Hannibal

[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]

By: Nicole Vasarevic

Too often sequels to critically acclaimed films seem to be just highly anticipated disappointments that you silently scold yourself for spending money on. But if you’re lucky, you find something that keeps you crawling back for more.

When I heard that NBC was releasing a television show following the Oscar-winning 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs, I was skeptical, but curious. Holding a 94 percent rating on Rotten Tomatoes, the classic horror movie was a lot to live up to.

Simply put, the motion picture The Silence of the Lambs will leave you petrified. Anthony Hopkins’ performance as the most monstrous and cunning fictional serial killer to have ever existed is thoroughly bone chilling. Dr. Hannibal Lecter is a highly intelligent psychiatrist and psychopath whose dietary preferences involve human organs. With a total of only 15 minutes on screen, Hopkins was still able to win best actor at the Oscars in 1991. As a result, I still avoid people who dress like him for Halloween.

Hannibal first aired in 2013. Even though it did not draw a huge fan base, it still captured about one million dedicated viewers, and for good reason. The show explores what every Silence of the Lambs fan wonders: just how horrific were the crimes that Dr. Lecter committed before getting caught? Moreover, the television adaption allows its audience to get to know Dr. Lecter past the metal bars he is behind for the majority of the film, and while it is only starting its third season, it’s already impressing me. Not only does Hannibal have its fair share of guts and gore, but it has also been successful in carrying over the impressive amount of thought for the plot that made The Silence of the Lambs as good of a movie as it is.

The TV rendition follows Will Graham, an FBI special detective who uses his gift of pure empathy to catch serial killers, along with the guidance of his psychiatrist who so happens to be Dr. Hannibal Lecter. Little does Graham know that the monster that is mutilating bodies and eating their insides is sitting across the room from him in a custom-made suit and an expensive hair cut, feeding him the lungs of his latest victim.

Like the movie before it, Hannibal will keep you thoroughly disgusted, disturbed and fascinated by its intricate and dark plot line. Watching this show may be one of the creepiest TV addictions you will have, but it’s one you won’t regret.

[feather_share show="twitter, google_plus, facebook, reddit, tumblr" hide="pinterest, linkedin, mail"]