BESIDES sex and violence, there is a third perennial favorite among movie genres: horror. And the horror film is particularly effective when, rather than dealing in monsters or the undead, it grafts itself onto another genre, the film noir, turning it into the thriller-chiller.
Such is the current hit The Silence of the Lambs, faithfully adapted by the playwright Ted Talley from Thomas Harris’s best-selling novel. It has an unusual and complicated (but not overcomplicated) plot, idiosyncratic characters who interact provocatively, suspense and surprises galore, and— unless, like me, you are among the impervious few—it can scare the bejeezus out of you.
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