HANNIBAL escaped from its 1999 source novel into theaters in 2001 as the sequel to 1991’s instant classic The Silence Of The Lambs. That smash drew universal praise, took ‘The Big Five’ at the Academy Awards and was the year’s 4th biggest hit. Ten years on, Anthony Hopkins was back as the title fiend, with Julianne Moore replacing Jodie Foster as FBI heroine Clarice Starling. No awards came this time, and critical reaction was split between muted cheers and revolted jeers, but the blood-smelling masses turned out for a lavish dose of Grand Guignol grue: worldwide it ranked #10 at the ticket troughs. Reaping in North American fields turned $165,092,000, foreign harvests yielded $186,600,000. More chops were licked in TV dens with $87,000,000 in video rentals. And cultured Dr. Lecter is the sick one?

“When the fox hears the rabbit scream he comes a-runnin’… but not to help.”

When we last left brilliant serial killer/practicing cannibal ‘Dr. Hannibal Lecter’ (Hopkins) he had escaped custody and was preparing for dinner with (er…on) a psychiatrist who’d offended his sensibilities. During the decade in which he was at large (and dining out) his favorite police playmate, FBI Special Agent ‘Clarice Starling’ (Moore, 40) has continued with the Bureau. But she’s been blamed for a drug bust gone lethal and is walking a career tightrope. Her knowledge of and relationship with Lecter have again put her on his trail, which fits with the grotesque revenge designs of a Lecter victim, ‘Mason Verger’ (Gary Oldman), a wealthy child molester whose contact with Hannibal left him horribly disfigured. Lecter, posing as a library curator, is spotted in Florence, Italy by ‘Chief Inspector Rinaldo Pazzi’ (Giancarlo Giannini) who aims to capture the doctor and claim a huge reward. Over in the States, Starling’s progress is hampered by Justice Department creep ‘Paul Krendler’ (Ray Liotta). Starling seeks justice and redemption, Pazzi and Krendler both get involved with Verger, who has been training a herd of hefty hogs to appreciate pigging out on people, one in particular. The not-good doctor is bemused by it all.

“He once told be that whenever feasible, he preferred to eat the rude. “Free-range rude” he called them.”

When Jonathan Demme, who piloted The Silence Of The Lambs, passed on the property, Ridley Scott stepped in to direct; this was a one-two punch for him that year, going for the kill (count) with the gripping combat carnage of Black Hawk Down. Paring down Harris’ 500+ page novel to an acceptable running time length (132 minutes) also required cutting out many of its more ‘indigestible’ elements. David Mamet tackled it first, then his work was almost completely revamped by Steven Zailian. With the cast picked, locations selected and millions of dollars in the kitty, there was enough for the animal wranglers/trainers to carefully ‘audition’ 6,000 possible critters and select the eighteen gnarliest 500-pound hogs. The biggest was a Russian boar that weighed in at 770. Let’s agree there would be nicer ways to exit.

CLARICE: “Do right, and you’ll live through this.”   HANNIBAL “Spoken like a true Protestant.”

Hopkins has fun with the role (the situations are so over-the-top it’s almost as campy as it is spooky), Moore is okay but she can’t help but operate in the shadow of Jodie Foster, plus Clarice is not nearly as well serviced by the script. Oldman is sublimely yucky as the disgusting Verger, and Giannini is affecting as the ill-fated Pazzi. Hans Zimmer scored, one of a half dozen he composed for the director, and John Mathieson was cinematographer, his second of six for Scott, capturing that smoky patina Sir Ridley often favors, rich on the blue this time. Makeup artist Greg Cannom created the violated face for Verger: Oldman enduring six hours of prep for his scenes. With the ripped up face, a disembowelment, the hog chomping and several servings of brain food the repellent factor is pushed pretty far.

“You see, the brain itself feels no pain if that concerns you, Clarice. For example, Paul won’t miss this little piece here, which is part of the pre-frontal lobe, which they say is the seat of good manners.”

Sly fox Dino De Laurentiis and his wife Martha bankrolled the $87,000,000 tab, 23% of that for Sir Tony’s salary—that’s called “eating the rich.”  With Željko Ivanek, Frankie R. Faison, Francesca Neri, Mark Margolis and Robert Rietti. Followed a year later by prequel Red Dragon, with another showing up five years on in Hannibal Rising.