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Other mistake: Exterior views of Buffalo Bill's house showed the house was not very big and his yard space was limited. The amount of rooms, their sizes, and hall space purportedly in the basement were too excessive to believably be under that house. (00:49:20)

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Continuity mistake: Before Clarice chases Buffalo Bill down the basement steps, she quickly slips off her green overcoat, letting it fall to the floor. (I wasn't able to see if the green/red checked blazer and/or the grey scarf she almost always wore were slipped off at the same time - the view was obstructed by a table.) After Bill is killed, Clarice exits the house and comes down the front steps wearing the green/red checked suit jacket (blazer), but does not have the green overcoat or scarf with her. (01:43:13 - 01:50:17)

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Character mistake: Clarice was given clear, explicit instructions by Crawford before going to the asylum to see Lecter, including: do not touch the glass; do not approach the glass; tell him nothing personal; do not accept anything from him. Barney also gave the specific rules to Clarice when she got there (e.g, "you don't get near the glass"; use the food tray carrier to give him papers), and informed her he would be watching her on video. An FBI Agent TRAINEE is under close scrutiny and failure to meet the high standards and/or rigorous training can/will result in dismissal from the academy; a student must follow the rules and demonstrate she has what it takes to graduate and is suitable to become a member of the FBI. Given the high standards and relative difficulty in securing a position with the FBI, a trainee would not blatantly break the rules or virtually disregard the direct orders of a supervisor like Clarice did - especially during the very first assignment. The end does not justify the means.

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Deliberate mistake: The number of acts Lecter performed during his escape from the individual jail cell and until he was attended to by an officer (who thought he was an injured officer) would have taken a lot of time and effort to complete - way more time than he could have gone undetected by one of the many officers in the building. Slashing/ bludgeoning to death a person can be done fairly quickly (munching on a victim's face adds time!), but three particular acts required a substantial amount of time, especially for an elderly man whose ultimate goal was escape: Swapping clothes (undressing and dressing) with a police officer and trimming off his face/scalp to appear to be that officer, then getting to a strategic location to be discovered; Setting a dead officer on the roof of the elevator; and, somehow hanging / impaling (crucifixion-style) an officer from the top of the jail cell (which appeared to be around 10' high). The latter feat would be challenging for TWO physically-fit officers.

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