The Silence of the Lambs' Clarice and Hannibal films and series, ranked

When The Silence of the Lambs was released in 1991, it was a massive box office hit, with good reason. It was a faithful adaptation of the novel by Thomas Harris, it had a stellar cast and it was absolutely terrifying.

Although the trailer definitely screamed “horror movie”, it was marketed as more of a thriller, perhaps to help its chances when the Oscars rolled around. It apparently worked, because The Silence of the Lambs won Academy Awards for Best Picture, Best Adapted Screenplay, Best Director, Best Actor and Best Actress.

Since that time, the debate about horror vs. thriller has raged on. For the record, it’s horror to me. Does it have supernatural elements? No, but neither does Scream, and I have never heard anyone debate its classification as horror. I mean, Buffalo Bill skins women, then wears those skins. Hannibal Lecter has practiced cannibalism. That’s horror.

And those acting awards were well-earned by Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, both of whom (no pun intended) KILLED as Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter.

So beloved was The Silence of the Lambs that the characters have lived on in four films and two television series, some successful and others not so much. Here is my personal ranking for the original film and its offshoots. *I am not ranking Hannibal Rising, because I have not seen it. Based on the feedback that I have read online, it was not well liked.

#1:

The Silence of the Lambs (1991) – This is still the best in my book. The story is creepy AF, the acting is incredible, and I still remember how I felt sitting in a theatre on opening night as I watched Starling, bathed in the pale green light of Jame Gumb’s night vision goggles, try to navigate that basement in full darkness.

And by the way, the other actors did bang-up jobs as well: Scott Glenn (a believabley authoritative Jack Crawford), Ted Levine (as the terrifying Jame Gumb), Anthony Heald doing his slimy best as Dr. Chilton, and Brooke Smith as the captive, very sympathetic Catherine Martin. Not a bad performance in the whole bunch.

#2:

Hannibal (series) – I was skeptical that any actor could take the reigns from Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter. But, Mads Mikkelsen took the role and made it his own. His Hannibal was well-dressed, well-mannered, calculating and incredibly intelligent, making him the perfect partner for Hugh Dancy’s Will Graham. Graham was equally intelligent, extremely intuitive and also vulnerable.

The series was beautifully filmed, with incredibly grotesque artistry on show, particularly for the kill scenes. A young woman’s nude body impaled on antlers, a field of dead bodies partially buried and sprouting mushrooms, various scenes of swirling, blooming blood…it was a macabre treat for the eyes.

And the other characters were great as well. Each was complicated in his or her own way, and it’s easy for viewers to get up caught up in their stories…and it hurts when they are hurt or manipulated.

If you haven’t seen Hannibal yet, you can currently catch all three seasons on Shudder.

#3:

Manhunter (1986) – This was actually the first film in which the character of Lecter appeared. It was an adaptation of Thomas Harris’s novel Red Dragon, which would be remade into another film in 2002, and then included in the storyline for Hannibal as well. To be honest, I prefer this to the later version. In this film, Will Graham is played by William Peterson (CSI),  Hannibal Lecter is played by the great Brian Cox, Dennis Farina plays Jack Crawford and Tom Noonan (The Monster Squad) plays Francis Dollarhyde, a killer who has been christened “The Tooth Fairy” because of his penchant for biting his victims.

Just as he was portrayed in the series Hannibal, Graham is a profiler who tends to figuratively step into the bodies of the murderers he profiles, and it is damaging to his psychological state. He was previously nearly killed by Dr. Hannibal Lecter, and retired due to the mental breakdown he suffered afterwards. But he is enticed back by Crawford in order to help find The Tooth Fairy.

Viewers couldn’t help but sympathize somewhat with Dollarhyde, who was abused by his grandmother as a child, and tormented by his peers due to his cleft palette. But that sympathy went out the window when he used a blind woman to set Will up once again.

#4:

Red Dragon (2002) – It’s the same basic story that was portrayed in Manhunter (and later in the series Hannibal), but it’s a decent retelling. Anthony Hopkins made a welcome return to the role of Hannibal Lector, Edward Norton appeared as Will Graham, Ralph Fiennes was Francis Dolarhyde and Harvey Keitel played Jack Crawford.

Great cast, great story, and it was well-executed – just not as well-executed as Manhunter.

#5:

Clarice (series) – This 2021 series tried to pick up the mantel, but it just didn’t click, especially when compared to the far superior Hannibal series. The acting was good, but there is just no comparison to Jodie Foster’s portrayal of the title character, and Rebecca Breed’s version of Clarice just didn’t connect.

Set after the events of The Silence of the Lambs, the premise sounded promising. Clarice has been taken off active duty and forced to undergo counselling because of the trauma she suffered due to her interactions with Jame Gumb. Her fellow FBI agents are distrustful of her because of her quid pro quo relationship with Hannibal Lecter, who is still on the loose.

Then Attorney General Ruth Martin arranges to have her placed back in enforcement as part of the VICAP task force, perhaps because she is still grateful that Starling saved her daughter Catherine from Gumb A/K/A Buffalo Bill.

It was intriguing to see the mental states of Catherine and Starling, and if the series could have been given a second season, it may have become something better than it was.

#6:

Hannibal (2001 film) – I hated the book this film was based on. Hated it. I hated this movie slightly less. The book ends with Clarice and Lecter in a romantic relationship, after the two share sauteed human brain. At least in the film version, they changed that ending, which basically slandered the character of Clarice as she had originally been written and portrayed.

Anthony Hopkins was back as Lecter, but Jodie Foster said no thanks to the offer to return as Clarice, so Julianne Moore played the role. Gary Oldman played the terrifying Mason Verger, whose face and body were horribly disfigured after an encounter with Lecter, and Ray Liotta portrayed the ill-fated crooked Justice Department Official Krendler. Though the finale is different from the book, it’s Krendler whose brain is sliced into (while he is still alive and alert), sauteed, then fed to him. Yuck.

The film itself was pretty gruesome, which I can appreciate. But I still didn’t care for the ending, which insinuates that Clarice let Lecter go free. Suffice it to say, it’s not a movie I will ever see again, and I have no desire to revisit the book either.