Anthony Hopkins excruciatingly menacing performance as Dr Hannibal Lecter is the enduring element of The Silence of the Lambs and the reason it still terrifies viewers today. Lecter isnt even the films bad guy that title is reserved for the aptly named Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine). With two deranged serial killers at large, The Silence of the Lambs is just as terrifying as youd expect. In particular the scene in the films final act where Buffalo Bill stalks Starling (Jodie Foster) in the pitch-black basement while wearing a pair of night vision goggles makes for very uncomfortable viewing. Shot from a first person perspective, as the psychopath reaches out to grab Starling there must have been cinemas full of viewers yelling at the oblivious agent to turn around in 1991. Despite this, in the battle royal of serial killers Hannibal Lecter wins every time he manages to be significantly more scary than the freakish Buffalo Bill despite being behind bars or in a strait-jacket for most of the film.
Hailing from South East London, Sam Heard is an aspiring writer and recent graduate from the University of Warwick. Sam's favourite things include energy drinks, late nights spent watching the UFC with his girlfriend and annihilating his friends at FIFA.
