Fact Check: Did Hannibal Lecter die in Silence Of The Lambs? Trump calls fictional serial killer "late great" during RNC speech

Days after his assassination attempt, former US President Donald Trump compared the immigrants with the "late, great Hannibal Lecter" during his Presidential nomination speech at the Republic National Convention on Thursday, July 18.

Trump also broke his record for the longest presidential nomination acceptance speech in history, as he spoke for 92 minutes. During the speech, Trump credited the illegal immigration chart for saving his life during the assassination attempt.

However, he then compared the illegal immigrants of the United States with the villain Hannibal Lecter. He further commented that other countries deport people from their "insane asylums" to the United States as immigrants.

“You know, the press is always on me because I say this,” Trump began. “Has anyone seen Silence of the Lambs? The late, great Hannibal Lecter. He’d love to have you for dinner. That’s insane asylums, they’re emptying out their insane asylums,” commented the 78-year-old.

However, this comparison is wrong in more ways than one. For starters, Hannibal Lecter never dies in the book, film, or any other adaptation. The character simply runs away from the Baltimore State Hospital and escapes to the Bahamas at the film's end.

Finally, there is no evidence that countries are "emptying out their insane asylums" into the United States, as Donald Trump claimed in his acceptance speech.

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What happened to Hannibal Lecter in Silence of the Lambs? The movie's ending explained

Silence of the Lambs is a spine-chilling story of the eerie connection between Clarice Starling and Hannibal Lecter. Clarice is a trainee FBI agent who gets the job of interrogating a cannibalistic serial killer called Hannibal Lecter to deduce the mentality of another serial killer, Buffalo Bill.

The entire movie is a saga of conversations between Hannibal and Clarice Starling and her startling discoveries about the vicious killer's past and what triggered the cannibal inside him.

Although the film features a montage of gory scenes that can easily make one throw up, its real essence lies in the uncanny connection between Clarice and Hannibal. Hannibal is an exceptionally intelligent psychiatrist and sees through Clarice Starling like a sheet of glass. The inhuman manipulative skills of the character are also seen when he talks a fellow prisoner into swallowing his tongue and committing suicide.

At the end of the film, Clarice uses the information from Hannibal Lecter to decipher that Buffalo Bill also goes by the name Jame Gumb. The FBI trainee reaches Gumb's house and discovers the Death-Head's moth, which are the same ones that Buffalo Bill puts in the mouths of his victims.

Using this newly acquired information, she reaches the house of Catherine Martin, who she realizes is the next victim of Buffalo Bill. Buffalo Bill (aka Jame Gumb) finally reaches his demise as Clarice shoots him in Catherine's basement.

The final scene of Silence of the Lambs cements Lecter's place as one of the greatest villains in the history of cinema. Hannibal is out of prison and is preparing to go to the Bahamas, while Clarice Starling is celebrating her promotion after being hired by the FBI. The film ends with a phone call between Clarice and Lecter where he says one of the most iconic lines in cinema history:

"I do wish we could chat longer, but... I'm having an old friend for dinner. Bye."

Silence of the Lambs conquered the top spot at the United States box office for five consecutive weeks and is often cited by critics as one of the best films in existence.

The film also bagged Five Academy Awards, including Best Picture, Best Actor (Anthony Hopkins), Best Actress (Jodie Foster), Best Director (Jonathan Demme), and Best Adapted Screenplay (Ted Tally).

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