Inside Hannibal Lecter

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The monster Hannibal Lecter can be summed up in one quote from Thomas Harris’ fourth novel, Hannibal Rising: “I don’t want a conviction, I want him declared insane. In an asylum, they can study him and try to find out what he is…. What is he now? There is not a word for it yet. For lack of a better word we’ll call him a monster” (Harris 283). From early in Dr. Hannibal Lecter’s life, it was clear that he was a monster. The film, The Silence of the Lambs, is one of those films that is a cornerstone to a generation of filmmakers and the movie industry itself. It redefined the horror genre with new types of fears that plagued the every day person rather than a specific market like teenagers, in the previous famous horror films. Leading the way for the movie is the monster, and one of the main characters, Hannibal Lecter. Lecter is a monster like no other and also redefined what movie monsters were. Gone are the masked men with chainsaws, now Lecter brings forth a new type of monster that is intelligent, clever, but above all, human. The film itself presents a complex to the viewers because of the fact that Lecter is helping the FBI in its search for another serial killer, Buffalo Bill. Lecter is unlike any other movie monster in the way that he kills his victims. Lecter’s nickname is “Hannibal the Cannibal” because he cooks and eats his victims. He has also become a great example to psychologists treating people with similar problems. Above all, Lecter is unique because he is the first monster to take the mask off and have the people around him face who he really is, a true monster.
The genesis of the monster of Hannibal Lecter was a mystery. Not until the most recent film, Hannibal Rising, a prequel to the other four films, does th...

... middle of paper ...

...Web. 6 Apr. 2013.
"Dreams of Hannibal Lecter." The Dominion (Wellington). (June 16, 1999 , Wednesday ): 708 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/04/01.
Silence of the Lambs. Dir. Jonathan Demme. Screenplay by Ted Tally. By Thomas Harris. Perf. Anthony Hopkins and Jodi Foster. Strong Heart/Demme Production, 1991. DVD.
Harris, Thomas. Hannibal Rising. New York: Delacorte, 2006. Print.
Hannibal Rising. Dir. Peter Webber. Screenplay by Thomas Harris. By Thomas Harris. Perf. Gaspard Ulliel, Gong Li, Rhys Ifans, and Dominic West. The Weinstein Company. 2007 DVD
“The origins of Lecter's taste for the butcher." Business Day (South Africa). (December 16, 2006): 761 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/04/21.
"Lecter's great escape." The Irish Times. (December 23, 2006 Saturday ): 965 words. LexisNexis Academic. Web. Date Accessed: 2013/04/01.

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