Twisted Musings

Manhunter (1986)

 Directed by Michael Mann

 If you enjoy white knuckled thrillers, I definitely recommend this movie. It came out in 1986, but does not terribly date itself. The movie was the first film to have the character Hannibal Lecktor in it, although it was played by Brian Cox. Personally, I think he makes a great Dr. Lecktor, but I don’t want to get into comparisons because so does Anthony Hopkins. Brian Cox, you may know, played Gary Barker in “The Ringer”, with Johnny Knoxville.

 The movie starts out with the FBI trying to talk out of retirement Will Graham (played by William Petersen, CSI), a former FBI profiler who had previously captured Hannibal Lecktor, but was nearly killed in the process by him.  Two mass murders have taken place, one in Birmingham and one in Atlanta, involving the grisly murders of two families.

 This movie will keep you on the edge of your seat the entire time as we follow Graham putting himself in the killer’s mind and following the evidence. They have determined the killer follows a lunar schedule and they only have a few days to try capturing him, before the next set of deaths occur. There are several very tense scenes while Will Graham interviews Dr. Lecktor, trying to get him to offer the serial killers point of view. As a side note for those living in Atlanta, the asylum where Dr. Lecktor is being held is the Atlanta High Museum on Peachtree Street.

 This is a film that never lets up and you will be tense all the way through the final scene. The final scene is especially nerve wracking, accompanied by “IN-A-GADDA-DA-VIDA” by Iron Butterfly. This song perfectly matches the mood of this film. This is a must see for those who enjoy the thriller genre but I have to tell you that you will be checking the locks twice after you see this one.