This is the best horror movie ever made for several reasons. While the story is terrifying and grizzly, Demme never lets it become schlocky or sensational. He plays is straight, so to speak, never letting the plot become secondary. Perhaps a more... ambitious, director would have added more creepy atmosphere (like David Fincher does with "Se7en"), but Demme smartly keeps it real, which makes it all the more terrifying. Nothing that happens in this movie couldn't happen in real life (and it does happen). This approach also harnesses the lead performers. He never lets Foster get too melodramatic, and never lets Hopkins become a flat Halloween mask. As frightening as the film is, there is a moral core throughout that neither hides completely nor brow-beats you. I have a bunch of videos and DVD's, but when almost any friend comes over and looks them over, they always want to watch "Silence of the Lambs." It's uncanny.
Review of The Silence of the Lambs
