Why It Wasn't Scary: If horror prequels have taught us one thing, it's that revealing the reason behind any boogeyman's torment is usually a bad idea. Isn't the notion of pointless, unexplained evil a whole lot more terrifying than someone who had a crappy childhood taking it out on humanity as a grown-up? Sadly, Hannibal Rising makes pains to explain away Hannibal Lecter's murderous and cannibalistic tendencies by detailing exactly why he became this way: his sister Mischa was killed and cannibalised by a group of Lithuanian soldiers, and it's revealed late in the movie that Lecter himself was fed part of his sister's remains in a broth. Even so, the transformation from tortured soul into the man audiences eventually recognise as Lecter is poorly executed, the dialogue sucks, and despite some nice set design and relatively slick direction, it's a hollow, surprisingly dull enterprise for the most part. How To Improve It: Basically, don't make it if it has to delve into the reasons for Hannibal's cannibalism. Instead, focus squarely on Lecter as a young adult, at the youngest in his twenties and perhaps into his thirties, as a suave young man long before he becomes the iconic figure everyone knows so well in The Silence of the Lambs.
Stay at home dad who spends as much time teaching his kids the merits of Martin Scorsese as possible (against the missus' wishes).
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