The film is hailed as one of the best thrillers ever. (Image: Amazon MGM Studios)
A “masterpiece” psychological thriller that fans hail as “one of the greatest films ever” is leaving Netflix in the UK next month. The Silence of the Lambs (1991) focuses on FBI trainee Clarice Starling (played by Jodie Foster), who is trying to track down a serial killer known as Buffalo Bill, who has carried out a series of sickening attacks on young women.
Desperate to find him and end the killing, she seeks the advice of Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a brilliant psychiatrist who also happens to be an imprisoned serial murderer and cannibal. Scott Glenn, Anthony Heald, and Kasi Lemmons also star. It was directed by Jonathan Demme from a screenplay by Ted Tally. The script was adapted from Thomas Harris’s 1988 novel of the same name.
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Anthony Hopkins as Dr Lecter (Image: Amazon MGM Studios)
The Silence of the Lambs was critically acclaimed and won a host of awards. This included the “big five” Academy Awards, Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress (for Hopkins and Foster, respectively), and Best Adapted Screenplay.
Fans have flocked to IMDb to shower it with praise.
One said: “Jodie Foster is excellent as Clarice, but Anthony Hopkins… what can you say? Another performance that fully reminds you he’s one of the very best. Outstanding.
“The chemistry between Hopkins and Foster is off the scale: the tension, the unease, the uncomfortable yet compelling bond-it’s riveting.”
Another wrote: “It is so well acted, I couldn’t even describe. I loved “Silence of the Lambs” and would recommend it to anyone. It’s creepy and exciting. Trust me, you’ll love it.”
A third added: “This is surely one of the greatest films of all time. It lands in the top 100 of several lists at the very least, and remains the only horror film to ever win a Best Picture Academy Award.
The fan said they’ve watched it “many times” it still holds up more than three decades after its release. “Howard Shore’s haunting score tends to be the game changer for me,” they added.
“I know exactly what is going to happen and yet that music and Jonathan Demme’s storytelling still manage to have me tense throughout the entire movie.”
A fourth said: “I can throw out any number of superlatives, but none of them do justice to this chilling performance, which I labeled as the best acting work of the ’90s.
“Want to feel the icy fingers of terror stroke your heart? Watch this mixture of brilliant eloquence and inhuman cruelty. As portrayed by Hopkins, Hannibal is both a suave, cultured gentleman and an unspeakable fiend.”
A fifth called it a “truly a scary cinematic masterpiece”.
The movie has a 15 certificate and contian strong violence, gore, sex references, and very strong language – so viewer discretion is advised.
Silence of the Lambs is streaming on Netflix in the UK until March 10.
