Nearly 10 years after Sir Anthony Hopkins performed his first face-lift, in 1991, the character of Dr. Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter still has a grip on audiences.
Just ask Barry Trosin, who popped in the original “The Silence of the Lambs”on Tuesday night.
“He’s incredibly dangerous, even when he’s behind bars,” the mechanical engineering sophomore said. “It’s amazing the way they built his character to kill someone without even touching them.”
And when the much-anticipated sequel “Hannibal” opens today, audiences are expected to flock to theaters for more killing.
“I can’t wait to see it,” Trosin said. “It’s got a lot of possibilities, if they do it right.”
Anticipation for the next installment of the celebrated modern horror tale has been growing for years. Since the summer of 1999, actually.
Thomas Harris’ novel was published, made a splash and work on the film was underway immediately.
Now the question remains: Will “Hannibal” be as good as the award-winning “The Silence of the Lambs?”
“It’s going to be interesting to see if it can live up to its hype,” said Bill Vincent, professor of English and film studies. “That’s generally hard for sequels to do.”
Since the first film is considered a classic, Vincent said he’s interested to see how “Hannibal” fares. He’s also interested to see how the crew of the new film works together.
Hopkins, the main draw, is back to reprise Lecter. But original director Jonathan Demme has been replaced by Ridley Scott of “Gladiator” fame.
And Jodie Foster opted not to return for the sequel, leaving Julianne Moore to play Clarice Starling.
It’s a drastic change, although anyone who’s seen Michael Mann’s “Manhunter” (based on Harris’s Red Dragon, the first in the series featuring a different actor as Lecter) shouldn’t mind the creative rotation.
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