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The Story: The FBI scrambles to capture a psychotic serial killer before he can kill his latest abductee.

FBI Agent-In-Training Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is pulled from her morning run by the head of the FBI's Behavioral Science Unit, Jack Crawford (Scott Glenn). In his office, he drills her on an at-large serial killer the papers have been calling Buffalo Bill. After explaining that thus far the FBI has been unable to get a slant on Buffalo Bill's psychological profile, Crawford offers her the opportunity for advancement she so craves by assigning her to interview an imprisoned, formerly renowned psychologist - who also just so happens to be a demented cannibal - in an attempt to get his view on this latest murderer.

Starling is sent to the imprisoned lunatic's asylum and after fending off advances from the asylum's CEO, a weasel named Dr. Chilton (Anthony Heald), Starling is lead into the bowels of the institution to find her subject, Dr. Hannibal "The Cannibal" Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) waiting patiently for her. Though highly intelligent and having been grilled on how to handle Lecter, Starling clumsily drops the ball and agitates Lecter, who utilizes his keen, razor-sharp insight to dissect her. Feeling embarrassed and violated, Starling goes to leave when the patient in the cell next to Lecter's tosses a wad of semen at her face. Before she can rush out, Lecter calls her back, apologizing fervently for his fellow inmate's brashness, and as a consolation gives her a lead to put her on Buffalo Bill's trail.

Under Crawford's guidance, Starling takes to the case like a bloodhound following up clues and leads, while also periodically returning for more psychological insight on Buffalo Bill from Lecter. Having been imprisoned for nearly a decade, Lecter takes a liking to Starling and develops an almost mentor-like relationship with her. As the hunt for Buffalo Bill continues, deals are made and broken, secrets are learned and ultimately Starling's hunt for ol' Bill will lead her into a life or death confrontation with the psychopathic madman himself - in the pitch black, and without back-up.

Silence of the Lambs, the last major hit from Orion Pictures before their bankruptcy, is a highly suspenseful, highly intelligent and gruesome thriller. Performances across the board are extraordinary, from Foster's ambitious yet naive Starling to Anthony Hopkins' slithering portrayal of the sociopathic Hannibal Lecter. His performance was so amazing that it painted in the minds of the nation's filmgoers a flesh and blood rendition of The Bogey Man. Levine, as Jame "Buffalo Bill" Gumb, is very effective, as well. Though not given near as much screen time as Foster or Hopkins, Levine's characterization of the killer who "likes to skin his humps" is frightening, while also oddly sympathetic. Thomas Harris, upon whose novel the film is based, explained that Buffalo Bill was actually an amalgamation of numerous true-life serial killers including Ted Bundy, John Wayne Gacey and Henry Lee Lucas.

Demme's direction makes the most of the gothic asylum locations and the rural communities through which Starling's investigation leads her. In fact, the cinematography and set decoration seem to have inspired the television series The X-Files, right down to the super-imposed locations appearing across the bottom of the screen. Demme shows a real flair for directing his actors and allows the camera to linger on their faces as they look directly at us, the viewers, making their words take that much deeper a root in our minds. When Lecter leans forward during the infamous "fava beans" sequence and sucks his teeth, he's not just creeping out Starling; he's creeping out us, the viewers, as he looks right at us. Incidentally, Hopkins admits that this chill-inducing moment was completely improvised when director Demme failed to yell "Cut" after his dialogue. A testament to Hopkins' skills, I'd call it, as this moment is one of the most memorable moments of the film.

Based on the Thomas Harris novel of the same name, The Silence of the Lambs is also the first horror film to ever sweep the Academy Awards by winning every major Oscar, including Best Actor (Hopkins), Actress (Foster), Director (Demme) and Adapted Screenplay (by Ted Tally). Anyone who's not seen the film has obviously been living in a sealed off bunker or a cordoned-off cell of some type, or you just don't like horror movies. Which means cameos by such genre luminaries as Roger Corman and George Romero will go unnoticed by you. For shame!

Overall, The Silence of the Lambs is a gripping, white-knuckle excursion into the minds of psychopathic madmen and why they do what they do. Though many would argue against the film's qualifications for "horror movie" status, these qualifications are quite obvious. You have your psycho killer (in this case, two), loads of suspense, plenty of scares, bloody kills and heaping handfuls of morbid underpinnings and subtext. Bluntly put, if this film isn't a horror film then I don't know what is.

Now if you'll excuse me, I have to go... I'm having an old friend for lunch.