Manhunter (1986)

“Have you ever seen blood in the moonlight, Will? It appears quite black.” – Dr. Hannibal Lecktor

Number of Times Seen – At least twice (Cable in the 90’s and 16 Feb 2021)

Brief Synopsis – A former FBI profiler must try and find a way to discover the identity of a new serial killer known as The Tooth Fairy before he strikes again.

My Take on it – Great psychological drama that works really well.

The trick to watching the movie now is to take away the fact that this film deals with Hannibal Lector because as great and actor as Brian Cox is, he isn’t able to embody the character as well as Anthony Hopkins did just a few years later and changed the way we all see one of the greatest film villains ever.

This film was actually remade 16 years later as Red Dragon (2002) and that version is only slightly better than this one due to the inclusion of Hopkins even if that story feels a bit too Hollywoodicized.

William Petersen is superb in the lead role here and helps keep things so thrilling and suspenseful as we watch the plot unfold.

Tom Noonan is also great as the main antagonist and plays his character is a very creepy way that works so well in making us believe it all.

The story is very faithful to the novel and helps try and shed light on the mind of serial killers.

The pacing is great and the story moves along in a really thrilling way that constantly raises the tension level as things progress.

Highly Recommended!

MovieRob’s Favorite Trivia – This movie was originally going to be titled “Red Dragon”, the same name as the novel. However, when Year of the Dragon (1985) became a box-office failure, executive producer Dino De Laurentiis decided to avoid a “dragon” title. (From IMDB)

Rating – Oscar Worthy (9/10)