Manhunter (1986)

Former FBI profiler Will Graham returns to service to pursue a deranged serial killer dubbed "the Tooth Fairy" by the media.

Director:

Michael Mann

Writers:

Thomas Harris (based on the book "Red Dragon" by), Michael Mann (screenplay by)

Stars:

William Petersen, Kim Greist, Joan Allen

1 win & 1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
William Petersen	...	Will Graham
Kim Greist	...	Molly Graham
Joan Allen	...	Reba McClane
Brian Cox	...	Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
Dennis Farina	...	Jack Crawford
Tom Noonan	...	Francis Dollarhyde
Stephen Lang	...	Freddy Lounds
David Seaman	...	Kevin Graham
Benjamin Hendrickson	...	Dr. Frederick Chilton
Michael Talbott	...	Geehan
Dan Butler	...	Jimmy Price (as Dan E. Butler)
Michele Shay	...	Beverly Katz
Robin Moseley	...	Sarah
Paul Perri	...	Dr. Sidney Bloom
Patricia Charbonneau	...	Mrs. Sherman

Storyline

Will Graham (William Petersen) is a former F.B.I. Agent who recently retired to Florida with his wife Molly (Kim Greist) and their young son, Kevin (David Seaman). Graham was a "profiler", one who profiles criminal's behavior and tries to put his mind into the minds of criminals to examine their thoughts while visiting crime scenes. Will is called out of his self-imposed retirement at the request of his former boss Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina) to help the F.B.I. catch an elusive serial killer, known to the press as the "Tooth Fairy" (Tom Noonan), who randomly kills whole families in their houses during nights of the full moon and leaves bite marks on his victims. To try to search for clues to get into the mind of the killer, Will has occasional meetings with Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox), a charismatic, but very dangerous imprisoned serial killer that Will captured years earlier which nearly drove him insane from the horrific encounter that nearly cost Will's life. With some help ...

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Plot Keywords:

serial killer | hannibal lecter | neo noir | profiler | fbi agent | 

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Taglines:

Enter the mind of a serial killer... you may never come back.

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Genres:

Crime | Horror | Mystery | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Did You Know?

Trivia

A native of Evanston, Illinois, a city just north of Chicago, William Petersen (Will Graham) is so devoted to his hometown sports teams, that he left the set in Georgia one day and flew to Washington, D.C. for a few hours to watch a Chicago Bears game on television.

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Goofs

Graham is told that the films of the families have been transferred to 1/2-inch VHS, but the tapes appear to be 3/4-inch.

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Quotes

[first lines]
Jack Crawford: We should have talked at the boatyard. You don't wanna talk about it here.
Will Graham: I'm not fallin' all over myself to talk about much anywhere, Jack.

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Alternate Versions

Video versions there is an exchange between Graham and Crawford, missing from both Anchor Bay DVD versions: CRAWFORD: You sympathize with this guy? GRAHAM: As a child, my heart bleeds for him. Someone took a little boy and turned him into a monster. But as an adult... as an adult, he's irredeemable. He butchers whole families to fulfill some sick fantasy. As an adult, I think someone should blow the sick fuck out of his socks.[Turns around in his chair to face Crawford.] Are you uncomfortable with this kind of understanding?[Crawford pivots to put his back against the wall.]" This exchange would take place in Anchor Bay's "Theatrical release" version at about Chapter 25, 1:36:35. Furthermore, the "Director's version" appears to be a near-finished work print, with sloppy titles, and some clumsy sped up and slow motion transitions (when Graham is talking to the Birmingham real estate agent, and when Dolarhyde kidnaps Reba). It also features a visit by Graham to the "next in line" victims after Reba's rescue, that was arguably best left on the cutting room floor.

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Connections

Referenced in Criminal Minds: The Last Word (2006)

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Soundtracks

EVAPORATION
Performed by Shriekback
Courtesy of EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING, LTD. and by Arrangement with WARNER SPECIAL PRODUCTS, WARNER BROS. RECORDS,
INC.
Written by David Allen, Barry Andrews and Carl Marsh
Published by EMI MUSIC PUBLISHING, LTD.

User Reviews

A positive review!

How many times have we heard "The film isn't as good as the book"? Let's face it. What film IS?! Red Dragon was a masterpiece and so is Manhunter.

To appreciate that there are two issues. Firstly, the film was created in 1986. It's stylised and looks slightly dated. The soundtrack is excellent but again very 1980's. Secondly, Red Dragon was not an easy book to write a screenplay for. There is way too much information that made the book so enthralling to squeeze in to 2 hours.

The cinematography, in particular the clever use of light and colours, is breathtaking. The choice of locations was also very deliberate. The scene where Will is running out of the building after speaking to Hannibal Lecter. They chose a building with a long spiral ramp down. The ramp is white, clinical. Running down the ramp is like those dreams where the bad man is chasing you and you can't get away. Will runs his heart out but doesn't get very far.

I agree that Cox plays a different Lecter but then the book wasn't about Lecter. There was some mention made but Lecter in this film is very much a Cameo appearance. The way in which Will goes about catching the killer is every bit as clever as Starling's methods, if not more so. In addition, we are treated to the thoughts, the inner monologue, the frustration and triumph of a hunter.

Make no mistake, if you expect an up-to-date movie as good in every respect as the book, you'll be disappointed. If you're sensible and expect nothing more than 2 hours quality entertainment you'll enjoy this one.

Details

Official Sites:

-excerpt from this film -excerpt from this film

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

15 August 1986 (USA)

Also Known As:

Red Dragon: The Curse of Hannibal Lecter

Filming Locations:

Florida, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$15,000,000 (estimated)

Opening Weekend USA:

$2,204,400, 17 August 1986

Gross USA:

$8,620,929

Cumulative Worldwide Gross:

$8,620,929

Company Credits

Production Co:

De Laurentiis Entertainment Group (DEG), Red Dragon Productions S.A.

Technical Specs

Runtime:

120 min 124 min (director's cut) 85 min (video)

Sound Mix:

70 mm 6-Track (70 mm prints) Dolby Stereo (35 mm prints)

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

2.35 : 1