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How does The Silence of the Lambs fit the conventions of the thriller genre?

The Silence of the Lambs is one of the most critically acclaimed of the thriller genre, receiving five Oscars in 1991.
The protagonist is Clarice Starling, a young FBI agent, is assigned to help find a missing woman to save her from a psychopathic serial killer. As research into the woman’s disappearance Clarice is asked to speak to renowned killer, Hannibal Lecter as her superior officer feels he could be useful in tracking down the psychopathic serial killer, who, it transpires, is called “Buffalo Bill”.
Hannibal Lecter is highly intelligent and whilst he does help Clarice to solve the case, in his own twisted way, he also manages to make his escape which leaves the end of this film on a cliff hanger for the sequel.

A basic definition of a thriller film should be fast paced, suspenseful and contain many plot twists. The protagonist is often a male who has issues with relationships, whether it be with family or friends. A common theme within the thriller genre is death.

Plot twists have become a common feature of thrillers, so much so that it may be argued that they are no longer thrilling, as the audience has come to expect a twist of some sort. With Silence of the Lambs there are plenty of plot twists to keep the audience in suspense; the final scene being the most prolific when Clarice is alone and

Death is frequently featured in thrillers, for example: Black Swan, Inception and The Sixth Sense, to name but a few. Death is clearly a feature of Silence of the Lambs as two of the major characters are serial killers. However, Silence of the Lambs is fairly horrific in its portrayal of death as Hannibal Lecter is a cannibal and Buffalo Bill is skinning his victims to make a skin suit for himself. These ideas ought to place Silence of the Lambs more in the horror genre due to its graphic content.  

An unconventional aspect of the film, however, is that the protagonist is female. Having said that, other aspects of her character are representative of the genre: she appears to be very work focused, with no emotional ties, which also makes her appear to be a loner. She is also a member of the FBI, which is a good job within the crime sector.  
All of these things can be applied to male protagonists in other films such as . Whilst gathering research for this essay I read a piece that suggested that the film was trying to make a statement against sexism and that it was a punishable offence within the film, which would then reinforce the idea that Clarice is a typical thriller protagonist, just a female version.
 

Hannibal Lecter is a typical antagonist as he is highly intelligent and manipulative and thus epitomises the sinister and psychologically damaged character that is often portrayed in thrillers. He can be compared to other thriller antagonists such as The Joker from Christopher Nolan’s, The Dark Knight, as they are both examples of antagonists in thrillers and share similar traits.

The technical aspects of the film are also reflective of the genre. The use of lighting is typical of the thriller genre as it is primarily lit with low key lighting which often creates deep, dark shadows. In thriller this is done to heighten fear and suspense as one does not know what may be hiding in the darkness. The way Lecter is lit has been done with a lot of thought, particularly in the scene of Clarice's first meeting with Lecter where his face is lit from below casting very sinister shadows across his face making him look more villainous.

Having said this, there is a lot of naturalist lighting used in The Silence of the Lambs but I would suggest that this is also reasonably common within Thriller films. The natural lighting makes the scene look more real, the more real it looks the more frightening it is for the audience as they believe it's more likely to happen to them because it looks real.
  The majority of the camera shots and angles used are also stereotypically thriller. For example, the opening scene of Clarice running through the woods which is a sequence that often features in thriller films e.g.
The scene towards the end of the film of Clarice at Buffalo Bill’s house which is a point of view shot from Bill’s night-vision goggles is particularly disturbing as it adds to the fear of the unknown. This shot makes the audience feel scared for Clarice because she doesn’t know that Bill’s out there, but it also makes the audience fear for themselves because they may be watching the film in a darkened room and not be able to see what’s out there, thus creating the fear of the unknown.
To add to this, there is no music or any other non diegetic sound, mostly it is just Clarice’s heavy breathing which creates more tension as the audience is just waiting for something to happen, a gun shot perhaps?

It is questionable as to whether or not The Silence of the Lambs belongs in the psychological thriller category or not due to its high content of horrific scenes. It does deal with a cannibalistic psychiatrist and a serial killer who murders people for their skin so that he can make a woman suit so the film clearly features some eccentric psychological issues.
As shown throughout the essay, The Silence of the Lambs does fit many of the thriller criteria as well as being rich in psychological detail but due to its horrifying subject matter and the way it is portrayed on screen it would not be unfair to suggest that the film be classified as a psychological thriller/ horror film.