Most casual film-goers think that Hanninal Lecter first appeared in the guise of Anthony Hopkins in "The Silence of the Lambs".
He actually first appeared on film five years earlier in 1986's MANHUNTER. Slickly directed and oozing 80's pink and blue style from Michael Mann (Heat, Thief), MANHUNTER opens with special agent Will Graham (Wiiliam Petersen, years before CSI) recovering from nearly lethal stab wounds inflicted by Lecter.
Now reclusive in his ocean side home with his wife and son, Will is visited by his FBI boss Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina) who draws Will back to work to help him find a serial killer.
Dubbed the Tooth Fairy, the murderer is slaying entire families in gruesome fashion and striking on the lunar cycle.
Will enlists the help of the jailed Hannibal to help him track down the killer, in much the same way that Clarice does in "Lambs". Lecter is played by Brian Cox in a good performance that lacks much of the eccentric tics and impending danger that Hopkins would bring to the role five years later.
As our killer envisions himself becoming the glorious Red Dragon, he plays a bloody game of cat and mouse with Will, Jack and numerous swat teams.
The entire movie pulsates with the same electronic music infused, neon pastels of Mann's "Miami Vice" while eerily echoing later films featuring Hannibal.
Petersen is excellent throughout, in a more subtle take on Graham than fans of NBC's series "Hannibal" would see in Hugh Dancy's tortured version of the same character.
Joan Allen is very good as the blind co-worker of our killer, Tom Noonan is fiercely odd and scary as the Tooth Fairy and Stephen Lang is suitably slimy as trash journalist Freddie Lounds.
From its opening frames to its final scenes, MANHUNTER provides a suspenseful and scary first glance into the world of Hannibal Lecter and gets a B.
Remade with Hopkins as Lecter in 2002's "Red Dragon" and again as the two-year TV Series "Hannibal" in 2013.
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