Who is Hannibal Lecter, and why the intense public fascination with someone who is surely one of the most dangerous, vile and quite obviously evil individuals you could ever possibly come across?

It is indeed rare that a character can enter the collective mindset of people so indelibly, in both literature and in any cinematic representation that may follow, but Hannibal Lecter has done just exactly that.

Perhaps, it's because of the very qualities I've just mentioned previously... for danger and evil have always had a fascination for the public, and especially so when committed to celluloid infamy. The very first screen introduction to Lecter was actually based upon the first "Lecter" novel, "Red Dragon", this being turned into the movie "Manhunter" (for more information about Manhunter, click here). The last two movies took the book titles as their respective names. And they are of course the more well known of the "Hannibal series".

Moving characters and plots successfully from that contained in highly popular literature toward the moving image is surely no mean feat.

Numerous obstacles abound, both commerically and artistically fatal, if the original material is mishandled.

Bad acting, even worse casting in both primary roles not to mention crucial support roles, and then not forgetting of course the overall direction and production roles -- all this and much more conspire to trap the unwary who are led into the possibility of launching such ambitious projects.

And there are the legions of fans of the "original": the character as portrayed in the books, dwelling only in the minds eye, and therefore quite possibly out of reach of the Actor who might even be said to have the "misfortune" to try and 'make it work' for the masses at large. Indeed many, many actors and actresses have failed attempting such things in the past. As many will in future.

Contrary to what many people know, Silence of the Lambs was already the second outing for Lecter.

Brian Cox was directed by Michael Mann to deliver the good Dr Lecter in "Manhunter" (and from general consensus it is also considered to be a highly creditable performance as well), Gene Hackman was considered for Lecter in "Silence ..." but perhaps in the most lucky twist of fate I would say, Michelle Pfeiffer was passed over for the role of Clarice Starling (can you imagine ... the mind boggles). Manhunter introduces the format Silence ... ends up following as well: a psychopath is on the loose, Francis Dolarhyde, killing a family each full moon and the police and FBI are seemingly helpless.

Enter Will Graham, the original agent who captured Doctor Hannibal Lecktor*, to both look into the case itself, and then eventually engage his wits against the Dr. Silence of the Lambs follows the same plotline, though with a somewhat less experienced agent in the hotseat against the mind and wiles of Hannibal. Manhunter was released in the mid 80s and the new Film RED DRAGON is a second take at the same book. Manhunter is legendary for the amount of fans it has attracted, and who also tend to much prefer Brian Cox as Lecter instead of the portrayal we see given by Hopkins from Silence ... onwards. This is of course a matter of opinion, but has reignited of course due to Red Dragon being released.

1991 is considered by many as "the year" in the Hannibal calendar, whether they read the book or not (and let's remember, the vast majority of the movie-going public did not read the book ...).

Jonathan Demme, with the screenplay of Ted Tally firmly in hand, cast veteran actor Sir Anthony Hopkins into the title role of Hannibal "the Cannibal" Lecter, and backed him up with Jodie Foster in the role of Clarice Starling, the FBI Trainee assigned to prise from the mind of the nefarious Lecter a psychological profile, and possible whereabouts, of one "Buffalo Bill", aka Jame Gumb (and played exceptionally well by Ted Levine).

Interestingly, Foster has a habit of being linked to psychos: she occupied a role opposite Robert De Niro in his own famous rendition of a psycho Travis Bickle in Taxi Driver, and John Hinkley, in an effort to impress her, went out and shot Ronald Reagan. Yes, very strange but very true. Back to where we were ...

The result of this potentially dangerous undertaking?

Cataclysmic! Electrifying! Unparalleled horror and revulsion!

The Hannibal we witness in "Silence ..." simply terrified an unwitting audience, in what is surely one of the greatest unveilings of Evil personified. It terrified them then, and it still does when anyone revisits that breakthrough film. So utterly complete was this remarkable rendition that people were as much drawn to the evil of his character as they were repulsed by the sheer horror of his numerous deeds - both obvious and alluded to alike.

Director Steven Spielberg, no slouch himself on the thrills and excitement front in moviedom (remember, this was the guy who made people scared of the sea for months after delivering the Jaws trilogy) remarked that the performance was all the more terrifying because of the absence of props to convey the intensity of the character: no dramatic makeup, fake bloodshot eyes courtesy of contact lenses, fangs, or overly dramatic surroundings.

Just the eyes, the stare and 'that voice' as it is often referred to ... with trepidation. Spielberg (and I daresay a lot of other people) says he still gets a chill when he remembers that first introduction we have to Lecter.

"The Silence of the Lambs" swept Best Actor (Hopkins), Actress (Foster) Director (Demme), Picture and Screenplay at the Oscars. It was a cinematic triumph.

This was in no small part due to the quite masterful performances of both Anthony Hopkins as Lecter, and in particular the cat-and-mouse interplay with Jodie Foster as Agent Starling. Taut cinematography, first-rate lines, and awe-inspiring delivery to match, with a superbly paced and well written Script combined to produce a visual and aural Tour de Force. It was a psychological parry-and-thrust of the highest order. Tense, extremely unnerving, edge-of-your-seat stuff that you hear about, but actually very seldom get in the genre. Audiences the world over wandered in a daze from movie theatres ... and no doubt a lot of them would sleep with the lights on for many nights after.

The foundation of the terror-that-is-Lecter, as intimated previously, was our introduction to Hopkins' Hannibal.

The audience was not introduced to the disturbed, deranged and criminally minded Doctor by way of a dead body thrown across a room, buckets of blood on the floor, a screaming victim bursting through some door, as is quite often the case in horror / thrillers like these when introducing the main characters, and especially villians of this type and psychological magnitude.

Oh we are certainly told that he was a Cannibal — as Dr Chilton remarks, "Oh he's a Monster ... so rare to catch one alive". We did not see any overt evidence of that in the first crucial meeting, save for the line about his distaste for Census takers, and a fleeting glimpse of some Newspaper archives Starling is perusing prior to her first meeting with Lecter (..."New Horrors at Cannibal Trial ..." reads one headline...).

But that is already enough. The master stroke was quite simply that we did not need to see such deeds, in order to believe in the horrors that such words must carry.

No, the total effect of being in the presence of unparalleled evil was given by the way Hannibal probed Starling's mind ... the intensity of the eyes that bored their way through anyone, anything ... and the almost whispering quality of his most terrifying statements. When he spoke sharply, you paid attention. When he spoke softly, you were forgiven for thinking he'd start lurking in the back of your subconscious. "You don't want Hannibal Lecter in your head ..." warns Jack Crawford, Starling's superior at the FBI Academy. It was a warning very well intended. But it is too late! For we are hooked, and we will never be the same again.

Julianne Moore, who plays Starling in "Hannibal" the Movie, even went so far as to see a psychiatrist herself, so uncomfortable was she about being drawn into the wider evil of Hannibal's deeds -- and this is a fictional character!

When he killed, you would do anything to be far, far away from such scenes. But somewhere, in the recesses of your mind, he would always ... be there. Gnawing steadily away at your subconscious, coiled and ready to spring at you like the "Red Dragon" he was, to consume the remaining vestiges of your now temporary sanity forever.

Hopkins' characterisation of the evil that lay within Hannibal was one in which you almost wanted to come into contact with Hannibal, with that sort of evil. To do so would prove your undoing ... but to resist would be futile as well.

Perhaps, there was a feeling that Hannibal might, underneath it all, be someone who could be understood, who could look once more as "human" as the rest of us. Certainly, in "Hannibal" there is clearer definition and some historical context for his somewhat errant behaviour in later years. One could even forgive his future excesses on that basis alone.

It is telling that Hannibal held an indescribably exciting fascination for the public for a whole 10 years after his dramatic departure in "Silence of the Lambs" and nobody can forget the inimitable line, "I'm having an old friend for dinner ..." with Starling whispering into the dead line, "Dr Lecter? Dr Lecter?".

And so everyone wanted to know: just where was Hannibal after all those years? What did he do after having dinner with his "friend" ... to be precise, dining on Frederick Chilton, the head of the asylum where we first meet Hannibal? It was a cliffhanger extraordinaire.

The world waited with bated breath ... craving for more, terrified of more.

And it came in early 2001. "Hannibal" the book and "Hannibal" the movie had arrived, claiming new and old victims alike to the horrific tale. The release of both caused a stampede almost as insane as Hannibal himself on the part of the public to re-embrace this villain.

That public, it seems, was definitely in love with Hannibal: The man of letters, appreciator of fine wines, gourmet (in all senses) food and cultures, clearly a highly intelligent man (off the dial apparently) .. and yet with a flipside to his personality that reveals a quite obviously insane, Evil, certified maniac, bringer of unspeakable horrors, and quite possibly the Devil on a passing visit to the Earthly realm. These books are not "high literature", but that is not their intention.

They need only to speak to the fears of our mind, to resonate somewhere within dark recesses and designed to make the skin not only crawl, but fall away and wither ... and they achieve this admirably, terrifyingly, completely.

Once again, Hopkins reprises his Oscar-winning rendition of the erstwhile Doctor Hannibal Lecter, late of Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane ...

Once again, we have a chance to see the Doctor in action, and the result will no doubt again be to all intents and purposes ... electrifying. Raw evil walks once more, the Master of Terrors has returned to claim his Throne.

2002 saw the release of Red Dragon, the fourth cinematic outing of Lecter, and the third outing for Anthony Hopkins who once again played the role of Hannibal Lecter.

Again, a killer is on the loose, and again Hannibal Lecter is engaged by the FBI in an attempt to unmask and capture the latest crazy to plague the streets. However, the terms of engagement are somewhat different this time around. This is because Will Graham, a retired FBI man called in to assist with the latest case on the FBI's books has in fact had a brush with Lecter before. Graham was was after all the one who collared Lecter in the first place, hence the early retirement :).

He is therefore the man most likely to be able to prise the information the FBI needs from Lecter. He comes in to the case at the behest of his old boss, and our old friend from Silence ... Jack Crawford (in this movie Crawford is played by Harvey Keitel).

Tread now, but oh so carefully, through this Site dedicated to one of the most endearingly horrific creations of modern times: Hannibal Lecter, M.D.

"Closer please ... Clo-ser" ...