"The Silence of the Lambs" is regularly cited by critics, film directors and audiences as one of the greatest and most influential films. In 2018, "Empire" ranked it 48th on their list of the 500 greatest movies of all time. The American Film Institute ranked it the fifth-greatest and most influential thriller film while Starling and Lecter were ranked among the greatest film heroines and villains. The film is considered "culturally, historically or aesthetically" significant by the U.S. Library of Congress and was selected for preservation in the National Film Registry in 2011. A sequel, "Hannibal," was released in 2001, followed by the prequels "Red Dragon" (2002) and "Hannibal Rising" (2007).