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The Silence of the Lambs is so near perfection it defies criticism. Justly sweeping the 1991 Academy Awards, taking all five top Oscar honors (picture, director, screenplay, actor, and actress) this landmark film reinvented the serial killer and became a blueprint for true-crime suspense. Knockout performances, wickedly superb dialogue and masterful direction led Hannibal Lector to be voted as the #1 greatest movie villain of all time by the American Film Institute and earned the film a spot on their 1998 and 2007 Top 100 list, as well as countless other well-deserved accolades.

Agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is assigned to catch a mysterious serial killer dubbed Buffalo Bill (Ted Levine), who skins his victims and is believed to still hold a live kidnapped girl. But in order to catch the elusive Bill she must enlist the help of notorious cannibal and imprisoned doctor, Hannibal Lector (Anthony Hopkins) to unlock clues about Bill's identity and how to catch him. In a skewed sense of payment for his help, Hannibal demands information about Clarice's childhood, and as she draws closer to saving the tortured girl, Hannibal has a plan of his own that spells mayhem for all involved in his twisted game of wits.

Cool, calm, collected and a cunning genius, Hannibal is an antagonist so engrossing we undeniably root for him despite the fact that he's a downright villain. Perfectly complementing Anthony Hopkins' stellar performance is Jodie Foster's Starling who is independent, tough and unyielding, yet respectful of Lector's advice, where others, including prison psychiatrist Dr. Chilton (Anthony Heald), despises his perspicacity. The chemistry between Hannibal and Clarice is unforgettable and the character development, mostly through Starling's stories about her childhood and from retelling Hannibal's horrific crimes, is flawless in its execution.

Equal parts horror and thriller, The Silence of the Lambs redefined and rejuvenated the serial killer film while simultaneously putting the audience in a curious juxtaposition concerning whom to revere. Starling is the embodiment of a strong, willful female lead, but Hannibal is devilishly brilliant. Who wouldn't want to relate to his verbal craftiness and slyly scrupulous choice of words? It's interesting to see that despite his superior intelligence, during his moment of superiority, he resorts to raw physical violence to overcome his captors. His actions are so calculatingly devious that we are constantly guessing as to what he will do next. Hannibal actually has an incredibly small amount of screen time and perhaps the least of any Best Actor Oscar winner, but makes such great use of it that he stays in our minds long after the movie concludes. Either way, at least hopefully no one is cheering for Buffalo Bill.

By no means the only one of its kind, The Silence of the Lambs is purely and simply the best. Leading the way for psychological thrillers, most recently including Zodiac, The Black Dahlia and Mr. Brooks, Lector also returns in the sequel and prequel Hannibal and Red Dragon, respectively. Unfortunately neither the scripts nor the direction of these two subsequent films could achieve the sheer brilliance of the original.

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