Real life serial killers who inspired cult classic Silence of the Lambs | Films | Entertainment

The terrifying Dr Hannibal Lecter first appeared in Thomas Harris’s 1981 novel Red Dragon and jumped right off the page.

So compelling was this fictional monster, that Harris went on to write another three novels based on his gruesome cannibalistic ways — The Silence of the Lambs (1988), Hannibal (1999), and Hannibal Rising (2006).

It was Harris’s second book that sparked off a megahit feature film, giving the world one of cinema’s most chilling characters to ever exist.

Lecter wasn’t the only monster who came to life on the big screen either — Buffalo Bill, the movie’s main antagonist who lured, kidnapped, and then skinned women to wear them as ‘women suits’, was and continues to be the stuff of certified nightmares. What’s worse? He was based on a real-life serial killer, much like Lecter himself.

We can all agree — there’s something truly bone-chilling about ‘stories based on true events’. When the stories are of this nature: gruesome, unrelenting, harrowing, sinister — it’s that much easier to make your blood freeze in its veins, because these monsters existed. In broad daylight, walking amongst us, committing horrific crimes on actual people who suffered unimaginably at their hands.

Any discussion on The Silence of the Lambs needs to be nuanced — the film and books come with layers of complexity and their significance on the cultural landscape is well-known.

Owing to its cult status, over the years, Jonathan Demme’s film has drawn severe criticism for its portrayal of gender identity, with many believing Jame ‘Buffalo Bill’ Gumb’s character perpetuates harmful stereotypes against the transgender community. The film’s sexual and gender politics have also come under fire numerous times.

Amidst all these (rightfully important) discourses, Demme has given the world a horror film for the ages.

Real-life serial killers who inspired cinema’s worst villains

The Silence of the Lambs released 35 years ago today, February 14, and went on to gross $272.7 million at the global box office against a $19 million production budget. It’s safe to say the film changed the landscape of the psychological horror thriller forever.

So, who were some of these men that inspired Thomas Harris to write what can safely be called two of the most horrifically impactful characters to exist in pop culture history? 

Hannibal Lecter

Portrayed to chilling perfection by Anthony Hopkins in the film, Hannibal Lecter and his cannibalistic ways were actually inspired by some real-life very bad guys.

In the preface of the 25th anniversary edition of The Silence of the Lambs book written by Harris in 2013, the author revealed he met a ‘doctor’ during a prison visit to Nuevo León state prison in Monterrey, Mexico, in the 1960s, back when he was a 23-year-old journalist reporting on a story about Dykes Askew Simmons, an American convicted of murder.

Named ‘Doctor Salazar’, Harris described him as a “small, lithe man with dark red hair” with “a certain elegance about him” — a subtle trait that can be quietly seen in Lecter himself. Notably, both Lecter and Doctor Salazar are of Lithuanian descent,

‘Doctor Salazar’, it turns out, was not a prison medical professional, but a real life killer, Alfredo Ballí Treviño, who was in jail for a ‘crime of passion’ — killing his boyfriend back when he was a medical intern in 1959 and then meticulously slicing him into pieces to fit them into a box, which he then attempted to bury in the backyard of his aunt’s ranch.

Hailing from a wealthy and prominent family, he was also suspected of killing and dismembering a number of hitchhikers, although those accusations were never proven in court.

‘Dr Salazar’ was tending to Simmons in the prison after a botched attempt at a prison break. Later in the day, Harris was warned by the warden: “The doctor is a murderer. As a surgeon, he could package his victim in a surprisingly small box. He will never leave this place. He is insane.”

Sentenced to death in 1961, ‘Dr Salazar’ had essentially set up an informal medical practice within the prison, tending to those behind bars like himself, and also visiting townspeople.

In 1981, 20 years into serving his death sentence, Ballí was shockingly released from prison, allowed to walk free amongst society.

In his preface though, Harris confirmed that Lecter wasn’t based just on ‘Dr Salazar’, and over the years, several people have taken a crack at figuring out all the real-life inspirations behind the wretched character.

A group of homicide detectives who were acquainted with Harris said in a 1999 article in Tulsa World that they believed Lecter was an amalgamation of the notorious serial killers Edmund Kemper, Ted Bundy, and the cannibal Issei Sagawa.

Another killer-cum-cannibal, William Coyner, who allegedly salted and cured his victims’ bodies, was also thought to be one of the inspirations behind Lecter.

Serial killer Albert Fish is also said to be one of the inspirations behind Lecter. Fish reportedly wrote a letter to the mother of one of his child victim’s, explaining to her in great detail how he murdered and then ate her daughter. Whether his claims were actually true, remains unclear as technology hadn’t advanced enough at the time.

Buffalo Bill

Some subtle traits of Doctor Salazar are said to have been ingrained in Buffalo Bill as well, portrayed by the brilliant Ted Levine in the film.

While author Harris has never officially revealed the inspirations behind Buffalo Bill’s horrifying character, his modus operandi can be linked to many famous serial killers.

In the film’s extra scenes, FBI Special Agent John Douglas shared that Buffalo Bill’s first scene was allegedly inspired in part by Ted Bundy — known to have worn a fake cast and asking victims for their help, eventually knocking them unconscious once they got to his car and killing them in cold blood.

Skinning his victims is a trait Buffalo Bill could have potentially picked up from Ed Gein, who was also the inspiration for Norman Bates in Psycho and Leatherface in Texas Chain Saw Massacre. Gein also idolised his mother, and her death marked a turning point in his horrific story, leading him to become one of the most notorious and sick serial killers in history.

Keeping his victims trapped in a pit in his basement likely came from serial killer Gary Heidnik, who operated in the same gruesome way and kidnapped, raped, and tortured six women in the 1980s, killing two of them.