Manhunter - Sir Anthony not included

Yes, believe it or not, the award-winning ‘Silence of the Lambs’ wasn’t the launch-platform for one of cinema’s greatest villains – Dr Hannibal Lecter.  In fact, he was with us back in the eighties, albeit in the guise of one Brian Cox.  Now, many dismissed this as an inferior film to ‘Lambs’ and, indeed, it doesn’t really fit with what is basically the ‘Hannibal trilogy,’ i.e. Lambs, Hannibal and Red Dragon.  However, it doesn’t mean it’s a bad film.

Just because we have a few names we recognise (mainly Dr Lecter, but if you’re familiar with Silence of the Lambs you may also remember the name ‘Jack Crawford’) don’t go thinking it fits neatly into Sir Anthony’s take on the charismatic cannibal.  It’s kind of its own body of work with Brian Cox giving us a very different take on Dr Lecter.  Whereas in Lambs Dr Lecter was basically the star (certainly more memorable than poor old Jodie Foster, who couldn’t compete with Anthony Hopkins when it came to great and devilish lines) in Manhunter, he’s kind of a side character, only in a few scenes and only just about relevant to the plot.

Here, a former FBI agent comes out of retirement to catch a killer, nicknamed ‘The Tooth Fairy.’ And he pretty much goes about tracking the beast down, only popping in once or twice to get his old pal Dr Lecter’s opinion on the goings on.  Okay, so maybe I’m being a bit flippant – there’s more to it than that, but not an awful lot more.  It’s not about Dr Lecter, that’s what people who have seen Hannibal etc need to know before they invest a couple of hours of their lives into watching it.  It’s basically an FBI agent tracking down a killer, but that’s not so bad.

For a start the direction is pretty cool.  Yes, it all looks a little too eighties in places, but the shots are pretty nicely done – often filtered in blues and reds, depending on the danger level.  Plus you have the soundtrack.  Although that will appeal more to people who are fans of electro eighties music.  Having grown up in the decade that fashion forgot, I approve of the film’s score.

Don’t go expecting an Anthony Hopkins Hannibal performance.  Brian Cox is far less ‘Pantomime’ and much more understated, but, what he may lack in overt menacing, Tom Noonan more than makes up for in general sickness, so if you’re into your serial killers, he should provide the creepiness factor.

It’s not Hannibal.  It’s something else – an eighties serial killer hunting movie.  If that’s your thing, give it a go (just close your eyes when men in tight pink shorts come on!).

7/10 if I woke up on Groundhog Day and had to watch this again, I could live with that