Ridiculously Scary Friday: An Insightful--but Slightly Long-- Post Which Delves into the Mind of Dr. Hannibal Lecter and Emerges Deeply Scarred.

Last night, I rewatched one of the most terrifying movies ever made.

I don't have to tell you that one of the most horrifying evil doers of modern cinema is Dr. Hannibal Lecter, made famous, in “Red Dragon”, “Silence of the Lambs” and “Hannibal”.

I didn't watch any of those.

What I rewatched was the very first part of the great Hannibal tetralogy. Though less popular then the previously mentioned trilogy, it is no less terrifying.

The movie is of course Shadowlands, the first of many 'prequels' which offer the background of weird and complicated stories. Just the name of this one should immediately strike fear into the potential viewer’s heart.

In this film Dr. Hannibal Lecter stars as Professor C.S. Lewis, an Oxford Don and children’s author. But is this retiring Oxford Don as innocent as he seems? We, the viewers of “Silence of the Lambs”, know better.


While “Shadowlands” is somewhat less gory than the trilogy, which follows, it does answer a number of important questions, which the serious viewer will raise during the trilogy that follows.

One of the things I’ve always found unbelievable about Dr. Lector is his astonishing grasp of literary matters. For example, at the start of Brett Rainer’s Red Dragon, Lector quotes Horace. Now, how could a Forensic Psychiatrist have such intimacy with classics? This is explained by the episodes that show Dr. Lector as C.S. Lewis --a Classics Professor.

Why so many books in Hannibal’s cell? The viewer of “Shadowlands” is in the know: Lecter was once a professor—of books. In short, we get a more sensitive man, but one who is clearly on edge. If you are coming to the “Shadowlands”, already familiar with Dr. Lecter you may be expecting Professor Lewis to assault Joy or perhaps even have her for dinner (that my friends, is a double entendre; word play which would delight both halves of the Lewis/Lector character.)
Such expectations are frustrated. Rarely (if ever) do we see Lewis killing or assaulting another. Only a touch of the aggressiveness which will soon culminate in the sort of acts we simply would not expect from an author of children's author. But already we get hints of the beast within. A student falls asleep and Lewis’ rage shows. He nearly kills the kid, but than at the last second restrains himself.

“Shadowlands”, while not required to enjoy the Hannibal trilogy, deepens our access to the mind of a serial killer. Once we have seen Dr. Hannibal ‘Jack’ Lecter stalking about Oxford we can watch the trilogy with new eyes.

For example, at the start of Red Dragon, we see that Lewis now relaxes with music—obviously abandoning his career as a writer. With Lewis giving up writing, we learn the truth of the old adage that writers who don’t write end up going crazy.