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Movies / On DVD / Silence of the Lambs
Silence of the Lambs

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Silence of the Lambs (1991)

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Reviews Counted:52

Fresh:50

Rotten:2

Average Rating:8.5/10

Consensus: Director Jonathan Demme's smart, taut thriller teeters on the edge between psychological study and all-out horror, and benefits greatly from stellar performances by Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.

Runtime: 2 hrs

Genre: Dramas

Synopsis: Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins will likely be forever associated with their roles in this bone-chilling masterpiece, based on the novel by Thomas Harris and directed by Jonathan Demme. FBI... Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins will likely be forever associated with their roles in this bone-chilling masterpiece, based on the novel by Thomas Harris and directed by Jonathan Demme. FBI trainee Clarice Starling (Foster) is sent by her supervisor (Scott Glenn) to interview ferociously intelligent serial killer Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lechter (Hopkins) at his cell in a Maryland mental hospital. The FBI hopes Lechter can provide insight into the mind of killer-at-large, Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), whose current abductee happens to be the daughter of a senator. Intrigued by Clairice, Lechter demands information about her personal life and in exchange for clues, and the two begin to form a strangely intimate connection, with a girl's life hanging in the balance. Starling is gradually revealed as a woman struggling out of her own darkness, bound to aid the dysfunctional males around her on their own paths of transformation, liberation, and destruction. This is a film of brilliant and disturbing beauty that transcends its B-movie origins (though it does honor them with a cameo appearance by Roger Corman). Its enduring influence has led to a slew of similarly dark-toned serial killer films, and a sequel, HANNIBAL (2001). [More]

Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine

Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Buzz Kilman, Brooke Smith, Diane Baker, Kasi Lemmons, Charles Napier, Tracey Walter, Frankie Faison

Director: Jonathan Demme

Director: Jonathan Demme
Screenwriter: Ted Tally
Story: Thomas Harris
Composer: Howard Shore

[See More Credits]

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Release:

Jul 21, 1998

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Reviews for Silence of the Lambs

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41 - 54 (sorted by date)
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Foster is typically soft and stoic as the FBI agent in way over her head; Scott Glenn is his usual leathery self as her superior officer; and Hopkins is simply petrifying.

Full Review Source: Boxoffice Magazine | comment Comment
06/13/01
Boxoffice Magazine

For all the unbridled savagery on display, what is shrewd, significant and finally hopeful about Silence of the Lambs is the way it proves that a movie can be mercilessly scary and mercifully humane at the same time.

Full Review Source: Rolling Stone | comment Comment
05/12/01
Peter Travers
Peter Travers
Rolling Stone
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

Very few movies have ever won the five top Oscars: Best Actor, Actress, Screenplay, Director, and Picture.

Full Review Source: BBC | comment Comment
04/17/01
Ben Falk
Ben Falk
BBC

No common follow-the-clues, get-the-bad-guy movie

Full Review Source: AboutFilm.com | comment Comment
03/15/01
Carlo Cavagna
Carlo Cavagna
AboutFilm.com

Suffice it to say there is much to admire here but beware if you are at all squeamish.

Full Review Source: Deseret News, Salt Lake City | comment Comment
01/01/00
Chris Hicks
Chris Hicks
Deseret News, Salt Lake City

Is it a modern masterpiece? Did it deserve to sweep the four big Academy Awards? Is it one of the best thrillers ever made? A definitive maybe to all three questions.

Full Review Source: Filmcritic.com | comment Comment
01/01/00
Christopher Null
Christopher Null
Filmcritic.com

A smart, restrained entertainment, it doesn't splash around in blood and hysteria.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Desson Thomson
Desson Thomson
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

There is little doubt that the most memorable aspect of The Silence of the Lambs is Anthony Hopkins' incomparable performance as Lecter.

Full Review Source: ReelViews | comment Comment
01/01/00
James Berardinelli
James Berardinelli
ReelViews
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

This is one heavy thriller.

Full Review Source: rec.arts.movies.reviews | comment Comment
01/01/00
Mark R. Leeper
Mark R. Leeper
rec.arts.movies.reviews

The Silence of the Lambs is a psychological thriller of the highest order, and well deserving of the unusual Oscar nod for Best Picture, never before bestowed upon a film like this.

Full Review Source: Flick Filosopher | comment Comment
01/01/00
MaryAnn Johanson
MaryAnn Johanson
Flick Filosopher

Adroitly directed by Jonathan Demme, it lurks about the exquisite edge of horror, before finally leaping into an unholy maw of bloody bones and self-awareness.

Full Review Source: Washington Post | comment Comment
01/01/00
Rita Kempley
Rita Kempley
Washington Post
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The popularity of Jonathan Demme's movie is likely to last as long as there is a market for being scared.

Full Review Source: Chicago Sun-Times | comment Comment
01/01/00
Roger Ebert
Roger Ebert
Chicago Sun-Times
Top Critic Icon Top Critic

The collaborative effort of Demme, Foster, Hopkins, and cinematographer Tak Fujimoto in The Silence of the Lambs has resulted in something very special to anyone who loves to be scared and challenged by a movie.

Full Review Source: Austin Chronicle | comment Comment
01/01/00
Steve Davis
Steve Davis
Austin Chronicle

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) is one of the most taut, suspenseful, psychological thrillers ever produced.

Full Review Source: Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films | comment Comment
01/01/00
Tim Dirks
Tim Dirks
Tim Dirks' The Greatest Films
 
 
41 - 54 (sorted by date)
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