MovieChat Forums > The Silence of the Lambs (1991) Discussion > How scary?

How scary?

posted 9 years ago by ShilohBelle
17 replies | jump to latest

How scary is this movie? My boyfriend has recently gotten into horror movies. He's been begging me to watch this with him on his birthday. I've never seen it and he has only seen it once as a kid but doesn't remember much of it. I'm not a fan of horror movies. At all. I can count on one hand the number I have tried to such and I could only make it through two of them without severely panicking during and after the movie. I don't have a problem with things that are creepy or gory. What I can't stand are the jumpscares, especially if they are happening every 10 minutes. So how scary would you say this is? And can you give me any warnings of when a jumpscare is about to happen so I can leave the room or at least look away? I don't care if you have any warnings that contain spoiler alerts.

[–] CyberpunkCentral 9 years ago

This is more of a psychological thriller than a horror movie really. There is no jump scares, which is what makes the film so great. Because it's able to get under your skin without the use of gore or jump scares. So yeah, the film isn't really that scary. At least not by today's standards. Like Hannibal the TV series makes The Silence of the Lambs look like a children's movie by comparison. But I still love both.

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[–] ShilohBelle 9 years ago

Thanks, CyberpunkCentral! It definitely sounds like a movie I can not only tolerate but also enjoy.

[–] luciana_mc25 9 years ago

It isn't scary. Jodie herself got annoyed when people insisted on labelling this as horror. It's a psychological thriller/drama that happens to be my all-time favorite movie as well. :)

"The voices made me do it. My dog made me do it. Jodie Foster told me to do it." (Se7en)

[–] ShilohBelle 9 years ago

luciana_mc25 Thanks, that's good to know. I've looked into this movie about as much as a person can without actually watching it and I think it's a movie I will actually really like. I never would have thought that would happen because so many people call it a horror movie and I usually won't even think about watching a movie from the horror genre.

[–] luciana_mc25 9 years ago

Don't worry then, even if it is horror, it lacks all the cliches of horror films, that's for sure.

"The voices made me do it. My dog made me do it. Jodie Foster told me to do it." (Se7en)

[–] 9 years ago

[deleted]

[–] moviefan926 9 years ago

Let us know what you think when you've seen it.

[–] ShilohBelle 9 years ago

I watched it last night. It has definitely become a new movie to add to my favorites. I appreciate the fact that this movie still gets under your skin (no pun intended) without having to resort to the cliches that seem to be so common today. I thought Ted Levine's portrayal of Buffalo Bill was absolutely brilliant. I'm sure this is a movie that I will be watching many times in the future.

[–] ShilohBelle 9 years ago

Thanks to everyone who responded. I appreciate not only the answers I got, but also that everyone was so nice in their replies. I know this was probably a weird question, so it was nice to get replies without anybody being a jerk about it.

[–] roflwaffle357 9 years ago

not very in my opinion. it's creepy and disgusting at times, but none of it made sleeping more difficult for me.

Well Tony, nobody wants a war. If we can't do business why we'll just shake hands and that'll be it!

[–] katiefanatic-791-306918 9 years ago

i just saw it for the first time tonight and i'm 29. i was surprised at how not scary it was. gross at times, but like everyone else says, mostly a psychological thriller.

[–] mioumew 9 years ago

considering all the human being has done, this is childs play.

great movie though, i really hate movies with jump scares and suddenly loud sounds, thats just bad writing.

growing up and watching vincent price movies, this felt pretty good.
anthony does an awesome job, it is all about the eyes..

[–] selenedm999 9 years ago

I'm glad you got to see the film and enjoyed it!

If anyone else is curious, it's a thriller/police procedural more so than a supernatural-type horror movie. The worst parts for gore are the Buffalo Bill scenes and Lecter's escape, but I think it's handled delicately. There's no nudity (unless you count the "tuck" scene), and not a whole lot of actual violence. The most disturbing part is the subject matter they discuss, but in a lot of ways, it's not much worse than binge-watching a few episodes of Law & Order : SVU.

[–] DWDrummer666 9 years ago

It's not scary, it's creepy. The antagonist is very creepy (as well as some other characters). It's a thriller, some parts will keep you on the edge of your seat. However it is not horror.