The Silence of the Lambs is still the scariest movie script ever written

But rewatching The Silence of the Lambs this week, just days before its 35th anniversary, completely changed my mind. The gore (which, again, is pretty mild by today’s standards) still didn’t faze me. What did faze me was the script. Anthony Hopkins’ performance as Hannibal Lecter is undeniably unsettling, but it’s the film’s dialogue — and Hopkins’ delivery of each line — that had me squirming in my seat.