Manhunter

1986

Manhunter

Critics Consensus

Michael Mann introduces audiences to Hannibal Lecter for the first time in Manhunter, a modish thriller that fleshes out Thomas Harris' heinous creations with an elegant, chilling detachment.

94%

TOMATOMETER

Total Count: 36

77%

Audience Score

User Ratings: 53,236
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Manhunter Photos

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Movie Info

This stylish psychological thriller was adapted by Michael Mann from the novel by Thomas Harris. Will Graham (William Petersen) is a burned-out FBI agent who retired after hunting and capturing Dr. Hannibal Lecter (Brian Cox), a psychopathic but brilliant serial killer. Will reluctantly returns to work to help find a new killer, who specializes in killing entire families. Will uses his empathic understanding of the motivations of the killers to help catch them, despite the psychological toll this takes upon him and his family. Brian Cox, in a great cameo as Hannibal Lektor, gives an interestingly physical and sexually menacing performance in a role which later won an Academy Award for Anthony Hopkins in Silence of the Lambs. Tom Noonan, in an interesting, psychologically complex performance, plays the killer whom he makes surprisingly understandable. Joan Allen is also fine as the blind woman whom the killer falls in love with. Their love scene -- as the killer experiences compassion and normal sexual attraction for the first time -- is outstanding and unforgettable. While it is overshadowed by the widely acclaimed Silence of the Lambs, Manhunter, based on the Thomas Harris novel Red Dragon holds its own as a suspenseful, psychological thriller directed with flair and style.

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Cast

William L. Petersen
as Will Graham
Kim Greist
as Molly Graham
Joan Allen
as Reba McClane
Dennis Farina
as Jack Crawford
Brian Cox
as Dr. Hannibal Lecktor
Stephen Lang
as Freddy Lounds
Tom Noonan
as Francis Dollarhyde
David Seaman Jr.
as Kevin Graham
Hannah Cacciano
as Sherman Children
Benjamin Hendrickson
as Dr. Chilton
Michael Talbott
as Geehan
Lindse Fonora
as Sherman Child #2
Brian Kelly
Dan Butler
as Jimmy Price
Ryan Langhorne
as Jacobi Boy
Michele Shay
as Beverly Katz
Robin Moseley
as Sarah
Paul Perri
as Dr. Sidney Bloom
Bonnie Timmermann
Patricia Charbonneau
as Mrs. Sherman
Bill Cwikowski
as Ralph Dandridge
Alex Neil
as Eileen
Norman Snow
as Springfield
Jim Zubiena
as Spurgen
Frankie Faison
as Lt. Fisk
Garcelle Beauvais
as Young Woman Housebuyer
Joanne Camp
as Mother on Plane
David Allen Brooks
as Mr. Leeds
Lisa Ryall
as Mrs. Leeds
Chris Elliott
as Zeller
Gary Chavaras
as Guard
Chris Cianciolo
as Attendant
Ken Colquitt
as Husband Housebuyer
Ron Fitzgerald
as Storage Guard
Dennis Quick
as Storage Guard
David Meeks
as Dr. Warfield
Sherman Michaels
as Technician
Robin Trapp
as Secretary
Lisa Winters
as Secretary
Dan Snow
as State Trooper
Cynthia Chvatal
as Airport Waitress
Daniel T. Snow
as State Trooper
King White
as Swat Man
Mickey Lloyd
as Atlanta Detective
Dawn Carmen
as Child on Plane
David Fitzsimmons
as Bill
Robert A. Burton
as Doctor
Steve Hogan
as Helicopter Pilot
Mickey Pugh
as Lear Jet Technician
Kin Shriner
as Mr. Sherman
John Posey
as Mr. Jacobi
Kristin Holby
as Mrs. Jacobi
Bill Smitrovich
as Lloyd Bowman
Peter Maloney
as Dr. Dominick Princi
Michael D. Roberts
as The Runner
Greg Kelly
as Jacobi Boy
Jason Frair
as Leeds Children
Bryant Arrants
as Leeds Children
Christopher Arrants
as Leeds Children
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Critic Reviews for Manhunter

All Critics (36) | Top Critics (7) | Fresh (34) | Rotten (2)

View All Critic Reviews (36)

Audience Reviews for Manhunter

  • Nov 08, 2017
    Working better as an interesting procedural in the way it leads us through a criminal investigation, this film is however less efficient as a character study about a psychopath (or psychopaths if you include Lecktor), as it doesn't offer that much insight into their perverse minds.
    Carlos M Super Reviewer
  • Aug 29, 2015
    Manhunter doesn't hold up as well as I remember it doing so when I was young. Even then I remember thinking "Why'd they cut out all the best parts from the book?" But now it's even more obvious. And as much as I love an eighties soundtrack, I can't help but pick p on the missed opportunities in my maturing. I get the appeal, but it's not so golden as the times may have told you it is.
    Gimly M Super Reviewer
  • Oct 18, 2013
    Granted the ensemble, award-winning cast of 'Red Dragon' squarely surpasses the B-list actors of this film and the neon-green font credits insinuate a hip vibe (although the blue filters would certainly substantiate that misconception), but 'Manhunter' is a supremely haunting adaptation of Thomas Harris first Hannibal Lecter novel. The discrepancies between 'Manhunter' and 'Red Dragon' are paramount at the beginning with the recruitment interaction between Crawford and Graham on the beach. In 'Red Dragon', the heinous crimes and retirement status of Graham are explicitly detailed whereas 'Manhunter' is more elliptical in the dialogue and more moody in the bleak tone ala a David Mamet screenplay. Before he reigned in 'CSI', Petersen starred in two of the most pulse-pounding movies of the 80's, 'Manhunter' and 'To Live and Die in L.A.'. Petersen is the tenacious moral compass who must venture into the brooding recesses of his psyche to entrap his prey. For example, he bellows at the Leeds' home videos as if he was Dolarhyde's accomplice. The verbal byplay between Graham and Lecter is almost verbatim, but 'Manhunter' really exploits the sociopathic symbiosis further such as when Graham races out of the prison hyperventilating when Lecter exhorts that "they are very much alike". Michael Mann bathes the terrifically meditative 'Mahunter' in lustrous, nocturnal fluorescence and he burrows deep within the vicarious, pathological rush of investigators who must tap into their demons for civic duty.
    Cory T Super Reviewer
  • Mar 11, 2013
    It's a clear product of the 1980s, especially when considering the music and corny final image, and it doesn't surpass its sort-of-sequel The Silence of the Lambs, but Manhunter is an exciting and stylish thriller that is a very good movie in its own right and boasts creepy performances from Brian Cox and Tom Noonan as Hannibal Lector and a deranged serial killer dubbed "The Tooth Fairy", respectively.
    Joey S Super Reviewer
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