Silence Of The Lambs Movie Cover

Last February officially marked the 30th anniversary of the theatrical release of Silence of the Lambs, one out of only three movies to win the Big Five Oscars (Best Actor, Best Actress, Best Screenplay, Best Director, and Best Picture) at the Academy Awards and the only horror movie to win Best Picture among only six other Best Picture horror nominees in Oscar history.

This is a movie that has been analyzed and deconstructed constantly throughout the years, especially with new context created by sequels like Red Dragon and, of course, the cult hit series,Hannibal. However, in all of its analyses, there may be some parts of this complicated, layered movie that the casual fan may not have noticed. Thankfully, sites like IMDB and their trivia pages are pretty helpful.

10 The Moth Is Comprised Of Naked Bodies

Before even getting to the movie, some fans missed a huge detail laid out in the movie's poster. It is one of the most visually interesting, instantly recognizable, and even parodied posters in movie history where Clarice Starling's mouth is covered by a moth with a skull on its back. That skull isn't actually a skull.

It looks like a skull, sure, but a deeper zoom-in reveals that the so-called skull is comprised of naked bodies, paying tribute to a painting by Salvador Dali called "In Voluptas Mors."

9 Famous Buffalo Bill Scene Pays Homage To Demme's Previous Movie

"That" famous scene of Buffalo Bill is one of the most talked-about and controversial scenes in this movie. It wasn't in the original book, according to The Avocado, but it was filmed at the suggestion of actor Ted Levine who felt like his character needed a parallel for a pivotal shower scene in the book for Buffalo Bill.

The scene where he dances in a robe is also a bit of a tribute to Jonathan Demme's previous movie, Married to the Mob, which featured a scene with Michelle Pfeiffer in her own robe while the song "Goodbye Horses" played in the background.

8 Hannibal Hints At Buffalo Bill's Location Early

From the start of the movie, Hannibal Lecter is presented as a mastermind who knows everything at every time, even if he'll prefer to be cryptic about what he knows as a means of toying with whoever's in front of him.

In Clarice Starling's search for Buffalo Bill, there is a scene where Lecter points out a drawing on his wall of The Duomo as can be seen from The Belvedere located in Italy. This is an early hint he gives off to Buffalo Bill's location, who as it turns out lives in Belvedere, Ohio.

7 Lecter's Prison Break Is Another Hint For Clarice

Clearly, from the moment that he met Clarice Starling, Hannibal Lecter went out of his way to leave breadcrumbs regarding what he knew about Buffalo Bill, or at the very least, the movie provided foreshadowing to the matter, even up until his prison break.

Hannibal cutting open a guard's back to spread his "wings' hints at Bill's obsession with moths. Cutting off another guard's face and wearing it as his own after changing into his clothes hinted at Bill's desire to literally change his identity.

6 A Wrench Sound Accidentally Made The Final Cut

The moment that Clarice Starling tells Hannibal her childhood story about the lambs is a pivotal moment in the movie and one of the most memorable scenes. However, if audiences listen closely enough while Clarice speaks, there's something of a blooper mistake left in the final cut where the sound of a wrench hitting the ground can be heard in the distance.

That was the moment that a crew member accidentally dropped a wrench. Director Jonathan Demme was terrified because he expected to re-shoot such an important scene, but Jodie Foster kept with her monologue without missing a beat as if nothing happened. She even convinced the director to keep the take because she loved it so much.

5 Catherine Is Clarice's Lamb

Speaking of the lamb story, now is a good time to analyze how Catherine serves as a parallel to Clarice's childhood lamb story revealed during her final meeting with Hannibal Lecter. She recalls to Lecter how she tried to free the lamb, but the lamb stood scared and confused on what to do, just standing there. Much like Catherine's demeanor after she was saved by Clarice later on.

Catherine was so traumatized from her ordeal that she stood white in her place, not knowing what to do but to clutch her new "Precious" dog, to the point that she needed to be guided to the ambulance rather than walk to it on her own accord.

4 The Memorabilia In Buffalo Bill's Home

And speaking of Buffalo Bill, it can be argued that Dr. Hannibal Lecter is such a magnetic antagonist of a personality in his own right that the primary villain of the picture gets overlooked. If not, his home surroundings were certainly overlooked because there is quite a bit of Nazi memorabilia in Bill's home that not a lot of fans seem to notice, like his swastika quilt.

The bigger reason why it isn't noticed is biggest the idea of Bill being a skinhead isn't even touched upon in the movie. This is just one of many seemingly random pieces of memorabilia from different organizations littered across his home, but it's there to hint at Bill's larger personality disorder.

3 "Bill Skins Fifth" Is About Hannibal Lecter

When Clarice Starling meets Mr. Crawford at the start of the movie, one of the most noticeable newspaper clippings on his board reads "Bill Skins Fifth" in big, bold letters. The headline suggests that this is an article about Buffalo Bill, but a quick zoom-in tells readers it's all about Hannibal Lecter.

Either this is meant to suggest a strong parallel between the two killers or whoever wrote the article for the movie didn't expect viewers to zoom-in using DVD technology made in the future.

2 "Bill Skins Fifth" Article Hints At Hannibal Sequel

Whatever the reason may have been regarding that previous entry, what makes this "Bill Skins Fifth" article most interesting is how it foreshadows the 2001 sequel, Hannibal. Continuing to zoom-in, the article makes reference to Lecter being discovered having killed a museum curator.

In Hannibal, he relocates to Florence, Italy to work as a museum curator, after killing one to take his job. A connected foreshadowing moment comes in the aforementioned scene where Hannibal mentions his Italy drawing. In the same scene, he name drops Florence, hinting at his future plans.

1 Hannibal's "Chianti" Line Is More Sinister Than Imaginable

Arguably the most iconic line in the movie comes when Hannibal Lecter recalls a census taker who tried to test him, so he "ate his liver with some fava beans and a nice chianti." The American Film Institute listed it as movie history's 21st greatest quote, but even fans of the quote never caught on to its darker implications.

All three food substances contain an ingredient called tyramine, which could kill someone by mixing it with their MAOI medications. If Hannibal ate all of these foods with ease and no complications, this is his way of saying that he is off of his meds.

Next: 10 Times Hunter X Hunter Was Darker Than It Needed To Be

Next 10 Most Likable Characters In Dreamworks Movies

About The Author

Myck Maverick (301 Articles Published)

Myck Maverick is an English major who wants to steer is skill of writing to pontificate his knowledge and love for the comic book industry, as well as the movie industry. CBR overs the perfect medium to flex his writing muscles as an emerging young writer. Additionally, Myck Maverick's work and expertise can be found by searching his name over at TheThings, a sister site of CBR under the Valnet umbrella.