed as a low in the franchise before the superior Red Dragon. Id be inclined to go the other way. Red Dragon is a lot more conservative, having an easier story to adapt and a previous version to riff on, which leaves the daring and at often times sickening Hannibal a more significant presence in my film collection. Ridley Scott brings some striking visual imagery - Chief Inspector Piazzi hung and gutted in the spirit of his ancestors, Ray Liotta eating his own brain and Gary Oldman schlurping his way through an uncredited turn of vengeful mutilated child molester Mason Verger all stick in your memory as strongly as the woman suit from the original - and although Julianne Moore isn't a brilliant Clarice, a lot of the criticisms thrown at the film for not satisfyingly servicing Starling and Lecters relationship are missing the point a little. The clue is in the title; this film is very much an exploration of the cultural psychopath. And things could have been considerably worse if the relationship had been pushed through to conclusion; Thomas Harris novel ends with Hannibal and Clarice as an item, a plot development that would have negated much of the tension from the Oscar winning original.