Unless you pay close attention to the shelves at your local video store, you may not know that the legend of Dr. Hannibal Lecter started not with the cannibalism of a psychotic psychiatrist, nor the fashion stylings of Buffalo Bill, but with one simple Mann.
Michael Mann, the Academy-award-nominated director of films like “Heat” and “The Insider,” was still somewhat of a movie-making greenhorn at the time, having come off highly successful television work in “Starsky and Hutch” and “Miami Vice.”
Creator and executive producer of the latter series, Mann can thus be thanked (or blamed) for the fact that MTV cameramen and editors go home from work every day with motion sickness. Thankfully, he put a leash on his flashy style to skillfully tell the story of the origin of evil, 1986’s “Manhunter.”
The film is indeed the prequel to “The Silence of the Lambs,” adapted from Thomas Harris’ first novel in the trilogy, “Red Dragon.” Pulled from semi-retirement on the beach, Detective Will Graham (William L. Petersen, “C.S.I.”) is called back to duty to help track down a mysterious serial killer who murders with the arrival of every full moon.
In order to pick up the scent again, he visits Dr. Lecter (Brian Cox, “Braveheart”) in jail. Lecter, of course, provides the detective with nothing but cryptic messages, but offers his help in finding the appropriately dubbed “Tooth Fairy” nonetheless.
Graham soon fears for his wife and son’s lives when he discovers Lecter and the killer have been corresponding via coded personal ads–and that the Tooth Fairy (Tom Noonan, “Heat”) knows where he lives.
As the psychological screws turn and Graham gets deeper into the mind of the killer, past memories of his pursuit and capture of Lecter haunt him and cloud his judgment. But as the next full moon draws near and the Tooth Fairy closes in on his next victim, all the FBI and SWAT team backing can’t save him from himself.
Many who stumbled upon “Manhunter” before they saw “The Silence of the Lambs” like to claim that it is superior to its sequel. Unfortunately, it has some inherent story flaws not found in “Silence.” While the follow-up was never really about the hunt for Dr. Lecter, the Anthony Hopkins-portrayed character played a much larger role and helped make the overall thriller atmosphere much creepier.
In “Manhunter,” Lecter (while quite ably portrayed by Cox) shows up for one early scene and virtually disappears, pushed to the background when the search for the real killer intensifies.
Still, Petersen makes for a compelling lead as the obsessed detective Graham, well-backed by the likes of Dennis Farina (“Snatch”) and Joan Allen (“The Contender”). Mann smartly focuses on his struggle, keeping the antagonist(s) in the periphery until needed. It gives the initial shock of seeing Cox as the killer, a hulking presence masked in a ladies stocking, that much more of a visceral impact.
Naysayers of Mann may have been skeptical of the dude from “Miami Vice” writing and directing the first installment of these stories, but that was before they became such a phenomenon. It certainly can’t be any worse of a situation than having director Brett Ratner (“Rush Hour”) remake “Manhunter” as “Red Dragon,” as Mann’s version will be a tough one to top.
