Review of Manhunter (1986) by Kyle20Ellis — 22 Mar 2022

There's always going to be inevitable comparisons between Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs. To keep comparisons brief, to me Silence of the Lambs is the superior film, but Manhunter is almost as good and a great film in its own right.

It's very stylishly made, with use of colour and lighting that is beautiful and gritty and photography that is both luminous and unnerving, while Michael Mann's directing is top-notch and some of his tightest ever. A clever and incredibly thought-provoking script helps as does the strong characterisation(Dollarhyde is particularly well realised here). The story, which does a credible job compressing an in some ways unfilmable book in two hours(even if you wish there was more detail sometimes), in Manhunter is very arresting, with a particularly suspenseful first half and an atmosphere that gives one chills. It begins grippingly, setting up what's to follow very well indeed, and ends excitingly if slightly anti-climatically. Pacing is deliberate but never dull.

When it comes to individual scenes, three really stood out, both as three of the best of all the Lecter films and also as an example of how great a director Mann is. One is the Tooth Fairy Letter analysis, two is the Dollarhyde and Rena encounter and three is Graham's nail-bitingly dream-like visit to Lecter. Nothing to complain about the acting, coming off particularly strongly is Tom Noonan who is truly frightening as Dollarhyde while also giving room for pity. Brian Cox's Lecter is very different to the more iconic performance of Anthony Hopkins, it's more ambiguous and more understated but no less creepy or entertaining(in fact because Cox acts like a killer-acting-completely-normal-to-the-outside-world it's somewhat more realistic and unsuspecting). It may not be as well known a performance but it's a great one in its own way and shouldn't be overlooked just because of it being different. William Petersen's lead performance is fine too, at times appropriately haunting.

My only complaint actually is the music, a couple of the song choices come off well and fit, especially In a Gadda Da Vida, but most of them come over as cheesy and misplaced, Heartbeat being the biggest offender. The electronic score is also at times too intrusive, often really doesn't fit the tone of the film at all and has a really dated sound to it, even for a film made in the 80s. Overall though, Manhunter is great, arresting stuff and not to be missed.