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In recent decades, American society has developed an obsession with serial killers. Reaching an apex in the early 1990s, the American media significantly contributed to turning serial killers such as Jeffrey Dahmer, Ted Bundy, and John Wayne Gacy into celebrities. Oliver Stone's highly controversial film Natural Born Killers put a spotlight on America's obsession with serial killers and the role the media played in this phenomenon.

Currently, one of the most popular entertainment mediums is true crime television shows and documentaries, many of which revolve around serial killers. Cinema, going as far back as the silent era, has always been fascinated with portraying serial killers. Psycho, The Silence of the Lambs, and Se7en rank among the best serial killer movies ever made.

Related10 Best Gangster Movies From the 1930s, Ranked

Gangster movies have been thrilling audiences for decades and the 1930s created some truly special gangster movies.

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Quick LinksWhat Is 'The Silence of the Lambs' About?The Ending of 'The Silence of the Lambs'Lecter's Deleted Monologue Would Have Changed His Character

Nearly 35 years after its release, Jonathan Demme's sweeping Academy Award masterpieceThe Silence of the Lambsremains one of the best movies ever recorded. The psychological crime thriller is still the third in history and the last movie to win the Oscar Awards' Big Five - including Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Original Screenplay. Of course, the Best Actor honor was given to Anthony Hopkins, who brilliantly played Dr. Hannibal Lecter with chilling menace and highly intelligent guile.

Yet, Hopkins' indelible turn could have been much different had Demme kept one emotional scene involving Dr. Lecter and FBI Agent Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) in the film. As it is, Lecter functions as an enigmatic cipher who taunts and teases Clarice with crucial intel on serial killer Buffalo Bill,...

The Valentine’s Day-set slasher movie Heart Eyes is set to reach theatres on February 7th – but that’s not the only horror movie that Cinemark theatres will be celebrating the holiday with. The cinema chain has revealed that they’ll be running a series called “Love You to Death” from February 1st through the 5th, bringing The Silence of the Lambs, Bram Stoker’s Dracula, Midsommar, the 1981 slasher classic My Bloody Valentine, and Shaun of the Dead back to the big screen!

On the Love You to Death page, Cinemark writes, “Got a bleeding heart for horror? Our lineup of frightful flicks is swoon-worthy, with plenty of tortured love—and actual torture—to satisfy the most die-hard fans.“

The Silence of the Lambs will be showing in Cinemark theatres on February 1st. Directed by Jonathan Demme from a screenplay by Ted Tally and based on a novel by Thomas Harris,...

Both Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins grabbed Oscars for their respective roles as Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter in The Silence of the Lambs. The film also won Best Picture and made $270 million at the box office worldwide. Foster revealed that she avoided Hopkins for most of the filming because she was afraid of him.

Jodie Foster in The Silence of the Lambs | Credits: Orion Pictures

Foster explained that most of their scenes were shot with glass partitions in between them. It was this dynamic between the actors that reflected in the film and fans loved it. The scenes between Hopkins and Foster were dramatically new for the viewers at the time.

Jodie Foster avoided Anthony Hopkins for most of the filming of The Silence of the Lambs Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter in a still from The Silence of the Lambs | Credits: Orion Pictures

Jodie Foster played a young...

While the franchise's on-screen future remains unclear, an underrated Hannibal Lecter adaptation is getting a new streaming home. Based on Thomas Harris' four novels centering on the cannibalistic serial killer, the on-screen journey of the character began in 1986's Manhunter, written and directed by Michael Mann and starring Brian Cox as the iconic killer. Primarily based on the first novel, Red Dragon, the movie failed at the box office and initially garnered mixed reviews, but has gone on to be considered a cult classic.

Arguably, the adaptation that put the franchise on the map was the Anthony Hopkins-led The Silence of the Lambs, one of the few horror movies to get Oscars recognition, winning the big five awards while being nominated for an additional two. Hopkins would carry on the role of Lecter with the 2001 sequel Hannibal, which was a commercial hit in spite of its critical dismissal, and the 2002 prequel Red Dragon,...

Peacock subscribers will soon be able to witness Anthony Hopkins' final turn as Hannibal Lecter. Red Dragon, based on the 1981 novel of the same name by Thomas Harris, is heading to the streaming service this January.

Directed by Brett Ratner, Red Dragon is a prequel to 1991's The Silence of the Lambs and features the final performance of Hopkins as cannibal serial killer Hannibal Lecter. The movie will become available to stream on Peacock beginning Jan. 1. Released in 2002, the psychological thriller sees FBI agent Will Graham (played by Edward Norton) enlisting the help of serial killer Hannibal Lecter to catch another killer, Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes). Although not as critically acclaimed as The Silence of the Lambs, Red Dragon — which was penned by Silence screenwriter Ted Tally — was seen as an improvement over 2001's Hannibal. The prequel was also a box office success, grossing $209 million worldwide against a $78 million budget.

The Substance is poised to be a rare awards breakout in the horror genre thanks to jarring content and Moore’s star power.

The Substance is no one’s idea of a relaxed viewing experience. The darkly comic satire about beauty standards, aging, and how they all tie in to the entertainment industry is designed to sicken as well as enlighten, featuring grisly, gruesome body horror sequences. But the feature has not only held its own commercially at the box office — taking in $16 million domestic and $57 million worldwide on an estimated $17.5 million budget — but penetrated the cultural conversation in a way few movies outside the Hollywood mainstream have in 2024.

Over the past several days, the macabre film has started to soar in the Gold Derby odds for the 97th Academy Awards. It’s now predicted to qualify for Best Picture, rising to 10th place with 25-1 odds. The Substance director,...

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This November, Tubi is bringing you a lot of entertainment from the time-travel mystery thriller series 11.22.63 to a dark medical drama series Nip/Tuck. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Tubi this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 10 best films that are coming to Tubi in November 2024 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Licorice Pizza (November 1) Credit – United Artists Releasing Rotten Tomatoes Score: 90%

Licorice Pizza is a romantic comedy-drama film written and directed by Paul Thomas Anderson. The 2021 film is set in 1973 and it follows the relationship between Gary Valentine, a teen actor, and Alana Kane, a directionless young woman as they try to grow up and fall in love in California’s San Fernando Valley. Licorice Pizza stars Alana Haim,...

The Silence of the Lambs, the 1991 film by Jonathan Demme, and the only pure horror film in history to win an Academy Award for Best Picture, will hit a streaming platform this week. The movie that started the Hannibal Lecter craze in the early 90s will be added to Peacocks library of movies starting November 1, via Comic Book.

While its not the first time itll be available on streaming, The Silence of the Lambs arrives just in time to creep out horror fans as the spooky season ends and the industry enters its holiday stages of Thanksgiving and Christmas. Regardless, this one fits any season because it hasnt lost a bit of its power to make an impact beyond the tropes of the horror genre. It is an unsettling piece, but at the same time, there are no arguments against its ability to engage the audience on all sides.

In The Silence of the Lambs,...

The real Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs is based on a series of real-life serial killers. Although it's Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) who is most memorable in Jonathan Demme's 1991 masterpiece, it's Buffalo Bill (Ted LeVine) who Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster) is an tasked with cracking the case of. As a deranged serial killer who kidnaps and skins women in order to wear them, he's among horror's truly terrifying human villains, and is made even scarier by the true story underpinning the character.

To have a film make a lasting impression on the world, filmmakers often take real-life inspirations for the movie's villain to add an element of authenticity to its horror. In The Silence of the Lambs: Magic in the Making documentary, screenwriter Ted Tally opens up about some inspirations for Hannibal Lecter and Buffalo Bill, citing Ted Bundy and Gary Heidnik as reference points.

Oscar voters don’t often want to be terrorized, so when it happens it’s frightfully good. Take a tour through our photo gallery featuring 14 of the scariest movies to be honored at the Academy Awards.

Our gallery begins with “The Silence of the Lambs,” the 1991 film which swept through the major categories. It prevailed for Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally).

To help close out the 20th Century, director and writer M. Night Shyamalan devised one of the most clever scripts in recent decades for “The Sixth Sense” in 1999. Starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment (Best Supporting Actor nominee), the film offered a major twist ending that is still being discussed today.

Our most recent entry is Jordan Peele‘s spooky “Get Out” starring Daniel Kaluuya, which won for Best Original Screenplay at the Oscars.

Few horror films have reached the heights of The Silence of the Lambs, director Jonathan Demme's 1991 powerhouse that produced one of Hollywoods most iconic monsters in Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), and arguably one of its most fascinating protagonists in Jodie Fosters Clarice Starling. The film overcame the perceived bias that accompanies horror films on Oscar night to sweep the "Big Five" Academy Awards: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, and Best Adapted Screenplay for Ted Tally's adaptation of Thomas Harris' 1988 novel. There are moments that are downright creepy, suspenseful, horrific, and even darkly comic. Yet in a film that is rife with terrifying moments, there is one that stands above the rest. and guaranteed its not the one you think it is. While the extremely tense night vision sequence towards the end and the excruciating first meeting are both sensational horror sequences, it is the elevator...

Longlegs is a crime horror film written and directed by Oz Perkins. The 2024 film follows the story of FBI Agent Lee Harker as she takes on the case of unsolved serial killings but the mystery takes an interesting turn when the evidence suggests a connection to the occult. Soon, Harker discovers that she has a personal connection to the killer and she must find him before he kills someone else. Longlegs stars Maika Monroe in the lead role with Nicolas Cage, Alicia Witt, Kiernan Shipka, Blair Underwood, Erin Boyes, Dakota Daulby, Lisa Chandler, and Jason Day starring in supporting roles. So, if you loved the horror, crime, psychological, and mystery elements in Longlegs, here are some similar movies you could watch next.

The Silence of the Lambs (Prime Video) Credit – Orion Pictures

The Silence of the Lambs is a psychological horror thriller film directed by Jonathan Demme from a screenplay by Ted Tally.

This July, Prime Video is bringing you a lot of entertainment with a sequel of a beloved film like My Spy titled The Eternal City and an animated sequel series to the comedy gold, which was the Sausage Party film titled Foodtopia. However, for the purposes of this article, we are only including the films that are coming to Prime Video this month and have a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score. So, check out the 7 best films that are coming to Prime Video in July 2024 with a 90% or higher Rotten Tomatoes score.

Animal House (July 1)

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 91%

National Lampoon’s Animal House is a classic comedy-drama film directed by John Landis from a screenplay co-written by Harold Ramis, Douglas Kenney, and Chris Miller. Inspired by National Lampoon stories written by Matty Simmons and Ivan Reitman, the 1978 film follows the story of freshmen Larry and Kent as they join a troublemaking...

Hannibal Lecter's quotes reveal his incredible ego and manipulative nature, showcasing how he thinks and behaves. The dialogue in The Silence of the Lambs is exceptional and evidence of why it won an Oscar for Best Adapted Screenplay. Clarice Starling's strength and battles against sexism in her profession are important elements of the movie's feminist themes.

Along with creating one of the most chilling movie villains of all time and delivering huge thrills, The Silence of the Lambs quotes have helped cement its impressive cinematic reputation. The movie is often regarded as one of the greatest movies ever made, and certainly one of the greatest crime dramas. While it includes many tropes of the "catching a serial killer" movie, it transcends the genre thanks to some masterful writing, acting, and directing. Several standout quotes from The Silence of the Lambs highlight its terrific characters and bone-chilling sequences that have made it a classic.

As attention turns to the Oscars around this time every year, it’s easy to get caught up remembering some of the big winners. One of the most notable champs was The Silence of the Lambs, which took home the “Big Five” awards in 1992: Best Picture, Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Director (Jonathan Demme), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally), as well as Best Sound Mixing and Best Film Editing to round it out.

And despite owning the film rights to works of author Thomas Harris, super-producer Dino De Laurentiis saw none of that windfall, be it Oscar gold or box office riches. How could a savvy Hollywood player, responsible for making some of the most important movies of all time, make such a wild mistake?

It’s all Michael Mann’s fault.

Hannibal and the Italian

In 1981, author Thomas Harris published Red Dragon, a...

The episode of Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? covering Hannibal was Written by Mike Holtz, Narrated by Travis Hopson, Edited by Joseph Wilson, Produced by Andrew Hatfield and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

When The Silence of the Lambs was released upon the world in 1991 and not only became a financial and critical success but also the third film in history to win all five of the big awards at the Oscars, you knew it meant one thing… Tostito’s Pizza Rolls! Because that’s the best way to celebrate any achievement. No, it meant a sequel. Thank God it released in the 90s and not today! Forget a sequel, Disney would have purchased the rights and farmed out an entire cinematic universe. I can see it now… (trailer voice) “You’ve seen Hannibal Lecter behind bars. But have you ever seen him… in the classroom?...

True Detective: Night Country has been praised as the best season since the original, thanks to its supernatural direction. Jodie Foster felt an immediate connection to the script, similar to her experience with The Silence of the Lambs. Night Country's divergence into the supernatural has successfully recaptured audience attention and received strong reviews.

True Detective: Night Country continues to unravel its mysteries with its penultimate episode, and ahead of the season's conclusion, stars Jodie Foster and Kali Reis got together to take part in a roundtable interview. The series is the first major TV role for Foster, but appearing on the small screen in this dark and sinister tale has something in common with the actress’ role as Clarice Starling in 1991’s The Silence of the Lambs – her immediate connection to the material.

True Detective CrimeDrama Release DateJanuary 12, 2014CastMahershala Ali, Stephen Dorff, Carmen Ejogo, Scoot McNairy, Jodie Foster, Kali Reis,...

The episode of Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? covering The Silence of the Lambs was Written by Mike Holtz, Narrated by Adam Walton, Edited by Victoria Verduzco, Produced by Andrew Hatfield and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

A serial killer who has excellent taste in music but happens to skin women alive. Another serial killer who eats his victims and sometimes wears their faces. A prison inmate who throws his bodily fluids in the face of passers-by and freaking Bugs. Welcome to the 1992 Academy Awards Ceremony. Wait, what? That’s right kids! Do you enjoy listening to Primus and want to see Hannibal Lecter make potato chips out of each one of your eyelids? Once upon a time, horror put on its best face; Literally, and was the belle of the fanciest ball of them all. And every little girl deserves to go to the ball.

Genres films are often overlooked by academy voters and none more so than horror. Horror films have been a cornerstone of cinema since the inception of the format with George Méliès‘ “Le Manoir du Diable” often considered the first horror movie. Since then, we’ve had hundreds of important horror movies including “Nosferatu,” “Psycho,” “Rosemary’s Baby,” “A Nightmare on Elm Street,” “Halloween,” and “The Shining.” These have all influenced not only the horror genre but the film industry at large in one way or another. Yet, we’ve only had six films nominated for Best Picture at the Oscars in Academy Awards history. Let’s take a look at them.

The first horror film ever nominated for Best Picture was William Friedkin‘s “The Exorcist,” which follows Max von Sydow‘s priest trying to rid a 12-year-old girl of the entity possessing her. The film made a big, bloody splash at the 1974 Academy Awards,...

Killer Collectibles highlights five of the most exciting new horror products announced each and every week, from toys and apparel to artwork, records, and much more.

Here are the coolest horror collectibles unveiled this week!

Cujo 4K Uhd from Kino Lorber

Cujo will be released on 4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray on October 24 via Kino Lorber. Celebrating its 40th anniversary, the 1983 horror film has been newly restored in 4K from the original camera negative with Dolby Vision/Hdr.

Based on Stephen King’s 1981 novel, Lewis Teague directs from a script by Barbara Turner (Pollock) and Don Carlos Dunaway. Dee Wallace, Daniel Hugh-Kelly, Danny Pintauro, Ed Lauter, and Christopher Stone star.

Special features include: three audio commentaries (two with Teague and one from film historian Lee Gambin), Dog Days: The Making of Cujo featurette, eight cast and crew interviews, and more.

Red Dragon 4K Uhd from Kino Lorber

Red Dragon will be...

The Red Dragon episode of Wtf Happened to This Horror Movie? was Written by Ric Solomon, Narrated by Adam Walton, Edited by Juan Jimenez, Produced by Andrew Hatfield and John Fallon, and Executive Produced by Berge Garabedian.

Hannibal Lecter… a name that has been cemented forever in the hearts of horror fans alike. We’ve seen him in some truly gruesome, yet unforgettable films. The most well known is The Silence of the Lambs, which was followed up in 2001 with the mostly disliked, self-titled Hannibal. But the very next year, in 2002, we were treated to somewhat of a redemption story of Hannibal Lecter in the form of Red Dragon (watch it Here). Did you know though, that this wasn’t the first time Red Dragon was made? Did you also know that none other than Brett Ratner, of then Rush Hour fame, directed this psychological thriller? Let’s look back,...

A few months ago, we heard that The CW had picked up the U.S. rights to the TV series adaptation of author Frank Schätzing’s apocalyptic sci-fi novel The Swarm (you can pick up a copy at This Link). Now Deadline has revealed that The Swarm is set to begin airing on The CW at 9 p.m. Et/Pt on Tuesday, September 12th. A trailer for the show can be seen in the embed above.

The Swarm, not to be confused with the Donald Glover / Prime Video series Swarm, has been a long time coming. In 2006, Uma Thurman and producers Michael Souvignier, Ica Souvignier, and Till Grönemeyer acquired the film rights, with The Silence of the Lambs screenwriter Ted Tally handling the adaptation and Dino De Laurentiis on board to help finance the film. But it didn’t make it into production. In 2018, it was announced that Game of Thrones...

It has been two weeks since the passing of Cormac McCarthy, the taciturn Southern gentleman widely regarded as one of the great American novelists of the last hundred years, if not all of American history. His prose poetry, as deliberate and lacerating in its construction as the lethal instruments often featured therein, evokes the country as an earthy garden of sin where men gamble their fates and faith before a pitiless, Old Testament God.

Where many great writers of McCarthy’s generation carved ever-deeper niches into the peculiar artifices of language and the 20th century’s assault of information, his lucid, imagistic narratives and spectacles of violent incident have often suggested the cinematic. His engagement with genre––Western, horror, neo-noir––interrogated American myths, peeling back their skin and tissue to reveal the stark existential queries beneath. McCarthy was fascinated by cinema from early in his career––he wrote several screenplays dating back to the 1970s,...

An adaptation of author Frank Schätzing’s apocalyptic sci-fi novel The Swarm (you can pick up a copy at This Link), not to be confused with the Donald Glover / Prime Video series Swarm, was a long time coming. In 2006, Uma Thurman and producers Michael Souvignier, Ica Souvignier, and Till Grönemeyer acquired the film rights, with The Silence of the Lambs screenwriter Ted Tally handling the adaptation and Dino De Laurentiis on board to help finance the film. But it didn’t make it into production. In 2018, it was announced that Game of Thrones executive producer Frank Doelger was teaming with Beta Film and Zdf Enterprises to bring The Swarm to the screen as an eight-part TV series. Five years later, episodes of the show finally had their premiere at the Berlin Film Festival. The Swarm is now streaming on multiple services around the world – and Deadline reports that The CW has picked up the U.

The way that Clarice Starling stumbles upon the home of the villainous Buffalo Bill is one of The Silence of the Lambs’ most inventive twists. The cross-cutting between Clarice arriving at Bill’s house while Jack Crawford and his FBI Hostage Rescue Team go to the wrong location is one of the movie's most iconic moments. It sets the stage for the film’s nail-biting finale, shot in terrifying night vision, in which Clarice chases Bill into his underground lair. But it’s not conspicuous how Clarice managed to find Bill in the first place.

The Silence of the Lambs is the only horror movie to ever win Best Picture at the Academy Awards, and one of the few films – along with It Happened One Night and One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest – to win all five major categories. In addition to Best Picture, The Silence of the Lambs won Best Director for Jonathan Demme,...

An adaptation of author Frank Schätzing’s apocalyptic sci-fi novel The Swarm (you can pick up a copy at This Link) has been a long time coming. In 2006, Uma Thurman and producers Michael Souvignier, Ica Souvignier, and Till Grönemeyer acquired the film rights, with The Silence of the Lambs screenwriter Ted Tally handling the adaptation and Dino De Laurentiis on board to help finance the film. But it didn’t make it into production. In 2018, it was announced that Game of Thrones executive producer Frank Doelger was teaming with Beta Film and Zdf Enterprises to bring The Swarm to the screen as an eight-part TV series… and four years later, that series is finally ready to be seen! A television airdate hasn’t been set yet, but Variety reports that The Swarm will premiere at the Berlin Film Festival in February. Hopefully details on the TV and/or streaming release...

It’s never a bad time for a scary movie. And Amazon Prime Video has some of the very best scary movies to watch. Whether it’s a serial killer thriller like “The Silence of the Lambs,” a zombie epic like “World War Z” or an oddball cult favorite like “C.H.U.D.” or “Jennifer’s Body,” Prime Video has a surprisingly robust selection of all your favorites on streaming.

Below, we run down some of the best horror movies on Amazon Prime Video right now.

The Silence of the Lambs Orion Pictures

Jonathan Demme’s Oscar-sweeping masterpiece is just as potent and terrifying today as it was in 1991. In this adaptation of Thomas Harris’ best-selling novel, Jodie Foster plays Clarice Starling, an FBI trainee who is recruited to interface with Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), a serial killer who holds vital clues to a new case involving the abduction of a senator’s daughter.

Oscar voters don’t often want to be terrorized, so when it happens it’s frightfully good. For a Halloween celebration take a tour through our photo gallery featuring 14 of the scariest movies to be honored at the Academy Awards. You can then rush to your favorite streamer or network to watch them in all their bloodthirsty glory.

Our gallery begins with “The Silence of the Lambs,” the 1991 film which swept through the major categories. It prevailed for Best Picture, Best Director (Jonathan Demme), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally).

SEE17 best Anthony Hopkins movies, ranked

To help close out the 20th Century, director and writer M. Night Shyamalan devised one of the most clever scripts in recent decades for “The Sixth Sense” in 1999. Starring Bruce Willis and Haley Joel Osment (Best Supporting Actor nominee), the film offered a major twist ending...

At the 64th Academy Awards, it was all about "The Silence of the Lambs." The host, Billy Crystal, was wheeled onto the stage wearing Hannibal Lecter's famous muzzle, and by the end of the evening the film had swept the "Big Five" Oscars: Best Picture, Director, Actor, Actress, and Adapted Screenplay, becoming only the third film in the Academy's history to do so (after "It Happened One Night" and "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest.")

It was a cannibal love-in, alright; in the building at least, because outside in the street several hundred protestors gathered to angrily decry the portrayal of gay characters in a number of the year's films, most notably "The Silence of the Lambs" for its transgender serial killer Buffalo Bill (via Advocate). Whether the film is transphobic or not remains a subject of debate today but that doesn't detract from the quality of Ted Levine's performance as Bill,...

Anthony Heald had a challenge when playing Dr. Frederick Chilton in "The Silence of the Lambs" — he had to make his character less likable than not one but two serial killers. In a testament to his talent, he succeeded.

From his first scene, Chilton oozes more slime than a Devonian swamp. When he makes a pass at an uninterested Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster), director Jonathan Demme frames him staring right back at the camera so we can feel Clarice's same unease. He simultaneously aggrandizes and underestimates Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins), speaking of him like a caged animal yet declaring himself the not-so-good doctor's "nemesis."

Chilton's glory-chasing ultimately gives Lecter an opening to escape. Chilton flees to Bahamas but his former prisoners finds him all the same. Lecter, chatting to Agent Starling on the phone as he watches Chilton, bids Clarice farewell with a double entendre for the ages: he has...

The horror genre is one of the most undervalued art forms in the space of critical accolades. However, scramble in the superhero factor, like Marvel’s newest entry, “Doctor Strange in the Multiverse of Madness” from Sam Raimi, and you have a product that will indeed generate discussion and divisive reactions.

To get it out of the away nice and early, the anticipated sequel is not a contender to go into the history books like the two previous superhero features that managed to make the cut, “Black Panther” (2018) and “Joker” (2019). Of the entire MCU canon that began with “Iron Man” (2008), the next chapter in the story of Dr. Stephen Strange sits comfortably in the middle of the pact, arguably outdoing its predecessor. While I thoroughly enjoyed most of its offerings and acknowledge the outing among Marvel’s most ambitious swings, there will be many that will fail to get past.

Welcome to Oscars Playback, a new series in which Gold Derby editors and Experts Christopher Rosen and Joyce Eng revisit Oscar ceremonies and winners of yesteryear. If you’ve followed our regular Oscar predictions series this past season, you’ll know we’re big fans of the ’90s, so for our premiere episode we travel back 30 years to the 64th Academy Awards in 1992, honoring the films of 1991.

This was, of course, the year when “The Silence of the Lambs” dominated, becoming the third film and still the most recent one to win the Big Five: picture, director (Jonathan Demme), actor (Anthony Hopkins), actress (Jodie Foster) and adapted screenplay (Ted Tally). It was the first horror film to win Best Picture, taking down “Bugsy,” “JFK,” “The Prince of Tides” and “Beauty and the Beast,” which was the first animated film nominated in the top category. But it was “The Silence of...

Only three films have won the coveted “Big Five” – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay – in the history of the Academy Awards. Only two men and two women have won Best Actor and Best Actress respectively for performances in horror films. Only two people have won two acting Oscars before the age of 30. Only seven films have won both Best Actor and Best Actress. A little sleeper hit 30 years ago accomplished All these feats, while an animated film and a mother and daughter made Academy history, and a 73-year-old made a lasting impression. So, grab “some fava beans and a nice Chianti” and “be our guest” as we flashback 30 years to 1992 for one of the Academy’s most memorable ceremonies.

It was a mixed bag of five films nominated for Best Picture, with an animated film (“Beauty and the Beast”), a mobster biopic (“Bugsy”), a political...

The best horror film of the 1990s and perhaps the only serial killer picture post- Psycho that can stand on equal terms with Hitchcock’s classic, Jonathan Demme and Ted Tally’s adaptation of the Thomas Harris novel is a standout experience in every way. Not all 4K Ultra HD encodings are worth crowing about but this one is — the added visual detail and especially the contrast range really make a difference. Kino offers a good selection of extras as well, including a teaser trailer I haven’t seen for years and a fine Tim Lucas commentary.

The Silence of the Lambs

4K Ultra HD + Blu-ray

Kl Studio Classics

1991 / Color / 1:85 widescreen / 118 min. / available through Kino Lorber / Street Date October 19, 2021 / 39.95

Starring: Jodie Foster, Anthony Hopkins, Scott Glenn, Ted Levine, Anthony Heald, Brooke Smith, Tracey Walter, Kenneth Utt, Paul Lazar, Adelle Lutz, Obba Babatundé, Diane Baker, Roger Corman, Ron Vawter, Charles Napier,...

Classic horror flick Silence of the Lambs just turned 30 — and now you can celebrate by sleeping over at Buffalo Bill’s house. (In a bed, not a basement well.)

The Pennslyvania home used in the filming of The Silence of the Lambs was put up for sale in October of 2020 and sold in February 2021 for nearly $300,000, according to the realtor’s Instagram. The new owner is Art Director & Prop Stylist Chris Rowan, who purchased the house in order to provide horror fans with tours, filming locations, and room and board.

I was terrified at the Academy Awards,” screenwriter Ted Tally says. “I can’t describe how nerve-racking it is. You go in the bathrooms, and people are boozing it up, smoking, doing lines of coke. You never saw so many famous people so nervous.”

On Valentine’s Day in 1991, The Silence of the Lambs opened in movie theaters. An intense, gritty crime odyssey, in which an FBI cadet (Jodie Foster as Clarice Starling) hunts down a serial killer (Ted Levine as Jame “Buffalo Bill” Gumb) with the help of another,...

Michelle Pfeiffer says she turned down Silence of the Lambs because it was "too evil." Director Jonathan Demme wanted her to star as Clarice Starling, but Pfeiffer wasn't interested. Jodie Foster ended up taking on the role instead, which earned her an Academy Award. Pfeiffer and Demme had previously worked on Married to the Mob together and the actress regrets not getting a second chance to work with the director again. Demme passed away in 2017 from complications from esophageal cancer and heart disease.

The Silence of the Lambs isn't exactly an uplifting story. The movie, and its source material, Thomas Harris' novel of the same name, tells the story of a young FBI agent tracking a serial killer who skins his female victims. When Michelle Pfeiffer read the script, she found it to be a bit too much for her to take on. She explains.

"With The Silence of the Lambs,...

For a cool $298,500, you could own a 1.76-acre piece of movie history in Pennsylvania, as the house featured in Jonathan Demme’s 1991 “The Silence of the Lambs” where serial killer Buffalo Bill lived is now up for sale. It’s most famously seen in the movie’s final showdown between the villain and Clarice Starling (Jodie Foster). Basement well not included. (Via Nerdist.)

Located at 8 Circle St. in Perryopolis, Pennsylvania, the three-story Victorian is far less creepy than you’d imagine, and the real-estate listing isn’t afraid of highlighting the location’s novelty status. The home also has potential as a prime Airbnb destination for horror movie lovers who surely want to check out that cellar. Watch a video tour of the house below.

Next year marks the 30-year anniversary of the Best Picture Oscar-winning film, which first premiered in January 1991. Nowadays, it’s almost unimaginable to think a...

Hollywood studio executive William Bernstein, a co-founder of Orion Pictures who also worked for United Artists and Paramount Pictures, died Wednesday. He was 87.

Longtime associate Mike Medavoy confirmed Bernstein’s death, first reported by The Hollywood Reporter. “He was a brilliant guy, just very very smart,” Medavoy said.

Bernstein, Medavoy, Arthur Krim, Robert Benjamin and Eric Pleskow departed United Artists and launched Orion in 1978 as a mini-major that was the first significant new player in Hollywood in many decades. Medavoy credited Bernstein with conceiving the name of the studio. Bernstein explained the choice in a 1992 interview with the New York Times

“Orion is the largest constellation; it has five stars, just like us, and it was the brightest constellation in February, when we were forming the company,” he told the newspaper. “Besides, it was simple to spell.”

Between 1984 and 1991, Orion released four films that won the Academy Award for best picture: “Amadeus,...

Hello, Clarice.

CBS has given a series commitment to “Clarice,” a sequel series to “The Silence of the Lambs” (1991), the network announced Sunday at the Television Critics Association winter press tour.

From executive producers Alex Kurtzman and Jenny Lumet and based on the character created by Thomas Harris, the show is set in 1993, the year after the events in the Oscar-winning film and will follow Clarice Starling as she returns to the field to pursue serial murderers and sexual predators while navigating Washington, D.C.

See Jodie Foster’s 15 greatest films ranked

“After more than 20 years of silence, we’re privileged to give voice to one of America’s most enduring heroes — Clarice Starling,” Kurtzman and Lumet. “Clarice’s bravery and complexity have always lit the way, even as her personal story remained in the dark. But hers is the very story we need today: her struggle, her resilience, her victory.

It’s official: “Joker” is a hit. The provocative Todd Phillips-directed Warner Bros. film, starring Joaquin Phoenix as the iconic DC Comics villain, had the biggest October weekend opening box office ever, with $93.5 million in ticket sales.

There was never a doubt that “Joker” would earn big bucks, but awards season recognition remains an open question.

As soon as the first trailer dropped in April, a chorus of praise was heaped upon Phoenix. The clip may only have been two minutes and 24 seconds long, but the glimpse of the actor as the clown-faced killer with a psycho laugh was met with Insta-predictions that Phoenix would secure his fourth Oscar nomination.

Since then, Warner Bros. staged the film’s world premiere in Venice, where it received an eight-minute standing ovation and picked up the Golden Lion. A few days later, the North American debut at the Toronto Film Festival earned Phoenix similar accolades.

Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga are aiming to be the eighth onscreen duo to win Best Actor and Best Actress Oscars. But they could join even more rarefied air if “A Star Is Born” also wins Best Picture, as only three films ever have swept those three categories.

All three films that have accomplished this just so happened to be the only three films to claim the Big Five awards as well: Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and a screenplay award. The first film to do so was “It Happened One Night” (1934), which picked up statuettes for leads Clark Gable and Claudette Colbert, director Frank Capra and screenwriter Robert Riskin.

It’d be 41 years before it occurred again, achieved by “One Flew Over the Cuckoo’s Nest (1975), with victories for helmer Milos Forman, stars Jack Nicholson and Louise Fletcher, and screenwriters Laurence Hauben and Bo Goldman.

See...

This article marks Part 6, the final entry in the Gold Derby series reflecting on films that contended for the Big Five Oscars – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor, Best Actress and Best Screenplay (Original or Adapted). With “A Star Is Born” this year on the cusp of joining this exclusive group of Oscar favorites, join us as we look back at the 43 extraordinary pictures that earned Academy Awards nominations in each of the Big Five categories, including the following three films that swept all of the top races.

At the 7th Academy Awards ceremony, Frank Capra’s romantic comedy “It Happened One Night” (1934) made Oscar history as the first film to triumph in all of the Big Five categories – Best Picture, Best Director, Best Actor (Clark Gable), Best Actress (Claudette Colbert) and Best Adapted Screenplay (Robert Riskin). For each of these talents, it would hardly be their lone Oscar appearance.

This article marks Part 3 of the Gold Derby series reflecting on Horror Films at the Oscars. Join us as we look back at the spine-tingling movies that earned Academy Awards nominations, including the following films from the 1980s and 1990s.

On the heels of the lukewarm reception for “Alien” (1979), horror cinema still struggled to break through at the Oscars with the start of the 1980s.

Stanley Kubrick‘s “The Shining” (1980) was not voters’ cup of tea, though it did earn Razzie Award nominations in Worst Director and Worst Actress (Shelley Duvall). Likewise, Brian De Palma’s “Dressed to Kill” and Peter Medak’s “The Changeling,” both now considered horror classics, were not embraced at the Oscars.

The one 1980 horror film that did strike a chord was “Altered States,” the trippy collaboration of director Ken Russell and screenwriter Paddy Cheyefsky. It landed nominations in Best Original Score and Best Sound.

The...

Over the 90-years of Oscar history, seven films have scored wins in both Best Actor and Best Actress on the big night. This year could see, for the first time in more than two decades, an eighth join this exclusive group of Oscar favorites.

“A Star Is Born” proved the toast of the Telluride, Toronto and Venice Film Festivals, earning critical raves that favorably compared it to the three prior eponymous films, from 1937, 1954 and 1976. Stars Bradley Cooper and Lady Gaga have been lauded for their turns in the film and now lead in Gold Derby’s odds in Best Actor and Best Actress.

With Fredric March and Janet Gaynor earning Oscar nominations for the 1937 original and James Mason and Judy Garland having garnered recognition for the 1954 musical remake, Cooper and Gaga are well-positioned to at least score nominations for the latest version. Should both prevail, “A Star Is Born” will...

Uma Thurman was originally planning to adapt environmental sci-fi thriller novel The Swarm into a feature film with screenwriter Ted Tally (The Silence of the Lambs). That never happened but today we have word the book is finally making it’s way to the screen. This time Deadline reports Game of Thrones exec producer Frank Doelger […]

The post Toxic Jellyfish and More Fight Back in New Big-Budget Series The Swarm appeared first on Dread Central.

Game of Thrones, Rome and John Adams executive producer Frank Doelger is set to develop an adaptation of the environmental sci-fi thriller novel The Swarm into a TV series. For those of you not familiar with the story that was written by Frank Schaetzing:

The Swarm is a global environmental thriller set in a present day where anomalies and unnatural behavior in marine animals are causing upheaval all over the world. Millions of strange worms suddenly appear on the bottom of the North Sea, drilling their way through frozen methane, threatening to destabilize the entire continental shelf. Swarms of mussels stop large vessels from maneuvering. Toxic jellyfish, lobsters and whales start attacking human beings along the coasts of the world. It follows a global group of scientists and military who come together to tackle one of the biggest challenges mankind has ever faced. They make the chilling discovery that we...

Game of Thrones exec producer Frank Doelger is adapting environmental sci-fi thriller novel The Swarm into an English-language TV drama. The project is the first drama to emerge from Doelger’s nascent Intaglio Films.

The series is being adapted into an eight-part big-budget series for German broadcaster Zdf. Uma Thurman had previously been attached to adapt the book into a feature film with The Silence of the Lambs screenwriter Ted Tally.

The Swarm, based on Frank Schaetzing’s book, is a global environmental thriller set in a present day where anomalies and unnatural behavior in marine animals are causing upheaval all over the world. Millions of strange worms suddenly appear on the bottom of the North Sea, drilling their way through frozen methane, threatening to destabilize the entire continental shelf. Swarms of mussels stop large vessels from maneuvering. Toxic jellyfish, lobsters and whales start attacking human beings along the coasts of the world.

As with most film stars nowadays Penelope Cruz has recently crossed over from movies to television with her performance as Donatella Versace in the limited series “The Assassination of Gianni Versace.” Cruz received her first Emmy nomination for the show as Best Movie/Limited Series Supporting Actress.

Cruz has received three Oscar nominations throughout her career. Her first nomination was for Best Actress for the film “Volver” in 2006. She subsequently received two Best Supporting Actress nominations for “Vicky Christina Barcelona” in 2008 and “Nine” in 2009. She won the Oscar for “Vicky Christina Barcelona” making her one of seven actors to win an Oscar for a Woody Allen film.

Cruz first rose to fame in her native Spain. Her performances in many films there and especially in the work of Pedro Almodóvar allowed her to start appearing in American films. She initially struggled a bit to bring the same power in her...