News
The Real Face Behind Hannibal Lecter
Season 2 of Hannibal just happened. It’s left everyone with their jaws on the floor (from awe, not surgical removal) in one of the most daring turns in television history. The NBC favorite has pushed the limits of what it means to be a crime drama. It has beautifully separated itself from the pack by offering fantastic visuals, well developed characters and an amazing storyline.
The basis of the story, of course, comes from the quadrilogy of Thomas Harris books that has since become the iconic quadrilogy of films. The driving and most seductive side of the story has always been Hannibal “The Cannibal” Lecter, a brilliant and elegant psychopath who eats people and has disgust for the rude.
Anthony Hopkins, Mads Mikkelsen, Brian Cox and Gaspard Ulliel have all lent their own personal take on the character throughout the Hannibal franchise, but where did Harris come up with Dr. Lecter?
Like several other characters from the world of horror including Leatherface and Norman Bates, Hannibal has some personality and appetite habits that are borrowed from the notorious Ed Gein.
Gein was made infamous from his time spent dabbling in making furniture out of bits and bones that he would collect from graveyards. Although he did have quite the knack for crafts, he was a rubbish home decorator, and the whole murder thing didn’t help him out either.
Gein had begun to fashion a skin suit out of a woman’s body, which Harris later borrowed to give his “Silence of the Lambs” character Jame Gumb a deeper dimension.
It wasn’t until Harris released the 25th anniversary edition of his novel “Silence of the Lambs” that he revealed his true inspiration for Hannibal was a person named “Dr. Salazar.”
The name Salazar turned out to be a pseudonym for Balli Trevino a young medical intern who had slit his lover’s throat, cut him into pieces, and placed him in small box to be disposed of as medical waste. Police at the time tried to connect Trevino to other murders and disappearances in the area from a killer the media had dubbed “The Werewolf of Nuevo Leon” but were unsuccessful due to lack of evidence.
When Harris was still a 23-year-old journalist he went to a prison in Monterrey, Mexico to interview Dykes Askew Simmons, a man accused of the murder of three people. While Harris was on-site, he learned of a doctor who had saved Simmons life when he was shot during an attempted prison break.
Harris managed to get a one-on-one with Trevino, a calm and polite man who didn’t speak a word of his crime during the entirety of the interview. However, Trevino did begin questioning Harris about the appearance of Simmons disfigured face and also started asking questions about Simmons murder victims. It wasn’t until Harris was thanking the Warden for his cooperation that he learned that Trevino was a murderer.
In his 25th anniversary” Silence of the Lambs” edition Harris wrote “it was not Dr. Salazar. But because of Dr. Salazar, I could recognize his colleague and fellow practitioner Hannibal Lecter.”
That was the beginning of the Hannibal Lecter. The calm and nonchalant demeanor that Trevino exuded was enough to give life to the horror icon we all know and love today.
Although Trevino was sentenced to death he managed to have his sentence commuted and spent the rest of his life giving medical assistance to the elderly and the poor. Trevino passed away in 2009 from prostate cancer.
The horror fan in me has a ton of conspiracy theories surrounding Trevino. If he was indeed like the Hannibal Harris wrote about. Maybe, he was treating old people as a way to continue his murders while covering it up with the alibi of natural causes. Maybe, he falsified his death being that its hard to get a solid fact about rather he died in 2009 or 2010. Maybe, the real life Hannibal is still out there.
Or, maybe, (and most likely) I just have an overactive imagination and Trevino was just a nice guy who made a mistake early in life and spent the rest of his life trying to make up for it.
Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'
Movies
Another Creepy Spider Movie Hits Shudder This Month
Good spider films are a theme this year. First, we had Sting and then there was Infested. The former is still in theaters and the latter is coming to Shudder starting April 26.
Infested has been getting some good reviews. People are saying that it’s not only a great creature feature but also a social commentary on racism in France.
According to IMDb: Writer/director Sébastien Vanicek was looking for ideas around the discrimination faced by black and Arab-looking people in France, and that led him to spiders, which are rarely welcome in homes; whenever they’re spotted, they’re swatted. As everyone in the story (people and spiders) is treated like vermin by society, the title came to him naturally.
Shudder has become the gold standard for streaming horror content. Since 2016, the service has been offering fans an expansive library of genre movies. in 2017, they began to stream exclusive content.
Since then Shudder has become a powerhouse in the film festival circuit, buying distribution rights to movies, or just producing some of their own. Just like Netflix, they give a film a short theatrical run before adding it to their library exclusively for subscribers.
Late Night With the Devil is a great example. It was released theatrically on March 22 and will begin streaming on the platform starting April 19.
While not getting the same buzz as Late Night, Infested is a festival favorite and many have said if you suffer from arachnophobia, you might want to take heed before watching it.
According to the synopsis, our main character, Kalib is turning 30 and dealing with some family issues. “He’s fighting with his sister over an inheritance and has cut ties with his best friend. Fascinated by exotic animals, he finds a venomous spider in a shop and brings it back to his apartment. It only takes a moment for the spider to escape and reproduce, turning the whole building into a dreadful web trap. The only option for Kaleb and his friends is to find a way out and survive.”
The film will be available to watch on Shudder starting April 26.
Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'
Movies
Part Concert, Part Horror Movie M. Night Shyamalan’s ‘Trap’ Trailer Released
In true Shyamalan form, he sets his film Trap inside a social situation where we aren’t sure what is going on. Hopefully, there is a twist at the end. Furthermore, we hope it’s better than the one in his divisive 2021 movie Old.
The trailer seemingly gives away a lot, but, as in the past, you can’t rely on his trailers because they are often red herrings and you are being gaslit to think a certain way. For instance, his movie Knock at the Cabin was completely different than what the trailer implied and if you hadn’t read the book on which the film is based it was still like going in blind.
The plot for Trap is being dubbed an “experience” and we aren’t quite sure what that means. If we were to guess based on the trailer, it’s a concert movie wrapped around a horror mystery. There are original songs performed by Saleka, who plays Lady Raven, a kind of Taylor Swift/Lady Gaga hybrid. They have even set up a Lady Raven website to further the illusion.
Here is the fresh trailer:
According to the synopsis, a father takes his daughter to one of Lady Raven’s jam-packed concerts, “where they realize they’re at the center of a dark and sinister event.”
Written and directed by M. Night Shyamalan, Trap stars Josh Hartnett, Ariel Donoghue, Saleka Shyamalan, Hayley Mills and Allison Pill. The film is produced by Ashwin Rajan, Marc Bienstock and M. Night Shyamalan. The executive producer is Steven Schneider.
Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'
News
Woman Brings Corpse Into Bank To Sign Loan Papers
Warning: This is a disturbing story.
You have to be pretty desperate for money to do what this Brazilian woman did at the bank to get a loan. She wheeled in a fresh corpse to endorse the contract and she seemingly thought the bank employees wouldn’t notice. They did.
This weird and disturbing story comes via ScreenGeek an entertainment digital publication. They write that a woman identified as Erika de Souza Vieira Nunes pushed a man she identified as her uncle into the bank pleading with him to sign loan papers for $3,400.
If you’re squeamish or easily triggered, be aware that the video captured of the situation is disturbing.
Latin America’s largest commercial network, TV Globo, reported on the crime, and according to ScreenGeek this is what Nunes says in Portuguese during the attempted transaction.
“Uncle, are you paying attention? You must sign [the loan contract]. If you don’t sign, there’s no way, as I cannot sign on your behalf!”
She then adds: “Sign so you can spare me further headaches; I can’t bear it any longer.”
At first we thought this might be a hoax, but according to Brazilian police, the uncle, 68-year-old Paulo Roberto Braga had passed away earlier that day.
“She attempted to feign his signature for the loan. He entered the bank already deceased,” Police Chief Fábio Luiz said in an interview with TV Globo. “Our priority is to continue investigating to identify other family members and gather more information regarding this loan.”
If convicted Nunes could be facing jail time on charges of fraud, embezzlement, and desecration of a corpse.
Listen to the 'Eye On Horror Podcast'
-
Trailers7 days ago
Watch the trailer for ‘Under Paris,’ the movie people are calling ‘French Jaws’ [Trailer]
-
News3 days ago
This Horror Film Just Derailed a Record Held by ‘Train to Busan’
-
Movies7 days ago
Ernie Hudson To Star In ‘Oswald: Down The Rabbit Hole’
-
News7 days ago
Paramount and Miramax Team Up to Reboot the “Scary Movie” Franchise
-
Movies3 days ago
Watch ‘Immaculate’ At Home Right Now
-
News4 days ago
Read Reviews For ‘Abigail’ The Latest From Radio Silence
-
Editorial5 days ago
Rob Zombie’s Directorial Debut Was Almost ‘The Crow 3’
-
News4 days ago
Melissa Barrera Says Her ‘Scream’ Contract Never Included a Third Movie
You must be logged in to post a comment Login