Hannibal Lecter's prison cell was a custom-fitted, single-occupant prison cell located in the maximum security wing of the Baltimore State Hospital for the Criminally Insane.
Dr. Hannibal Lecter lived in the cell full-time during his years of incarceration. He was allowed out only for short periods of time each week - while the cell was cleaned and searched for contraband - and only while wearing full restraints. According to Dr. Chilton, the locked cell was "absolutely the only place" where Lecter was permitted to be unrestrained in the asylum.[1]
Four different versions of the cell have appeared across the four separate continuties of the books, films and TV series, though each version contains at least a bed, a toilet and sink, a table, a seat, a shelf of books, and a slot through which Lecter can be safely passed food, mail and other items.
Novels[]
In the books, Dr. Lecter's cell is on the right-hand side at the end of the maximum security wing, underground, in the lowest level of the asylum. It is well past the other cells[2], though within earshot of them, and faces only a small closet across the hall. Due to Lecter’s unpredictable and extremely violent nature, and his attack on a nurse, his cell is custom made and differs to the other cells on the violent ward.
The front wall of the cell consists of two barriers - a standard wall of prison bars, and a stout nylon net stretched from wall to wall beyond that. The gap between the two barriers was 'greater than the human reach', preventing Lecter from reaching the bars and attacking any potential victims who approached them. The cell had a toilet, a sink, a book shelf, a bunk with a mattress[3], and a table and straight-backed chair - all bolted to the floor and immovable. The furniture, bars and walls were all painted white[4], and Lecter adorned the walls with his own drawings. A rolling carrier next to the table[5] was used to safely exchange items such as food trays, mail and casefiles with Lecter from a distance, and could be pushed or pulled through from either side of the barrier with a cord.
The cell's lights operated on a dimmer switch that Lecter controlled himself[6], allowing him to sleep in during the day and stay up reading, writing or drawing at night.
It is unknown if Lecter was originally housed in this cell, or only moved there after he savaged a nurse one year into his incarceration, after which his security measures were tightened. Lecter mentions that he has been in the cell for eight years, making it likely he has spent the entirity of his incarceration there. The cell may have been reinforced with the net after he mauled the nurse. Three times a week[7], under the watchful eye of Barney Matthews, the cell would be meticulously searched and cleaned. During these times, Lecter would either be secured to a hand truck wearing full restraints and a mouth piece, or secured to his cot using heavy bedding. When guards approached the cell, they would be armed with a tranquilizer rifle and chemical mace. They would warn Lecter not to approach before the cell was locked, or he could would be maced in the face. When secured to his cot, he would be gradually be freed, and would be able to take off the rest of his restraints in exchange for his dinner.
Films[]
Manhunter[]
In Manhunter Dr. Lecktor's cell has white brick walls and white standard prison bars. The cell is inside a larger, windowless locked room, on one of the upper floors of the hospital[8]. Visitors could enter the outer room and speak with Lecktor at a safe distance from the bars, but had to request to be let in and out of the room by a guard, as the outer door was kept locked at all times. The cell contained a stainless-steel combination toilet-and-sink, a mattress on a concrete slab, a seat, a desk in an alcove and a metal bookshelf bolted to the wall over it.
The wall of bars had a built-in slot protected by a locked metal flap. So extreme was Lecktor's security that Lecktor and his visitors were not allowed to operate the slot or pass items through it themselves - a guard had to be summoned to the locked room simply to open and close the flap with a key and pass in a file folder from Will Graham, seated just a few feet from the bars. A guard would be armed with chemical mace to deter Lecktor from attacking.
The Silence of the Lambs (film) and Red Dragon (film)[]
Dr. Lecter's cell is an 8'x8' square room on the left-hand side of a hall at the end of the violent criminals wing, in the lowest basement of the hospital. Unlike the regular bars of every other cell in the hall, Lecter's has a front wall made from bulletproof PERSPEX® glass, with airholes at regular intervals near the top and bottom of the barrier. The cell consists of a bed on a metal cot, a small bookshelf on the wall over the bed, a porcelain toilet, a porcelain sink under a glassless mirror made from polished chrome, a metal desk and a built-in metal bench. The walls are made of large, dark, irregularly-shaped stone bricks, not unlike a medieval dungeon, and are adorned with Lecter's artwork. A sliding metal tray is built into a slot in the brick next to the glass barrier, for Lecter to give and receive items. When his cell was being cleaned or searched, he would either be secured to a hand truck, wearing restraints and a hockey mask, or placed in a separate holding cell.
The cell is lit by a lighting fixture in the high ceiling. Unlike in the books, Lecter has no control over the lighting himself, and must rely on the staff to turn the lights on and off for him remotely.[9]
Television[]
Hannibal (TV series)[]
Dr. Lecter's cell in the TV series is far larger and more elegant than all previously-depicted versions, and is shown to have been custom-built[10] for Lecter from a large parlor in one of the topmost rooms of the asylum.
The front wall is floor-to-ceiling bulletproof glass which divides the cell from a visiting gallery occupying the rest of the parlor. A row of large airholes at chest-height lines the glass barrier, which contains a built-in metal slot for food and mail. The cell has hardwood flooring, white plaster walls with gold-rimmed paneling, and two 12'-tall bookcases built into the wall on either side of a large fireplace which has been sealed off from use. The cell also contains multiple pieces of furniture, including an adjustable artist's easel desk, a dining table and chair, a bed against one wall, a smaller desk and metal stool against the other, and a stainless-steel combination toilet-sink unit. Unusually, there is sometimes an area for Lecter to cook under supervision, and vetted guests such as Dr. Chilton sometimes dine with him at the table while Lecter is in shackles.[11] The cell is segregated from the rest of the hospital by the room's massive wooden double-doors.
While every other depiction of Lecter's cell has - to his oft-noted displeasure - been completely windowless, this version of the cell contains a large, round, domed window in the center of the ceiling through which Lecter is shown watching the sky and moon.
Gallery[]
- ↑ Red Dragon, p. 40 (1981, Thomas Harris)
- ↑ The Silence Of The Lambs, Chapter 3 (1988, Thomas Harris)
- ↑ "the metal ink tube went into the rolled seam edging his mattress" - The Silence Of The Lambs, Chapter 36(Thomas Harris, 1988)
- ↑ "Dr. Lecter wore the white asylum pajams in his white cell. The only colors in the cell were his hair and eyes and his red mouth, in a face so long out of the sun it leached into the surrounding whiteness" - The Silence Of The Lambs, chapter 22(Thomas Harris, 1988)
- ↑ Lecter sends a drawing through the carrier without getting up from his desk - The Silence Of The Lambs, chapter 25(Thomas Harris, 1988)
- ↑ "Lecter turned up the rheostat slowly in his cell. His books and drawings were gone." - The Silence Of The Lambs, chapter 9
- ↑ The Silence Of The Lambs, chapter 26
- ↑ Will Graham runs down several flights of ramps after fleeing Lecktor's company during their first interview.
- ↑ 'Thank you, Barney.' - The Silence Of The Lambs(film, 1991)
- ↑ Hanniabal season 3, episode 8 - "The Great Red Dragon" (2015)
- ↑ Hannibal, season 3, episode 8 - "The Great Red Dragon" (2015)