Eyes on Final Fantasy Forums > General > The Lounge > Dr. Hannibal Lecter

[Dolentrean]

Obviously this is about the Hannibal series by Thomas Harris.

I have read "Red Dragon" and "the Silence of the Lambs" and I am now halfway through "Hannibal". Personally I am loving the series. Red Dragon was a good killer novel with a very twisted protagonist with a knack for getting into the mindset of a multiple killer killer. It was creepy and developed well to its conclusion.

The Silence of the Lambs was better than its predecessor, it took on a new, less experienced main character (Clarice Starling) and also added a lot more the Dr. Lecter into the mix, it was entrapping all the way to the end, and brought up many good point. It is strange because while you are rooting for Clarice to catch her cereal killer, you are also drawn into rooting for Hannibal as he outwits his guards and his many plans come together. Not to mention this book spawned the only horror movie to ever win the Academy Award for best picture.

And now onto Hannibal. I haven’t finished it yet, but so far it is the best of the series. With even more focus on the frightening intellect of Dr. Lecter it draws you in. With multiple stories going on at the same time it both frightens you but makes you want to push onward. I cant wait to get to the end.

The only problem I have with the books is I was expecting them to be a little more creepy. Sure they have a few parts that make you nervous, but nothing that makes your stomach knot, at least that’s what I think. I also think that Hannibal is one of the coolest villains in contemporary literature. His raw intellect are scary because you know, if he wants to kill you… he will find a way to kill you. I haven’t decided if I am going to read Hannibal Rising right after finishing the book.

[Chemical]

I've only seen the movies and they're great.
The pure evilness of it all excites me so.

I would say Silence of the Lamb was my favourite.

[Zeldy]

I watched Hannibal when I was about 10 years old and I had nightmares for month, I was absolutely petrified by it. I've never gone near any of the other films in the series, the thought makes me shudder ;-;

[Breine]

Never read either one of the books, but Silence of the Lambs was a great movie. It deserved all the Oscars it got. Especially for Anthony Hopkins and Jodie Foster.

[BG-57]

Silence of the Lambs was the best Lecter movie to date. It was one of scariest movies I have ever seen, yet I admired the affection this human monster had for Clarice. The portrait he does of her holding the lamb expresses everything he feels for her but doesn't put into words.

There are two movie adaptations of the first book: Manhunter and Red Dragon. I've seen both, and it's worth seeing to contrast how two directors have completely different takes on the same story: Manhunter focuses more on Will Graham and his efforts to catch the Tooth Fairy while Red Dragon shifts more of the emphasis to Francis Dollarhyde and his efforts to find redemption. I prefer the second movie personally.

Red Dragon reminds me a lot of Peeping Tom, where we identify with the psychopath because of his tender relationship with a sympathetic woman more than his terrible crimes.

I haven't seen Hannibal or the prequel. Don't plan to.

[Bakamut]

There is this girl that has a freaky, scary, weird obsession with my best mate even though she claims to hate her. She copies her appearance, tries to act like her, even tries to be interested in the same things (My friend put her t-shirt over her head at a gig once and went around going "I AM CORNHOLIO! I NEED TEEPEE FOR MY BUNGHOLE!" and on the girl's myspace it says "I am cornholio!!!" even though I don't think she watches Beavis and Butthead. My friend does contortion right, and her dream is to be in Cirque Du Soleil and guess who starts doing contortion - the girl. And she brags about playing drums (my friend plays drums and is pretty obsessed with them) even though she is really crap and she used to play guitar but NEVER mentions that. like that, etc etc).

Anyway I am just waiting for the day that she kidnaps my friend and takes her skin off her to wear it. "Put the lotion in the bucket!"

[Araciel]

....basket

I saw Hannibal Rising and it was better than I thought it would be..but that may or may not be saying much.

[Ouch!]

My grandfather knew the author of the books, Tom Harris. My father has had lunch with the man and says he's the biggest fuzzy bear kind of guy you could ever meet.

I've never read the books, but Silence of the Lambs and Red Dragon were both fantastic. I do believe AFI has (rightly) rated Hannibal Lecter as the second greatest villain of all time.