Get the MovieNight app
Add it to your home screen — faster & full screen
Get the MovieNight app
Add it to your home screen — faster & full screen
Ingenious Media
Not part of a collection.
It started with revenge.
The story of the early, murderous roots of the cannibalistic killer, Hannibal Lecter – from his hard-scrabble Lithuanian childhood, where he witnesses the repulsive lengths to which hungry soldiers will go to satiate themselves, through his sojourn in France, where as a medical student he hones his appetite for the kill and learnt sword skills from his Japanese girlfriend, who happened to have similar fate
JPRetana
May 31, 2026 · via TMDB
I’ve always equated Hannibal Lecter with the Shark from Jaws. Sure, the good doctor is a more entertaining host — until he gets peckish — but they both essentially kill to feed. That’s all the motivation they require. How silly would it be to give a shark a tragic origin story? About as silly as setting a film in Lithuania and France with French and Lithuanian characters and then having everybody speak English. Or assigning Hannibal (Gaspard Ulliel) a Japanese mentoress (played by a Chinese actress) who teaches him martial arts, which he must have tucked away in the attic of his Memory Palace and never bothered to dust off ever again. Or shooting a scene where Hannibal finds and wears a mask that must have belonged to a cannibalistic samurai. Hannibals puts it on and looks straight ahead, all but winking at the camera. Talk about determinism. The makers of Hannibal Rising (2007) were so pleased with this superfluous nod to their betters that they forgot to give Hannibal a mask of sanity, with Ulliel never not in Crispin Glover mode. Hannibal can easily fool a polygraph — never mind that polygraph tests mean very little — but when and how did he pick up this particular ability? I guess the implication is that he’s crazy like a fox or something. What is made explicit is that young Hannibal has a habit of standing up to “bullies.” This sort of aligns with his later policy of eating “the rude” — which is, of course, not a reason but a rationalization. There was a serial killer who believed his murders prevented earthquakes. Should we give him a posthumous medal? That the bullies Hannibal stands up to are often fascists — the ultimate historical and cinematic villains — positions Hannibal as a paladin of justice rather than a cold-blooded, psychopathic killer. Hannibal Rising expects us to forget that Lecter would later become a Mengele-like sadist who tricked Mason Verger into peeling his own face with pieces of a broken mirror and feeding it to dogs, and who also feeds Paul Krendler bits of his own sautéed brain. At the same time, whether defending his Chinese-Japanese aunt’s honor or avenging his little sister, Hannibal clearly enjoys the carnage he inflicts on others — meaning that the filmmakers couldn’t bear to entirely part with the cold-blooded, psychopathic killer thing after all.
John Chard
Nov 1, 2015 · via TMDB
What made Hannibal the beast he was? Indeed, director Peter Webber and author Thomas Harris bring us Hannibal Lector (ne: Lecter) the formative years. Off the bat you have to say it's not overtly a horror film, something which has proved to have annoyed many who ventured in expecting something different. Which on one hand is a shame because it's a very effective thriller, ripe with literary smarts and boasting some very good acting performances. While there is horrors around, genuine ones that history has taught us as fact. On the other hand it is a disappointment to fans of the Hannibal series, and to horror fans in general. The marketing didn't help, it was sold to all and sundry along the lines as the cannibal begins in earnest, thus nobody was quite prepared for the fact Hannibal was a normal kid once, even human! Once the pic kicks into being a revenge killer thriller, it lacks an emotional wallop, with the screenplay shaking too many eggs in the basket and not coming up with a tasty fava bean based omelet. Smart tech credits help to still further keep this out of stinkerville and above average, but the heavy feeling of missed opportunities and poor writing hangs heavy as the end credits roll. 6/10
User reviews courtesy of TMDB.
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Amazon Prime Video
YouTube TV
Lionsgate+ Amazon Channels
Amazon Prime Video with Ads
Amazon Video
Apple TV Store
Google Play Movies
YouTube
Fandango At Home
Gaspard Ulliel
Hannibal Lecter
Gong Li
Lady Murasaki
Dominic West
Inspector Popil
Rhys Ifans
Vladis Grutas
Richard Brake
Enrikas Dortlich
Kevin McKidd
Petras Kolnas
Stephen Walters
Zigmas Milko
Richard Leaf
Father Lecter
Ingeborga Dapkūnaitė
Mother Lecter
Martin Hub
Lothar
Joerg Stadler
Berndt
Hugh Ross
Professor Dumas
Robbie Kay
Kolnas's Son
Zdeněk Dvořáček
Butcher Brother
Timothy Walker
SS Major
Pavel Krátký
Tank Crewman
Goran Kostić
Kazys 'Pot Watcher' Porvik
Charles Maquignon
Paul The Butcher
Denis Ménochet
Chief of Police
Jaroslav Vízner
Onlooker
Elsa Mollien
Female Student
Linda Svobodová
Female Student
Marek Vašut
Captain
Veronika Bellová
First Woman Captive
Lana Likic
Maid
Petra Lustigová
Eva
Allan Starski
Production Design
Judy Farr
Set Decoration
Brandon Trost
Additional Photography
Ben Davis
Director of Photography
Anna B. Sheppard
Costume Design
Barrie Gower
Prosthetic Makeup Artist
George Cottle
Stunt Double
Dina De Laurentiis
Thanks
Peter Webber
Director
Pietro Scalia
Editor
Valerio Bonelli
Editor
Duncan Reid
Executive Producer
Dino De Laurentiis
Producer
Martha De Laurentiis
Producer
Tarak Ben Ammar
Producer
Stephen McLaughlin
Music Producer
Ilan Eshkeri
Original Music Composer
Shigeru Umebayashi
Original Music Composer
Mike Prestwood Smith
Sound Re-Recording Mixer
Thomas Harris
Novel
Thomas Harris
Screenplay
Awake
Fears to Fathom Home Alone
MIDNIGHT EXPRESS
Ashes Never Rest
Oz
No dejes de grabar
Reach
Sonntag
Pulp Fiction
Psycho
Bloody Morning
Petscop
Scarface
Vertigo
Kill Bill: Vol. 1
V for Vendetta
Linnaisten vihreä kamari
The Cremator
Nosferatu
Get Out
Twelve Monkeys
Sleepers
The Omen
An American Werewolf in London
Don't Torture a Duckling
Vampyr
Constantine
The Poseidon Adventure
A Simple Plan
A History of Violence
Kaya
Murder at the Gallop
The Prison
Labinak: They Are Amongst Us
Ghajini
In Time
Horror in Happy Swamp
Dr. No
Death Wish
Ravenous
Kickboxer
Cube
The Spy Who Loved Me
High Tension
Road House
The Fog
Sabotage
Mon Mon Mon Monsters
Absolute Power
Speak No Evil
Kate
The Boxer's Omen
Colors
The Ninth Gate
The Last Supper
The Grifters
Luckiest Girl Alive
Next Door
Warau Iemon
Jason Lives - Friday the 13th Part VI
The Fury
Secret Defense
Tokyo: The Last War
Violent Ends
Very Bad Things
Disgrace
Room of Death
Saw IV
Nancy Drew
Never Let Go
The Russia House
One Missed Call 2
Below
Raising Cain
Insomnia
The Date
Blood for Dust
Horsemen
The Forgotten
A Nightmare on Elm Street 4: The Dream Master
1922
All About the Benjamins
Culture Shock
My Man
Kill 'em All
The Dark
Psycho III
Cyborg
Deadly Eyes
Killer Book Club
Shocker
Wunderland
Hellraiser: Inferno
Cherry Falls
Eye for an Eye
Kamikaze '89
Russia 88
Welcome to Arrow Beach
.45
Hellraiser: Judgment
The Guardian Angel
American Scumbags
The Hand of Now
Broken
The Art of War II: Betrayal
Candyman: Day of the Dead
The Scarehouse
Snowbeast
Zombie 90: Extreme Pestilence
Red Letters
Capture
The House on the Wrong Side of the Tracks
Savage Vengeance
papercut
Beware the Horror Ghost
Perversion
Three
Warriors of Horseshoe 3: Redemption
Amavas Ki Raat
The Girl Who Loved Tom Gordon
ETA
Buckshot
Synonymous With
Reclamation
What It Takes
Nightmare Lovers
A Striking Vision of Our Future
Drowning in Thought
Two-faced Killer: A Modern Thriller
Finding Flubber
The Chest of Ryou
The People Under the Stairs
Asthenia
Passingness
Viva la Madness
Simultaneous
Paradise: Disturbed
Finding Joy
The Most Mysterious Man
Tatiana Catatônica
Red Dragon
Manhunter
The Jester 2
Hellraiser
The Entity
The Pale Blue Eye
The Hunt
Psycho Killer
Black Phone 2
Saw III
The Marsh King's Daughter
The Dogs
I Am Not a Serial Killer
Child 44
Wrong Turn 2: Dead End
Saw V
The Texas Chainsaw Massacre: The Beginning
God Is a Bullet
The Jester
Dark Harvest
I, Madman
Mindcage
Deranged
The Town that Dreaded Sundown
Ma
The Hills Run Red
Feb 6, 2007
© 2025-2026 MovieNight. All rights reserved.
Versus
Sign in to play →
Bicara Cinta
2020
The Pied Pipers of Harlow
1965
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
Leaderboard →Playing as a guest — sign in to save your score and rank on the leaderboard.
Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
What movie experience do you prefer?
What is your favorite movie genre?
Versus
Sign in to play →
Bicara Cinta
2020
The Pied Pipers of Harlow
1965
Sign in to vote
Battle your watched movies head-to-head
Community Top Movies
Evil Dead II
1987 · 14 wins
The Dark Knight
2008 · 14 wins
Halloween
1978 · 13 wins
Final Destination
2000 · 12 wins
Halloween II
1981 · 11 wins
Trivia
Leaderboard →Playing as a guest — sign in to save your score and rank on the leaderboard.
Movie Trivia
Guess the movie from a clue — tagline, plot, cast and more. Pick from four posters.
What movie experience do you prefer?
What is your favorite movie genre?
We use essential cookies to run MovieNight, plus analytics (Google Analytics) and advertising (Google AdSense) cookies. By continuing to browse, you agree to this — or click No and we won't. See our Terms & Privacy Policy to learn more.