Hannibal (2001) --------------- Send more detectives! Though I prefer the subtle creepy horror 'Silence of the Lambs' to this more overt offering, this film is worth seeing due to fine directing by Ridley Scott (Gladiator, Blade Runner, Alien) and good acting by Anthony Hopkins. Good points: ----------- -imdb.com says "if you like this title, we also recommend Face/Off(1997)" -Lechter shopping for for gourmet cooking utensils -the final scene with Krendler is utterly horrid, sick, and cruel. Not since 'Bloodsucking Freaks', 'Pi', or 'One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest' have I seen a movie so difficult to (for me) to watch. I just get a horrid claustrophobic feeling on any type of lobotomy or drill-to-the-skull scenes for some reason. Though it made me want to drive a spike through my head, I was ravenously hungry at the end of this film. Bad points: ---------- -portraying Verger as a "victim" is a bit of a stretch for me. Anyway, all the masochists I know are far too vain to slice off their own face, even under the compelling Hannibal mentor influence -Verger's death scene is "boaring" to say the least -too much of Clarice listening to "Classic Hannibal Collection" on cassette instead of creating tasty new dialogue -Lechter is musing about eating Pazzi's wife, but this subplot is just simply dropped. Lechter's policy of preferring to eat the rude may have been the true reason for that, rather than the ostensible reason of having to rush off to the U.S. to "save" Clarice -audience barely survives bludgeoning by foreshadowing (hanging scene) -'Hannibal' seems inconsistent wrt 'silence of the lambs': Where is the beauty in exacting revenge on someone who cannot grasp the horror of what is happening to him? (ref to final scene with Krendler) Hannibal slips clarice the tongue- yech, this is cheesy and really too overt; did he have half a rod, too? What happened to Clarice's firm belief in SOTL that Lechter would never pursue her since he would think it "rude"? Maybe things have escalated and darkened since Lechter escaped, but it is a bit of a stretch to have him go that far out of character. Also, what is Lechter's purpose in abusing Starling like this? Was he trying something like the epilogue scene (the kid on the airplane) on her? There is a sick and twisted mind there, but illogical compared to SOTL. Is he supposed to be deteriorating? (guess I should read the book). Does he have beri beri from eating spinal cords? -door was left open for a trilogy wrap-up