The following article contains discussions of violence and graphic imagery. Discretion is advised.
Writer/producer Bryan Fuller has created some of the most mind-bending television shows of the 2000s – like Pushing Daisies, American Gods, and Star Trek: Discovery. In 2024, he is tapped to produce the Friday the 13th prequel series, Crystal Lake, which will tackle the years leading up to killer Jason Vorhees’ legacy. Fuller is no stranger to prequels, having created Hannibal, one of the best psychological horror shows, in 2013.
Hannibal‘s beautiful, dreamlike aesthetic combines with grotesque imagery while telling the story of Thomas Harris‘ Hannibal Lecter (played here by Mads Mikkelsen) leading up to his appearance in The Silence of the Lambs. While not every disturbing kill is at the hands of Hannibal himself, and not all of the most gruesome moments result in death (like Mason Verger’s face), each will make a lasting nightmarish impression on viewers. So before sure-to-be-gory Crystal Lake hits TV screens in 2024, catch up on these sickeningly stunning tableaus from Hannibal.
10 Glasgow Smile, “Buffet Froid”
The three seasons of Hannibal dive into the complicated relationship between Hannibal and Will Graham (Hugh Dancy), who is starting to figure out Hannibal’s true nature. In his effort to confuse Will, Hannibal uses the method of another killer – the “Glasgow smile” – to murder the doctor who could confirm Will’s MRI results. The aftermath of a Glasgow smile is often seen in movies and TV – from Sons of Anarchy to The Dark Knight – but Hannibal shows the act itself.
In the original murder Hannibal mimics, the victim drowned in her own blood from her wounds, and her face was peeled as if a skin mask was removed. Hannibal calculatingly recreates the Glasgow smile – his scissors cut into the doctor’s cheeks, widening his macabre grin; the top part of the corpse’s head flops back, tongue lolling in the gaping maw; and Hannibal walks away… not exactly grinning, but satisfied.
9 The Eye, “Sakizuke”
In Season 2’s “Sakizuke,” one of the best episodes of Hannibal, a killer collects victims to create a human mural and uses their skin tone as his color palette. The murderer glues and stitches the bodies together to form an eye which looks up through the roof of a silo. In various stages of decomposition, the bodies form a soupy mess of murder.
Viewers get to see the true horror of this killer when one of the victims, in the center of the eye, wakes up and tries to escape. In something akin to a Saw trap, the survivor must detach himself from the dead bodies that have been sewn or glued to his tearing skin. The ripping sounds intensify the disgust, and the thumping music heightens the tension, mimicking the victim’s heartbeat as he runs for his life.
8 Abel Gideon, “Takiawase”
Eddie Izzard‘s clever and psychopathic Dr. Abel Gideon proves a thorn in Hannibal’s side, falsely claiming to be the Chesapeake Ripper. Hannibal can’t have someone else taking credit for his masterful – and murderous – artistry, so Gideon becomes the next course on Hannibal’s menu.
Hannibal takes his time with Gideon, engaging in verbal discourse while cutting off Gideon’s limbs and using them for dinner. This sequence is shown in black-and-white, saving the audience a colorful look at escargot snails feasting on Gideon’s flesh as Hannibal bastes it. The black-and-white footage, however, lets viewers’ imaginations fill in the gaps, which might be even worse than what is shown on screen.
7 Beverly Katz, “Takiawase” / “Mukozuke”
Throughout Season 1, Beverly Katz (Hettienne Park) proves herself a competent detective and occasional sounding board to Will. Will takes advantage of this in Season 2 and enlists Katz’s help in investigating Hannibal for murder. Even with Will’s warnings, though, Katz sneaks into Hannibal’s house thinking he was out… He was home.
It is difficult to know who to root for in these two episodes – Katz is a great detective, but Hannibal is a few steps ahead, and Beverly finds this out the hard way. Reminiscent of the horse dissection scene in visually stunning horror filmThe Cell, Beverly is sliced into several pieces and displayed in glass casing. Her heart is on display while viewers’ hearts break for the character.
6 Cello, “Fromage”
Cellist and store owner Tobias Budge (Demore Barnes) is shown early on to be a killer in Season 1’s “Fromage.” In an expertly crafted montage comparable to Hannibal’s food preparation scenes, Budge treats and transforms his victim’s insides from bloody viscera to top-of-the-line cello strings. Once Budge stumbles upon Hannibal’s true nature, though, he aims to make a bigger scene… and a connection.
With his latest victim, Budge cuts out and treats the vocal cords then shoves a cello down the victim’s neck. He presents the body on the orchestra stage in a kind of love letter to Hannibal, hoping to gain his attention. In a performative show of psychopathy, Budge also admits to playing the victim like a cello and enjoying the inhuman sounds that resonated through his victim’s corpse.
5 Totem Pole, “Trou Normand”
Detective Jack Crawford (Laurence Fishburne) and Will investigate the killer who mutilated several corpses and strung them up in a larger-than-life human totem pole. Lawrence Wells (sci-fi/horror staple Lance Henriksen) went on a 40-year-long killing spree in order to create a lasting legacy as well as get revenge on his mistress.
A bizarre kind of decomposing puzzle, the totem pole was crafted with the body parts of over 15 corpses, with only the head at the top being from a recent murder. The bodies had been dug up, with the flesh at various stages of putrefaction. The statement piece spans decades of murder, the disembodied limbs jutting out like warning spikes, and the still-bloody decapitated head on top looking down in horror.
4 Mushroom Garden, “Amuse-Bouche”
While Hannibal often uses gorgeous imagery to compare food preparation and graphic violence, the killer in Season 1’s “Amuse-Bouche” relishes in the rot. Pharmacist Eldon Stammets (Aidan Devine) buries his victims alive after inducing diabetic comas to better feed his mushroom garden with their bodies.
When the garden is dug up, the bodies of Stammets’ victims are rotted away, their organs overcome and consumed by mushrooms. One unfortunate kidnappee turns out to still be alive; plant life sprouts from her body while her insides decompose. In what could be considered an act of mercy, the victim dies shortly after.
3 Angels, “Coquilles”
Another killer-of-the-week episode, Season 1’s “Coquilles” has Elliot Buddish (Seann Gallagher) making “angels” of his victims. After developing a brain tumor, Buddish’s fear of dying in his sleep leads him to kill sinners, transforming them into angels to watch over him.
The angel kill method has been used before – by the Doomsday Killer, one of the serial killers of Dexter – as has the “Blood Eagle” method of torture – in Vikings and Midsommar. In Hannibal, though, Buddish also transforms himself into an angel – through castration, skin removal, and hanging himself from the ceiling with wires.
2 The Heart, “Primavera”
Season 3 begins with Hannibal using a new identity in Italy, and Will trying to start a new life. Hannibal befriends a man who looks similar to Will, Antony Dimmond (Tom Wisdom) – until he stumbles upon Hannibal’s false identity. Dimmond gives the secret away, much to his detriment, so Hannibal uses him as a message to Will.
Hannibal shows no mercy when he flays Dimmond and forms his limbless torso into the shape of a human heart. The “heart” is impaled on three swords and left in a church, acting as a sick olive branch from Hannibal to Will. Will’s interest is questioned when he lets this macabre love letter lure him to Italy, and to Hannibal.
1 Inside a Horse, “Su-zakana”
Season 2’s “Su-zakana” features a disgusting matryoshka doll of murder, as well as introduces fan favorites Mason (Michael Pitt, later played by Joe Anderson) and Margot Verger (Katharine Isabelle). The veterinarian at a stable finds a dead horse bulging as if it was pregnant. Cutting open the horse, the vet not only finds ample amounts of guts and viscera, but also the corpse of a woman.
As the woman is autopsied, her chest begins to beat. Viewers are treated to an up-close look at the corpse’s chest cavity being cut into, ribs breaking, and bloody heart pumping. An effective jump-scare reveals that a bird was sewn into the woman’s chest cavity before she was sewn into the horse. The revulsion just keeps coming.
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