The Silence of the Lambs (1991)
96%RT Audience Score: 95%
Awards & Nominations: Won 5 Oscars
69 wins & 51 nominations total
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.
This movie is like a rollercoaster ride that takes you on a wild journey between psychological drama and full-blown horror. Jonathan Demme really knows how to keep you on the edge of your seat! And let’s not forget about the amazing acting by Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster. They really knocked it out of the park. If you’re looking for a movie that will make you think and scare you at the same time, this is the one for you. Just make sure you have someone to hold onto during the scary parts!
Production Company(ies)
Strong Heart, Demme Production Orion Pictures,
Distributor
Orion Pictures
Release Type
Theatrical
Filming Location(s)
Bimini Airport, South Bimini Island, Bimini Islands, Bahamas
MPAA / Certificate
R
Year of Release
1991
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Color:Color
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Sound mix:Dolby Digital Dolby Stereo
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Aspect ratio:1.85 : 1
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Runtime:1h 59m
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Language(s):English, Latin
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Country of origin:United States
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Release date:Release Date (Theaters): Feb 13, 1991 Wide
Release Date (Streaming): Aug 21, 2001
Genre(s)
Drama/Crime
Keyword(s)
starring Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, directed by Jonathan Demme, written by Thomas Harris, Ted Tally, drama, crime, mystery, thriller, R rating, box office gross $130.7M, reviewed by Kathy Huffhines, Jim Emerson, Michael H Price, Harper Barnes, Bill Cosford, David Denby, Danilo Castro, Warren Sonbert, Paul McKie, Lawrence Toppman, Michael MacCambridge, Candice Russell, Clarice Starling, Dr Hannibal Lecter, Jack Crawford, Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb, Dr Frederick Chilton, Catherine Martin, Ronald M Bozman, Edward Saxon, Kenneth Utt, Orion Pictures, Dolby Stereo, Dolby SR, Surround, Flat (1.66:1)
Worldwide gross: $272,742,922
Worldwide gross (inflation-adjusted): $602,050,301
Worldwide gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 223
Worldwide tickets sold (est.): 65,654,340
US/Canada gross: $130,742,922
US/Canada gross (inflation-adjusted): $288,600,763
US/Canada gross ranking (inflation-adjusted): 205
US/Canada opening weekend: $13,766,814
US/Canada opening weekend (inflation-adjusted): $30,388,743
US/Canada opening weekend ranking (inflation-adjusted): 452
Budget and Earnings Details
Production budget (est.): $19,000,000
Production budget (inflation-adjusted): $41,940,431
Production budget ranking: 915
Marketing and distribution budget (inflation-adjusted est.): $22,584,922
Box office net earnings to date (inflation-adjusted est.): $537,524,947
ROI to date (est.): 833%
ROI ranking: 155
Anthony Hopkins – Dr. Hannibal Lecter
Scott Glenn – Jack Crawford
Ted Levine – Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb
Anthony Heald – Dr. Frederick Chilton
Brooke Smith – Catherine Martin
Director(s)
Jonathan Demme
Writer(s)
Thomas Harris, Ted Tally
Producer(s)
Ronald M. Bozman, Edward Saxon, Kenneth Utt
Film Festivals
Awards & Nominations
Won 5 Oscars
69 wins & 51 nominations total
Academy Awards
Oscar Best Achievement in Directing Winners, Oscar Best Picture Winners, Oscar Best Writing Winners, Oscar Nominees, Oscar Screenplay Based on Material Previously Produced or Published Winners, Oscar Winners
All Critics (145) | Top Critics (48) | Fresh (138) | Rotten (7)
Throughout the movie, Demme gets across more terror than a dozen Friday the 13ths by showing not the horrifying thing itself but the faces of people looking at horror.
March 23, 2022 | Rating: 8/10
Kathy Huffhines
Detroit Free Press
TOP CRITIC
The Silence of the Lambs is something exceedingly rare and invaluable in movies these days: an accomplished, intelligent — and genuinely scary — thriller.
March 23, 2022
Jim Emerson
Orange County Register
TOP CRITIC
Scott Glenn’s low-key portrayal keeps things anchored in normalcy and provides a scale against which the depths of Hopkins’ malice and Foster’s troubled nature can be measured.
March 23, 2022 | Rating: 7/10
Michael H. Price
Fort Worth Star-Telegram/DFW.com
TOP CRITIC
The Silence of the Lambs is the stuff that nightmares are made of. It is, in a sense, a horror movie, but one that deserves comparison with such great works of psychological terror as The Shining, Psycho and Rosemary’s Baby.
March 23, 2022
Harper Barnes
St. Louis Post-Dispatch
TOP CRITIC
It’s a tough little B-movie, but there’s more to gross you out in one of Harris’ paragraphs than in all of Demme’s two hours.
March 23, 2022 | Rating: 3/4
Bill Cosford
Miami Herald
TOP CRITIC
A shockingly powerful thriller.
March 23, 2022
David Denby
New York Magazine/Vulture
TOP CRITIC
It is a freak occurrence of the right director, the right script, and the right cast making something that transcends genre and reshapes popular culture.
May 17, 2022 | Rating: 10/10
Danilo Castro
Next Best Picture
Grand Guignol is too mild an expression for a work in which every scene is an exercise in repulsion. But I couldn’t wait for what happened next and would have to admit that this is an excellent, if morally reprehensible, film.
March 23, 2022
Warren Sonbert
Bay Area Reporter
The Silence of the Lambs is one of the most intoxicating and absorbing thrillers ever made.
March 23, 2022
Paul McKie
Winnipeg Free Press
As played by Anthony Hopkins in the performance of his film career, the amoral psychiatrist dominates the picture — a remarkable feat, since Jodie Foster is the top-billed star and also does a superb job.
March 23, 2022 | Rating: 4/4
Lawrence Toppman
Charlotte Observer
The other thing that gives Silence its special charge is Hopkins’ powerfully ingratiating performance as the formidable villain. Every second he’s on the screen, you can’t help but feel uncomfortable.
March 23, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Michael MacCambridge
Austin American-Statesman
A bone-chiller of superior intensity.
March 23, 2022 | Rating: 3.5/4
Candice Russell
South Florida Sun-Sentinel…
Plot
F.B.I. trainee Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) works hard to advance her career, while trying to hide or put behind her West Virginia roots, of which if some knew, would automatically classify her as being backward or white trash. After graduation, she aspires to work in the agency’s Behavioral Science Unit under the leadership of Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn). While she is still a trainee, Crawford asks her to question Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Sir Anthony Hopkins), a psychiatrist imprisoned, thus far, for eight years in maximum security isolation for being a serial killer who cannibalized his victims. Clarice is able to figure out the assignment is to pick Lecter’s brains to help them solve another serial murder case, that of someone coined by the media as “Buffalo Bill” (Ted Levine), who has so far killed five victims, all located in the eastern U.S., all young women, who are slightly overweight (especially around the hips), all who were drowned in natural bodies of water, and all who were stripped of large swaths of skin. She also figures that Crawford chose her, as a woman, to be able to trigger some emotional response from Lecter. After speaking to Lecter for the first time, she realizes that everything with him will be a psychological game, with her often having to read between the very cryptic lines he provides. She has to decide how much she will play along, as his request in return for talking to him is to expose herself emotionally to him. The case takes a more dire turn when a sixth victim is discovered, this one from who they are able to retrieve a key piece of evidence, if Lecter is being forthright as to its meaning. A potential seventh victim is high profile Catherine Martin (Brooke Smith), the daughter of Senator Ruth Martin (Diane Baker), which places greater scrutiny on the case as they search for a hopefully still alive Catherine. Who may factor into what happens is Dr. Frederick Chilton (Anthony Heald), the warden at the prison, an opportunist who sees the higher profile with Catherine, meaning a higher profile for himself if he can insert himself successfully into the proceedings.
Trivia
Goofs / Tidbits
Anthony Hopkins’ performance as Dr. Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs is considered one of the greatest movie villains of all time by the American Film Institute.
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