FilmRPsychological Slasher Gothic★ Editor pick

The Silence of the Lambs1991

Name: The Silence of the Lambs
Genre: Psychological, Slasher, Gothic
Released: 1991-02-14
Rating: 8.7

“To enter the mind of a killer she must challenge the mind of a madman.”

Directed by Jonathan Demme

8.7

Crypt Score

Blended from 4 sources

IMDb 8.6Rotten Tomatoes 95%Metacritic 86TMDB 8.3

✍ Review

On the charts

#1·Top Gothic Films #1·Top Psychological Films #1·Top Slasher Films #1·Top Horror Movies of the 1990s #1·Top Horror Movies of All Time #1·Top Horror Movies of 1991

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Year

1991

Runtime

119 min

Box Office

Budget

$19,000,000

Revenue (worldwide)

$272,742,922

Domestic

$130,742,922

🏆 Won 5 Oscars. 71 wins & 50 nominations total

The premise

Clarice Starling is a top student at the FBI's training academy. Jack Crawford wants Clarice to interview Dr. Hannibal Lecter, a brilliant psychiatrist who is also a violent psychopath, serving life behind bars for various acts of murder and cannibalism. Crawford believes that Lecter may have insight into a case and that Starling, as an attractive young woman, may be just the bait to draw him out.

Horror Vault's take

A razor-sharp FBI trainee is dispatched to interview the most dangerous man alive — the brilliant, incarcerated cannibal Dr. Hannibal Lecter — hoping his insights will help catch a killer still at large. What unfolds is a battle of wits as much as a hunt, with Clarice Starling navigating psychological warfare on two fronts simultaneously. The film is as much a portrait of survival under pressure as it is a procedural thriller, anchored by two of cinema's most iconic performances. Every scene crackles with menace, even when — especially when — no one is throwing a punch.

Content: Graphic Violence, Cannibalism, Depictions Of Murder And Mutilation, Skinning And Body Horror Imagery, Disturbing Psychological Content