“‘Silence of the Lambs’ turns 30: How the horror masterpiece is still gripping Hollywood”

Robert Thompson, Trustee Professor of television, radio and film and director of the Bleier Center for Television and Popular Culture in the Newhouse School, was quoted in the CNBC story “‘Silence of the Lambs’ turns 30: How the horror masterpiece is still gripping Hollywood.” Thompson, an expert on the film industry and pop culture, reflects on the release of ‘Silence of the Lambs,’ saying it is one of the only movies he distinctly remembers seeing in theaters as it changed the definition of horror movies.  “There had been intelligent horror films, but I think there was a sense with ‘Silence of the Lambs’ that really did change the idea of what could constitute a horror movie. “It wasn’t so much about the moments of screaming, it was a much more almost quiet sense of absolute hopeless terror,” Thompson says.