The Silence of the Lambs influenced Hannibal

The series is a prequel to the story the 1991 film told, with the same character at its centre, and it is working against the screen performance that film established rather than only against Harris's novels. Demme's Lecter is caged, still, and terrifying in short bursts. Mads Mikkelsen's is at liberty, a practising psychiatrist and host, and the horror is that he is charming for whole episodes at a time. The show can make that choice only because the audience arrives already knowing what he is, and it knows because of the film.