Rewatchables Reference

• CR and Bill: Lecter attacks the two guards (the escape sequence).
• Mallory: The Crying of the Lambs story – Clarice's confession to Lecter.
• Sean: The first Clarice-Lecter encounter (including Miggs).
• Also discussed: Catherine Martin singing 'American Girl' into the kidnapping van; 'Put the lotion in the basket'; the tuck dance; the night vision goggles basement scene; 'I'm having an old friend for dinner.'

• Chilton as the 'Mayor Brody trope' – the obvious human villain alongside the serial killer villain.
• The visual framings – characters looking directly into camera, glass cell reflections.
• Howard Shore's score and needle drops.
• Cannibal culture kicked off by this film.
• 'Quid pro quo' entering the zeitgeist.
• Night goggles. The glass instead of bars. Double endings.
• The William Goldman editing story.

• The sequels/prequels: Hannibal (Jodie refused the script where Clarice and Lecter become lovers on LSD), Red Dragon remaking 'Manhunter' with older Hopkins.
• Criminal profiling as a concept – 'It turns out that might not work' / 'pseudoscience.'
• Trump repeatedly referencing Hannibal Lecter during the 2024 presidential campaign.
• Opening credit graphics/fonts (early 90s aesthetic).

The guard (Lt. Boyle) hung up like an angel/butterfly – inspired by painter Francis Bacon.

• 'Goodbye Horses' by Q Lazarus (the tuck dance).
• 'American Girl' by Tom Petty (Catherine Martin's kidnapping).
• 'Hip Priest' by The Fall (going into the basement).

• Mallory: The puzzle/anagram elements are 'comparatively clunky' (Hester Moffett = The Rest of Me, Lewis Friend = Iron Sulfide).
• Bill and Sean: Jack Crawford – picked someone barely in the top quarter of her class for the most dangerous criminal in America; never realized the first victim knew Buffalo Bill; stormed the wrong house; Clarice wandered into a dungeon alone.

• Sean: Hopkins's Oscar is 'fraudulent' – should have been nominated in Supporting Actor, not Best Actor.
• CR: 'Lecter's an incredible therapist' – three sessions, completely solves childhood trauma.
• Mallory: Catherine Martin should have died because of what she did to Precious (the dog).
• Bill: This isn't Hopkins's greatest performance – The Father is better.

• Gene Hackman was going to direct and play Lecter or Crawford. His daughter told him not to do it.
• Sean Connery was Demme's choice for Lecter; he turned it down.
• Michelle Pfeiffer was Demme's choice for Clarice; she turned it down over subject matter.
• Meg Ryan turned it down because it was too gruesome. Molly Ringwald auditioned.
• Ed Harris turned down Jack Crawford because he 'didn't find the role interesting.'

• Hopkins 'dials it up a couple of times with eyebrows.'
• Brooke Smith screaming from the pit (though justified).

• Ted Levine / Buffalo Bill (easy winner).
• Other candidates: Anthony Heald (Dr. Chilton), Charles Napier (Lt. Boyle), Frankie Faison (Barney), Stuart Rudin (Miggs), Dan Butler (Bulldog from Frasier).

Shot mostly in Pittsburgh despite being set in Baltimore (Mallory finds this 'enraging').

• Lecter mask created by Ed Cubberly from New Jersey (NHL goalie mask maker).
• Buffalo Bill's house in Perryopolis, PA sold for $195K in 2016.
• Brooke Smith gained 25 lbs; the prop lady lotion story.
• Lt. Boyle's body display inspired by Francis Bacon.
• Swallowing your own tongue is physically impossible – Miggs must have bitten it off and choked.

• Jonathan Demme: Yes (over 'Philadelphia').
• Anthony Hopkins: Yes.
• Serial killer movies: Yes (competition: Seven, 'Zodiac').
• Q Lazarus: Definitely.
• Ted Levine: Definitely.
• Night goggles: This or 'Jurassic Park'.
• The tuck dance: Definitely.

• Chilton has 600 rules for visiting Lecter, then leaves a pen behind.
• Most notorious criminal in America, no cameras, only two guards for the escape.
• Lecter fits perfectly into the guard's clothes and face.
• The elaborate butterfly display of Lt. Boyle would have taken ages with no one checking.
• Paramedics can't tell the 'victim' in the ambulance is healthy with someone else's face.
• Nobody spots a moth cocoon in 5 victims' throats until Clarice.

• Was Miggs his first name or last name?
• How did Buffalo Bill get into Q Lazarus and The Fall?
• What did Lecter say to Miggs to make him kill himself?
• Did Catherine Martin keep Precious?
• What did Lecter pair Chilton with when he had his 'friend for dinner'?

• Winner: The lotion and basket combo.
• Also discussed: The Lecter mask(s), night goggles, the drawing of Clarice holding the lamb.

Never help somebody move furniture – don't help a creepy guy move stuff into a van.

• Bill: 'Manhunter'.
• Sean: 'Zodiac'.

All four agree: Anthony Hopkins. It made him an iconic character and huge bankable actor. Foster had already won an Oscar.

Craig called it 'the most complete movie I had ever seen' when he first watched it in high school. Praised it as a psychological thriller rather than gore-based horror.