History NightmareFuel / TheSilenceOfTheLambs

[[quoteright:350:http://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/silence_of_the_lambs_anthony_hopkins_lecter.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:''Trust me, you don't want to have [[ManipulativeBastard Hannibal Lector]] in your head'']]

[[caption-width-right:350:"Good Evening Clarice"]]

** Also an example of ChekhovsSkill : We find out in ''Literature/{{Hannibal}} that he's a master at post-hypnotic suggestion.

* When Starling and Crawford go to fingerprint and process the "floater." A blink-and-you'll miss it moment, but floaters are described as having a sort of GlasgowGrin on their faces when they're found, as a result of fish and turtles nibbling their faces.

** Agent Starling trying to find her way around in the dark, with Buffalo Bill just behind her, mockingly reaching out and not quite touching her.
** The moment right before that is possibly the most terrifying moment in the film. Starling stumbles upon a bathroom with a tub inside. It's filled with sludge, blood, and the 2-year old decayed remnants of Mrs. Bimmel. Then the lights go out.
** It's revealed in the novel that Mr. Gumb wanted ''her hair''. Let that sink in a little. *brr*

** Lecter's horrendous taunts to Senator Martin in both the book and the film.

** A later scene where other guards storm the prison room and find [[spoiler:said prison guard suspended in a backlit crucifixion position with a big hole in his stomach, innards missing]] Together with the music, a Revolting Moment of Awesome... The whole part was terrifying. [[spoiler: While transporting the surviving guard (who suffered severe facial lacerations) in the elevator, blood starts dripping down and he realizes he's on the roof of the the elevator. After he ignores the warnings of the SWAT team on the floor above, they shoot him in the leg without him even flinching. As soon as they open the hatch from inside the elevator, it cuts to the ambulance, where the guard sits up and we find out Hannibal had taken his clothes, and was using his face as a mask.]]

--> '''Lecter:''' Toughened your nipples, didn't it? Amputate a man's leg and he can still feel it tickling. Tell me, Mom-- when your little Catherine is on the slab, [[KicktheDog where will it tickle]] ''[[KicktheDog you?]]''

--> '''Lecter:''' Toughened your nipples, didn't it?

* [[TwoWordsObviousTrope Three Words: Dr. Hannibal Lecter]]:

** It's revealed in the novel that he wanted ''her hair''. Let that sink in a little. *brr*

* The creepy storage garage, in which Starling finds [[spoiler: a man's severed, pickled head]] wearing makeup.

** The (in)famous line "A census taker once tried to test me. I ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti", and Hopkin's improvised hiss.

* A production example: The main cast were offered recordings of actual murder victims' deaths, to help get into character. Creator/JodieFoster declined, while Scott Glenn listened to only a minute of the tape. He regretted it; to the point of declining to appear in sequel specifically because listening the tapes were so traumatizing.

* A production example: The main cast were offered recordings of actual murder victims' deaths, to help get into character. Creator/JodieFoster declined, while Scott Glenn listened to only a minute of the tape. He regretted it.

** Speaking of hair, in the novel, when Catherine Baker Martin approaches Buffalo Bill to help him load the furniture, "she noticed with distaste that his chamois shirt still had hairs on it, curly ones across the shoulders and beneath the arms." I don't think that's chamois leather, Catherine.

** An often-overlooked moment is [[https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pXJx5mORmMI Hannibal's first appearance in the film]]. Clarice is walking along the corridor to Hannibal's cell and the camera switches to her point of view as she approaches... and Hannibal is just ''standing there,'' perfectly straight, in the middle of his cell looking ''right at her'' from the instant she comes into his view. He was ''waiting for her.''

** Lecter's OffStageVillainy is terrifying in itself- from finding out that he attacked a nurse (seemingly [[ForTheEvulz for no reason]]) and that his heartbeat remained steady even "when he ate her tongue", to learning that his cell-neighbour Miggs killed himself by biting ''his'' tongue solely because Lecter spent the night ''whispering'' to him. a HannibalLecture that ''killed'' someone.

** Not only is the man a known serial killer and cannibal, he's also a genius. That's not what makes him scary. What makes him scary is his AffablyEvil personality. He has a charm and way of speaking to people as if he were engaging in everyday conversation with guests at a party rather than a trained FBI agent. Unlike the other inmates that Clarice encounters in the prison, Hannibal doesn't scream obscenities at her, he doesn't threaten to kill her, nothing like that. No, instead, he talks calmly to her as if she were one of his former patients or an old friend. The utter calmness yet meanace in his voice shows that he is ''not'' someone you want after you.

* The poster for the film itself. An [[UncannyValleyMakeup abnormally pale white]] female NightmareFace (presumably an altered face of Agent Starling) partially shrouded in darkness, which has [[RedEyesTakeWarning pale blood red eyes]] (which are colored yellow-orange on alternate versions), a nose, and... [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth a large yellow/black moth with a]] ''[[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth white skull]]'' on it's body, [[UncannyValley in place of where a human mouth would normally be]], (which, considering how Buffalo Bill kills his victims, [[FridgeBrilliance is actually a great use of]] {{foreshadowing}}). The skull itself? [[EasterEgg Look closer]]: it's [[spoiler:seven nude women arranged to look like a skull-a extremely small version of an human arrangement that's part of a famous photograph of Creator/SalvadorDali]].

** Lecter's horrendous taunts to Senator Martin in both the book and the film of.

* The poster for the film itself. An [[UncannyValleyMakeup abnormally pale white]] female NightmareFace (presumably an altered face of Agent Starling) partially shrouded in darkness, which has [[RedEyesTakeWarning pale blood red eyes]] (which are colored yellow-orange on alternate versions), a nose, and... [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth a large yellow/black moth with a]] ''[[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth white skull]]'' on it's body, [[UncannyValley in place of where a human mouth would normally be]], (which, considering how Buffalo Bill kills his victims, [[FridgeBrilliance is actually a great use of]] {{foreshadowing}}). The skull itself? [[EasterEgg Look closer]]: it's [[spoiler:seven nude women arranged to look like a skull-a extremely small version of an human arrangement that's part of a famous photograph of Creator/SalvadorDali]].

** The part with Catherine in the well, where the camera pans up and you see bloody trails and the severed fingernail from the last girl who tried to climb out and failed. The book has the added note that Catherine remembered reading about a girl's broken fingernails before that in an article about Buffalo Bill and realizes who has her. To add to the scene, Ted Levine's completely inhuman and mocking screams just pile on the horror.
** What is particularly brilliant about this scene is that it shows a terrifying situation, something horrifying, sickening and disturbing... and yet something that is instantly quotable and amusing to almost anyone who has seen it. That's scary.

* The poster for the film itself. An [[UncannyValleyMakeup abnormally pale white]] female NightmareFace (presumably an altered face of Agent Starling) partially shrouded in darkness, which has [[RedEyesTakeWarning pale blood red eyes]] (which are colored yellow-orange on alternate versions), a nose, and... [[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth a large yellow/black moth with a]] ''[[ButterflyOfDeathAndRebirth white skull]]'' on it's body, [[UncannyValley in place of where a human mouth would normally be]], (which, considering how Buffalo Bill kills his victims, [[FridgeBrilliance is actually a great use of]] {{foreshadowing}}). The skull itself? [[EasterEgg Look closer]]: it's [[spoiler:seven nude women arranged to look like a skull-a extremely small version of an human arrangement that's part of a famous photograph of Creator/SalvadorDali]].