Manhunter is a 1986 thriller film based on Thomas Harris's novel Red Dragon. Written and directed by Michael Mann, it features Brian Cox as the popular character Hannibal Lecter (although the character's name is spelled "Lecktor" in this film) and stars William Petersen, Joan Allen, Kim Greist, Dennis Farina and Tom Noonan. The cinematographer was Dante Spinotti who also served as the director of photography on Red Dragon, the 2002 film version of the novel.
Synopsis
Will Graham is a former FBI agent who captured the infamous Dr. Hannibal Lecktor and was almost killed in the process. He was so traumatized by the event that he retired from the FBI.
Graham's former boss, Jack Crawford, calls on him to help find a killer called "The Tooth Fairy" who is murdering entire families. Graham is a profiler who has an uncanny ability to (figuratively) enter the mind of a killer and think and feel as he does.
Some would say that a more accurate description of what Graham does is allocating part of his own being to that of the killer's -— or deliberately becoming schizoid -— to more fully experience the serial killer's personality and outlook (at substantial risk to his own physical, mental and emotional health) The imprisoned Doctor Lecktor confronts him about this knack during a visit from Graham and points out something that Will already knows but doesn't like to admit: The reason Graham caught Lecktor is that they are "just alike." "If you want to get the old scent back", Lecktor says, "Smell yourself."
Graham's hunt for the Tooth Fairy is complicated by sleazy tabloid journalist Freddy Lounds, who publicly reveals that Graham has come out of retirement to work on the case. His family is now at risk —- especially when Lecktor finagles his way into getting the Graham family's home address in Florida. A trap is set in Washington D.C. using the tabloid to try to lure out the killer, but it is unsuccessful. The Tooth Fairy promptly captures Lounds, tortures and kills him.
The Tooth Fairy is actually a tortured soul named Francis Dollarhyde (Dolarhyde in the novel), falling in love with a blind coworker named Reba McClane. (They work together at a film processing plant.) This ecstatically novel experience for Dollarhyde temporarily quells his murderous urges. It is then through a simple tragic misunderstanding that his rage returns and he reverts to his old schizoid/psychotic self.
Graham continues his hunt for this predator and his breakthrough comes when he realizes that the Tooth Fairy's break-ins to both families' houses were too perfectly executed, that the killer must have had prior knowledge of the house and yard layout. He guesses that the killer could have discovered what he needed by watching home movies of the families before killing them -— the same home movies that Graham has studied over and over again throughout the story.
Graham's hunch is correct, and the police descend on St. Louis where Dollarhyde lives and works. Reba is taken captive by Dollarhyde and taken to his home with the intention of killing her. His indecision about her fate is interrupted by Graham's airborne arrival through a large glass window. The Tooth Fairy manages to intercept Graham in mid-flight, cuts him across the face and effortlessly knocks him to the floor.
Dollarhyde then gets busy engaging backup personnel but is finally stopped when Graham shoots him several times, point-blank, with Glaser Safety Slugs. There are other casualties but Reba survives and the nightmare is over.
Graham returns to his home and family in Captiva, Florida and begins cleansing himself of Dollarhyde and recovering from the toll this has taken on his psyche.
Cast
Production
Red Dragon, the novel that the film was based on.
John Lithgow, Mandy Patinkin, and Brian Dennehy were all considered for the role of Hannibal Lecktor before Brian Cox was cast.[1] Cox based his portrayal on Scottish serial killer Peter Manuel, whom he stated "didn't have a sense of right and wrong."
The film was originally going to use the novel's title, Red Dragon. When Year of the Dragon (1985) bombed at the box office, screenwriter/director Michael Mann decided to change the title.[2] William Petersen has commented that the title was also changed to avoid being confused for a karate movie.[1]
During principal photography, Tom Noonan asked that no one in the cast, either people who are after him or whom he is after, be allowed to see him. The first time Noonan met William Petersen was when they filmed the scene where Graham crashes through the window of Dollarhyde's home.[1][3] Noonan admits that, because of his request, the atmosphere on set became so tense, people actually became afraid of him.[1] Noonan was lying in the corn syrup used for blood at the end of the film for so long that he became stuck to the floor.[1]
Because William Petersen's role was so emotionally exhausting, he did everything he could to rid himself of Will Graham after principal photography wrapped. Petersen shaved off his beard, cut his hair and dyed it blonde.[1]
Frankie Faison, who appears as Lt. Fisk, is the only actor to appear in the first four Hannibal Lecter films. Faison later had a significant role as Barney, the orderly, in The Silence of the Lambs (1991), Hannibal (2001), and Red Dragon (2002).
When the film was first broadcast on TV, the title was changed to Red Dragon: The Pursuit of Hannibal Lecter. This was done to capitalize on the success of The Silence of the Lambs; however, the changing of the title did not accurately reflect the movie's story, since when Manhunter begins, Lecter has already been captured and incarcerated.
After the film's completion, Dennis Farina, Bill Smitrovich, and Stephen Lang were all cast in Michael Mann's TV series Crime Story. That series also featured Ted Levine, who played serial killer Buffalo Bill in The Silence of the Lambs. Levine and Noonan also worked with Michael Mann again in the 1995 crime thriller Heat.
Soundtrack
| Manhunter (Music from the Motion Picture Soundtrack) |
 |
| Soundtrack by Various artists |
| Released |
1986 |
| Genre |
Soundtrack |
| Label |
MCA |
| Professional reviews |
|
|
The soundtrack album was released in limited quantities in 1986 on MCA Records (#6182), but the film's failure at the box office prevented a release on the then new compact disc format. Soon afterwards, the 12" record and audio cassette were deleted making them highly sought after by fans of the film. Currently, the film is a cult classic and can be viewed almost daily on various cable channels all over the world, while the soundtrack has become a huge collector's item. Recently, a 2-CD set entitled, Music from the Films of Michael Mann was release that features four tracks from Manhunter - The Prime Movers' "Strong As I Am", Iron Butterfly's "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida", Shriekback's "This Big Hush" and Red 7's "Heartbeat".
Track listing
- The Prime Movers - "Strong as I Am"
- Shriekback - "Coelocanth"
- Shriekback - "This Big Hush"
- Michel Rubini - "Graham's Theme"
- Shriekback - "Evaporation"
- Red 7 - "Heartbeat"
- The Reds - "Lector's Cell"
- The Reds - "Leed's House"
- Iron Butterfly - "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida"
In the film itself, screen credits were given for music not listed above, including:
- [ ] "Freeze"
Reception
Despite generally positive critical reviews,[4][5] the film was a box office flop. After The Silence of the Lambs (which was never approached by Orion as a sequel to Manhunter due to said poor box office performance) was released in 1991, it experienced something of a revival on video and later as a DVD release. In 2002, another adaptation of the book, titled Red Dragon, was released to a generally positive critical reception. Salon.com has said that Mann's original is the best of the Lecter series.[6] The film has a 94% "fresh" rating on review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, from 33 reviews.[7] The remake, Red Dragon, currently has a 68% fresh rating from 183 reviews.[8]
Manhunter was listed at #41 on Film 4's 50 Films To See Before You Die.[9]
DVD availability
Manhunter has been available in various versions on DVD. Anchor Bay released a Limited Edition 2-DVD set in 2000 that featured an erroneously labeled "Theatrical Cut" (it actually omits some footage from the theatrical version and features some material from the "Director's Cut"[10]) and Mann's "Director's Cut" along with some retrospective featurettes. A standard edition (an individual release for the first disc of the 2-disc set) was also released at the same time. In 2003, Anchor Bay released the "Restored Director's Cut" which is very close to the "Director's Cut" on the 2000 disc but omits one scene.[10] It does, however, feature a commentary track by Mann. In 2004, MGM (current holders of The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal) released a pan and scanned version of the movie that was the one seen in theaters. Finally, in 2007 MGM released the theatrical cut in widescreen on DVD for the first time as part of "The Hannibal Lecter Collection" alongside The Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal. It was also released by itself on September 11, 2007.
References
External links
