The Silence of the Lambs

Adapted from Thomas Harris's bestseller, this movie was responsible for giving cinematic serial killers a better image, with Anthony Hopkins winning an Oscar for his portrayal of incarcerated cannibal Hannibal Lecter. Jodie Foster also bagged herself a statuette as FBI agent Clarice Starling, who is drawn into an uncomfortable relationship with Lecter as she hunts for serial killer "Buffalo Bill", and it's a testament to her abilities that she holds her own against her scene-stealing co-star. With a track record for directing quirky comedies (Something Wild, Married to the Mob), director Jonathan Demme made a seemingly effortless switch to terror, summoning up a magnificent air of gothic gloom. The hunt for the killer is genuinely suspenseful, but Demme generates the real chill with the probing mind games between his two marvellous leads. Spare a thought, too, for the talented supporting players: stoic Scott Glenn as Foster's boss, Ted Levine as the tormented killer and Anthony Heald as the ill-fated hospital head, the butt of the movie's flip end gag.