Review Detail

Hannibal’s Requiem is certainly superior to the theatrical cut of Hannibal Rising. It’s been streamlined, and it functions perfectly well as a cohesive story. I would accept Requiem as the official version of the film, with Rising being an inferior extended edition that adds nothing of value.

Unfortunately, in either incarnation, the film is rather bland from a cinematography perspective, especially compared to the bold look of The Silence of the Lambs. It’s hard to fix that in editing. That was really a director problem.

I would actually love to see this same cut (maybe even a little shorter to pick up the pace a bit), but in black and white, except for the blood, which would be bright red.

Imagine the tree rope scene where the blood splatters on Hannibal’s face, but it’s bright red against black and white. Like Sin City as a horror movie. It would be hokey, and it’s been done before, but this film needs some visual boldness to give it a little more life.

This is an origin story that didn't need to be told at all, so it needs to justify its existence by at least being really cool and interesting, to prove the naysayers wrong and make them glad that the film exists.

As extra icing on the cake, throw in some of the more extreme tracks from the Silence of the Lambs score by Howard Shore for maximum old-school horror movie vibes.

If krausfadr has any interest in creating an alternative version of Hannibal’s Requiem in that style, I would love to see it.