I first heard of Hannibal Lecktor when the movie Silence of the Lambs was released. I was in high school at the time and didn’t want to see the movie then. I thought it would be too scary and violent. I ended up seeing it after it was out on VHS. I did like the movie, but Lecktor really freaked me out. He was really creepy. In 2001, I saw the movie Hannibal, and I also enjoyed that one. Several years ago I discovered that Hannibal had been in a book before Silence of the Lambs called Red Dragon. I found the book in the bookstore one day. It was a few more years before I discovered that a movie called Manhunter had been made based on that book. At first I wasn’t sure that I wanted to see that movie because I had liked Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal and I knew someone else played the character in Manhunter. Recently, another member of Epinions, JackSommersby, told me I should watch the movie and that he would like to read my thoughts on the movie. So the last time I was in Blockbuster I hunted up a copy of Manhunter and I watched it. I wasn’t sure what to expect, but I ended up liking it.

PLOT

Will Graham was a former FBI agent. He had been involved in an investigation that ended with the arrest of Dr. Hannibal Lecktor. Will had been hurt when Lecktor was arrested, and was hospitalized for a while. Will also spent some time in a mental hospital. Will now lived in Florida with his wife Molly and son Kevin.

The FBI was looking for a serial killer nicknamed the Tooth Fairy. Two families had been brutally murdered. The murders had been committed on two consecutive full moons. The FBI didn’t have any clues. Jack Crawford, Will’s former boss at the FBI, showed up to talk to Will to try to convince him to work on the case. Jack then talked to Molly while Will and Kevin were outside building some sort of pen. Molly wasn’t happy that Jack was wanting to pull Will back into an investigation. That night, Will and Molly talked. He decided to work on the case.

Will traveled to the home of the last family that was murdered. He arrived there at night, and he went into the house alone to look around. Upstairs, there was blood on the carpet in places. Blood was all over the place in the master bedroom. Will looked around and was able to figure out a few things and discovered a few new clues.

Will decided to go see Lecktor to get his opinion on the Tooth Fairy. Will didn’t spend a lot of time with Lecktor, but he seemed to be very uncomfortable there. Lecktor was trying to get inside Will’s head, but he did agree to look at the information Will had on the murders and give his opinion. Will was very shaken up when he left the prison. A reporter who had followed Will’s prior case involving Lecktor discovered that Will was working on the Tooth Fairy case and started to follow him around. Pictures of Will ended up in a tabloid paper. The reporter then had a very unpleasant visit with the Tooth Fairy. Will later talked to Lecktor on the phone about the case.

Lecktor was sneaky and managed to find out what Will’s address in Florida was. Jack arranged for Molly and Kevin to be moved to a safe location. Will had a talk with Kevin to explain some things related to what happened when Lecktor was arrested. A guard at the prison discovered a letter from the Tooth Fairy hidden in one of Lecktor’s books. The Tooth Fairy had also sent some letters to the police.

Francis Dolarhyde worked with Reba had some kind of film developing place. They worked on home movies. Reba was blind. Francis was a bit different, and he seemed to keep to himself, but he and Reba were involved. They spent some time together and did sleep together. Reba seemed to sense something in him. Francis saw something and jumped to a conclusion that got him very upset.

CAST

William Petersen - Will Graham
Kim Greist - Molly Graham
Brian Cox - Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
Dennis Farina - Jack Crawford
Stephen Lang - Freddy Sounds
Tom Noonan - Francis Dolaryhde
Joan Allen - Reba
David Seaman - Kevin Graham

Michael Mann - Director and wrote the screenplay

Manhunter was made in 1986. The movie was based on the book Red Dragon by Thomas Harris. In the summer of 2002, another movie based on the same book was released. That movie was called Red Dragon. I have not seen that version of this story. I have also not read the book version of Red Dragon, so I have no idea how close Manhunter stayed to the book. I also don’t know how Manhunter compares to the new movie Red Dragon, though I have read some things about the new movie so I know there are some differences. Manhunter was 119 minutes long and rated R. This is not a movie for children to watch.

I did enjoy Manhunter. It was interesting to see Lecktor before the time that was depicted in Silence of the Lambs. It was also interesting to see the man who had captured Lecktor, though there wasn’t a lot about that in the movie. Manhunter was a bit different from what I had been expecting, but I still liked the movie. Some parts were slower paced, but that didn’t make the movie boring to me. People who only like movies that are packed full of action may not want to see this one.

The main focus of Manhunter was Will’s investigation of the murders committed by the Tooth Fairy. Will went to crime scenes and pieced together things that others investigating the murders had missed. Some of the things Will did in his investigation at the crime scene reminded me of things William Petersen’s character has done on different episodes of CSI. Will didn’t do all of the in depth tests that are done on CSI. There really wasn’t a lot of action in Manhunter. A few scenes had a little bit of action in them, but overall, there wasn’t that much in the movie, so some people could get bored while watching.

There was some violence in Manhunter, but not as much as I had been expecting. None of the Tooth Fairy’s murders were actually shown, though it did come close at one point. There was one shoot out in the movie and some people were shot then. When Will was investigating, the bodies were gone from the house, but there was still a lot of blood on the carpet and walls. A little later in the movie, a photograph of one of the victims was briefly shown and it was a disturbing photograph. So there really wasn’t a lot of violence shown in the movie, but what was shown could be upsetting to some people. Anyone who doesn’t like to see movies with violence or a lot of blood should probably avoid seeing this movie.

I didn’t think that Manhunter was scary. There were a few suspenseful moments in the movie, but it wasn’t really scary to me. Before I saw Silence of the Lambs, things from the preview of the movie scared me. Seeing Hannibal in that mask thing really freaked me out. In Manhunter, Hannibal never wore a mask like that. He was creepy and evil looking, but he didn’t really scare me. It wasn’t even mentioned that he was a cannibal. At least I didn’t hear it if it was mentioned. It was late when I watched the movie, and I was tired, so it is possible that I zoned out for a minute. I don’t remember hearing any explanation in Manhunter about why Hannibal was so dangerous. During the movie, Will only saw Hannibal one time. Hannibal was in a rather small, brightly lit cell that was all white. Hannibal was even wearing white clothes. That was not a scary looking setting. In Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal’s cell was much darker and creepier looking. His cell was at the end of a hall where other violent criminals were. Those criminals would say things to anyone who walked down the hall. The hall was dark and dreary looking. It looked to me like Hannibal was down in a dungeon. I thought that setting was very scary looking. In Manhunter, the whole prison was white and modern looking. It didn’t even look like a prison to me, so it wasn’t scary. There wasn’t too much shown with the Tooth Fairy at all. When he had the reporter, it was somewhat scary. The idea of a serial killer that was killing random families was a bit scary to me.

Two characters in Manhunter, Francis and Reba, were involved, but there really wasn’t any romance in the movie. Francis and Reba worked together and spent some time together outside of work. They did sleep together, though that wasn’t shown in the movie. Some things leading up to and then after they slept together was shown instead. There wasn’t any nudity in the movie. From watching the movie, I’m not sure how long Francis and Reba had known each other. I’m also not sure if they had been sleeping together before, or if the time that was shown in the movie was actually the first time they did that. Their relationship wasn’t that developed. I don’t know why they were interested in each other.

In Manhunter, the character of Dr. Hannibal Lecktor made his first appearance in a movie. A few years later, he was back in Silence of the Lambs, a movie that was much more popular than Manhunter and went on too win several awards. Brian Cox played Hannibal in Manhunter. Anthony Hopkins took over the role for Silence of the Lambs, Hannibal, and the new Red Dragon. The two actors each portrayed Hannibal differently, but they were each good in the role. I did think that Anthony Hopkins’ Hannibal was scarier, but Cox’s was still very creepy. Hannibal was a minor character in Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs, so each actor didn’t have a lot of screen time. I think Cox had fewer scenes than Hopkins did, though it has been a while since I’ve seen Silence of the Lambs. I think that there was a bit more development for Hannibal in Silence of the Lambs. It seemed like there was more explanation in that movie as to why Hannibal was so dangerous. Cox did well with the role. He was very creepy and evil looking in his few scenes, even when he was doing something normal like talking on the phone. I think that the slicked back hair helped to make him look evil. His eyes also looked evil.

Throughout Manhunter, several of the locations were very light colored and many places were all in white. The kitchen in Will’s home in Florida was completely in white, and other rooms in the house had a lot of white too. The home of one of the victims was also all white. Lecktor’s cell, as well as the whole prison, was white. Even the bars on Lecktor’s cell were white. All that white in the small area where Lecktor’s cell was made it so bright it was blinding. I thought that maybe the victims’ house was all white to help illustrate how the family had been innocent when the Tooth Fairy murdered them. I thought that maybe Will’s house in Florida had so much white to symbolize that Will had started a new life away from law enforcement. I couldn’t think of any reason why Lecktor’s cell would be all white. He certainly wasn’t innocent. Or I could just be over analyzing the use of white in the movie. The white probably wasn’t symbolizing anything other than the fact that someone decided it would be easier to just use white everywhere instead of painting each set a different color. I did notice that there was a blue cast to some scenes that were set at night. The blue cast looked a little strange.

Manhunter was made in 1986, so some things in the movie are very dated now. The main things that stood out were some of the costumes, cars, and computers. There weren’t too many computers shown in the movie, but they are all so out of date and obsolete now that it was strange to see them. I’m sure that the computers that were shown in the movie were all up to date when the movie was made, but they just look strange and very outdated to me now.

During Manhunter, I noticed a few strange sounds. At the beginning of the movie, after the opening credits were done the screen was black. I heard some kind of strange noise that I couldn’t identify. As it played longer, it scared me a bit, making me think I was hearing something really horrible, like something the killer was doing to a body or something. I had no idea what the sound was, but it just sounded scary to me at the time. It turned out to be the ocean. It sounded strange for an ocean to me. It was also very loud. Jack and Will were talking on the beach, and the sound from the ocean made it a little difficult for me to hear what they were saying. There was another time or two that something like that happened, but the ocean one is what really stood out to me. Once or twice more, some kind of background noise was too loud again, making it difficult for me to hear.

Manhunter has some of the worst music I have ever heard in a movie. There were a few songs, including In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida that played during the climax of the movie. Those songs didn’t bother me. My problem was with the horrible original music that played throughout the movie. The music would start off softly at the beginning of a scene, build and get louder, and then get softer again. That was repeated throughout the movie. I’m guessing that the music was meant to add suspense to the movie. It didn’t. I’d hear some things that I couldn’t identify when watching the movie. I’d strain to hear, trying to figure out what it was. Every time when I first noticed some sort of soft sound, I’d think it was something important, like the Tooth Fairy sneaking up on Will or something like that. Instead, it turned out to be that awful music. It drove me nuts. The music wasn’t even that good. I think it was mainly synthesizers, but I’m not sure. I really don’t know how to describe the music, but it grated on my nerves. It was very strange sounding, and badly done. The music from Manhunter reminded me a bit of the music from the movie The Terminator. I’ve heard similar music in other movies from the 80's, but I can’t think of any other specific movies right now. I don’t like that type of music in movies, and I really hated the way it was used in Manhunter.

I thought that the acting in Manhunter was pretty good. William Petersen did a good job as Will. He was believable in the role. He is now on the television show CSI that airs on CBS on Thursday nights. He looks a bit different now because he doesn’t have a beard now and he has gained some weight. Will was a complicated character, though the script didn’t provide enough information about him, so Petersen did the best he could with what he had to work with. Joan Allen was really good as Reba. I believed she was blind. Brian Cox only had a few scenes, but he was really good. His Lecktor was really creepy, though I wasn’t really scared by him. I don’t think I’ve ever seen Tom Noonan in any other movies. He was good as Francis. There was something about that character that wasn’t right, but that wasn’t fully explored in the movie. The rest of the cast was also good, but nothing that really stood out since the rest of the cast didn’t have much screen time at all.

There wasn’t a lot of character development in Manhunter. I think that Will was the most developed character, but even with him there wasn’t a lot of explanation for some things he did. There wasn’t that much insight into him in the movie. Lecktor was only in a few brief scenes, so there really wasn’t any development for his character in this movie. He also only had one short scene with Will, so there wasn’t the opportunity for Lecktor to get inside of Will’s head like he did to Clarice in Silence of the Lambs. Will and Lecktor had a history together, but not much about that was explored in the movie. It really wasn’t explained why Lecktor was considered to be so dangerous. I honestly can’t remember anyone in the movie saying that Lecktor was a cannibal, though I may have zoned out and missed it. Will did have a talk with his son Kevin about Lecktor and why Will had to spend some time in a mental hospital after Lecktor was arrested, but Will didn’t tell Kevin that Lecktor was a cannibal. Though that is probably not something he would to tell his son since Kevin wasn’t that old. In that scene, I did notice one goof up. When Will and Kevin had their talk, there were at the grocery store. Will stopped in one aisle and was in front of cereal. Kevin was shown for a minute, standing in front of the coffee. When it switched back to Will, he was no longer right in front of the cereal. He was further down the aisle, but he and Kevin had never moved.

Kevin and Molly were only in a few scenes here and there in Manhunter, and they weren’t developed at all. The characters of Francis and Reba were barely developed. There was no explanation for why Francis was the way he was. There was no explanation for why Reba was interested in Francis. The movie didn’t even tell how long they had been involved. There was no explanation for why the Tooth Fairy was killing families. What had set him off and started him killing? Why did he commit the murders during the full moon? I really wanted to know more about those things. From the things I have read about the new movie Red Dragon, I think there was a bit more development in that movie, but I’m not sure since I haven’t seen the movie myself. I’m thinking there would be more of that information in the book. I do want to read the book sometime. Hopefully reading the book will answer some of the questions I have.

CHARACTERS

Will - Former FBI agent. He had been involved in the capture of Dr. Hannibal Lecktor. Will was hurt and spent time in the hospital. He had to spend some time in a mental hospital as well. He and his family now lived in Florida. He got pulled into a new case, trying to catch a killer that was nicknamed the Tooth Fairy. Once Will made the decision to work on the case, he was dedicated to solving the case and finding out who the Tooth Fairy was. He was good at his job.

Frank - He worked with Will in the FBI. Frank went to Florida to get Will involved in the Tooth Fairy case. Frank was also dedicated to his job and wanted to find the Tooth Fairy. He didn’t seem to be as involved in the investigation as Will was.

Molly - Will’s wife. She didn’t want her husband to get involved in a new case, but she supported him when he decided to do it.

Kevin - Will and Molly’s son. I think he was around ten years old. He was protective of his mother.

Francis - He worked at some kind of film developing place that did work on home movies. He seemed to be a bit strange and he kept to himself. He was involved with a woman he worked with.

Reba - She worked with Francis. She was blind. She seemed to be a nice, kind woman. He was involved with Francis.

DVD

I rented Manhunter on DVD. There were some extra things on the DVD, but I didn’t get a chance to check them out. My week got really busy right after I rented the movie, and I didn’t get to watch it until very late the night before it had to go back. After the movie was over, I was too tired to watch any of the extras. There was a commentary that I didn’t get to listen to, and some kind of behind the scenes thing that I didn’t watch. I can’t remember what other extras there were on the DVD. The movie was in the wide screen format and the picture quality was very good. The sound was very good too.

I did enjoy Manhunter and I’m glad that I finally got around to renting it. The movie wasn’t as violent as I had thought it would be. Some people may think it is too violent though. The movie was slow in some places, so some people could be little bored when watching it. Overall, I thought Manhunter was a good movie and it is worth watching if you like this type of movie, or you like the characters of Hannibal Lecktor.





Recommended:
Yes

Viewing Format: DVD
Video Occasion: Fit for Friday Evening
Suitability For Children: Not suitable for Children of any age