Jonathan Demme's impressive entry into the thriller/slasher genre has more than a few interesting things to say about the way many of this country's most brutal mass murderers end up becoming something akin to minor celebrities (with their own television shows, books, newspaper profiles, movies and talk show appearances). In the film's final scene the audience is implicated most directly, as we are prompted to laugh at the gruesome prospect of another impending murder. Pretty dark and unsavory stuff, but along the way Demme manages to orchestrate several brilliant sequences in the midst of his well-structured narrative; and the performances, led by Jodie Foster and Anthony Hopkins, are uniformly excellent.

Jonathan Demme---USA---1991---118 mins.

• MGM Home Video
• Release date: 01/30/2007