Remember Hannibal Lecter? He was, and still is, one of the greatest sociopaths ever invented by the human mind, a figure so terrifying and fascinating at the same time that he can easily be put next to that of Jack the Ripper.

The series detailing Hannibal's horrible crimes and especially the great pleasure he took in committing them have been, thus far, both successful in print and on the silver screen. The man who brought the cannibalistic doctor to life is the same one who was behind him scaring the hell out moviegoers and he is now at it again.

'Hannibal Rising' is preparing to take over the big screen again, almost simultaneously to the book. While reviews for Thomas Harris' latest book are negative (to say the least), there is a huge buzz surrounding the movie, based on a script by Harris himself.

Peter Webber ('The Girl With a Pearl Earring') directed the latest Hannibal flick, which stars Gong Li ('Memoirs of a Geisha') and newcomer Gaspard Ulliel. 'Rising' comes before the action of the other three Lecter movies ('Silence of the Lambs', 'Red Dragon' and 'Hannibal') and focuses on what happened to the young Hannibal that made him turn in such a vicious killer.

While other prequels to highly successful movies proved to be big flops at the box-office, this might not be the case with 'Hannibal Rising'. A couple of those who got the exclusive chance of seeing a screening of it vouch that it is absolutely catching and fascinating, even if not to the extent 'Silence of the Lambs' was.

But they say it is really scary and well shot, that Ulliel does an amazing job at portraying the young Hannibal (even though not as spectacular as Sir Anthony Hopkins did) and that it's really worth watching. If horror/thrillers are not quite your kind of movies, 'Hannibal Rising' would still be interesting to see for the new perspective it brings to the whole Hannibal the Cannibal myth. It drops on February 9th so keep an eye for it!

Below is the trailer, just to get your attention a bit more.