. . . having an old friend for dinner . . .

Despite the definitiveness SILENCE OF THE LAMBS is usually touted with, Jonathan Demme's 1991 award-winner wasn't the first of Thomas Harris' Hannibal Lecter books to be filmed. Unfortunately, 1986's brilliant MANHUNTER was passed on by audiences, so the success of 1991's SILENCE makes it the film that immediately springs to mind when the memorable Dr. Lecter is brought up.

It's not as if SILENCE's success is undeserved, though. On the contrary--- SILENCE is just as good as MANHUNTER. Stylistically, apart from the trademark psych-terror one is to expect from a film of this type, the two films take very different approaches. SILENCE is more subtle; MANHUNTER is flashy. Both films' approaches work.

In SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, rookie agent Clarice Starling is enlisted to get help from Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter, arrested for doing exactly what his name would imply. It's much like MANHUNTER in a sense--- though the uninitiated are led to believe that Dr. Lecter is our villain, he's really a pawn utilized in order to catch another. This time, it's Jame Gumb--- and, just like MANHUNTER's Francis "Tooth Fairy" Dolarhyde, Gumb is known by the catchy moniker "Buffalo Bill."

SILENCE, too, focuses on the acting capabilities of its three central characters--- Ted Levine's Jame Gumb, Jodie Foster's Clarice Starling, and Anthony Hopkins' Hannibal Lecter. As Gumb, Ted Levine shows no mercy. There's no weeping, no tortured soul, no wounded child. Levine's Gumb is an evil, merciless creature, and he's terrifying because of it.

Hopkins, meanwhile, tries desperately to match up to the standard set by Brian Cox in MANHUNTER. Both men tackle the role differently, Hopkins with a more ham-fisted approach, Cox with a more scrutinizing, uneasy demeanor. Hopkins' succeeds more here, simply because he has considerable more screentime in SILENCE than Cox did in MANHUNTER. Although it might not seem as such, considering the integral nature of his role to the film, Hopkins' total screentime doesn't eclipse a half-hour. Yet the Welsh actor manages to leave an indelible impression, perhaps because the film doesn't go overboard on Lecter scenes, as 2000's HANNIBAL did. His eyes are focused, unblinking. He's charismatic, but as you get closer, he'll say something absolutely crushing. He does his best to foil the trembling agent when they meet.

Foster, meanwhile, manages to pull off the deer-in-headlights look quite well; of course, according to foster, not all of that was strictly acting. Apparently, Hopkins' doctor was a little more intimidating than she had expected, and some of his ad-libs actually brought her to the edge of tears. That some of those unwavering, almost unbearably cruel lines were delivered under ad-lib attests to the strength of Hopkins as an actor. Foster's character is probably the most complex--- she remains outwardly cool when, really, she's a bundle of nerves, and at any given moment, Hopkins can tweak one of those nerves, presumably to get a reaction; but, much to his chagrin, her emotional walls hold.

Scott Glenn as FBI director Jack Crawford is the most accomplished of all actors to give the role of Crawford a go. Dennis Farina in MANHUNTER and Harvey Keitel in RED DRAGON--- they both gave it a good try, yeah, but in the end, they were only playing hard-edged cop to balance out the painstaking approach taken by the agent they're working with. Glenn's steely professionalism, masking his utter contempt, proves to be something deeper.

The film delivers plenty of dank psychological terror. Much of it comes from Hopkins, really. As Lecter, he manages to worm his way into the psyche--- watching Agent Starling quake under the emotional pressure his responses bring is almost unbearable.

As compared to the rest of the series, SILENCE is at least a cut above the rest--- the only one that really gives it a run for its money is MANHUNTER, and can you really compare two films that take such a different approach? Opting for the substantial route as opposed to the stylistic, SILENCE packs an unforgettable horrific punch.