MANHUNTER
MOVIE REVIEW

My Books and Movies!

E.C. McMullen Jr.
RUMOR

RUMOR: People are dying to know the truth

PERPETUAL
BULLET

"'Some People' ... may be the standout story in the book."
- John Grant, Infinityplus

E.C. McMullen Jr.
WILLOW BLUE

"'Willow Blue' will burrow under your skin and stay there long after you've put the book down."
- Jeffrey Reddick, Creator of
FINAL DESTINATION

IN OTHER BOOKS
E.C. McMullen Jr.'s
short story
CEDO LOOKED LIKE PEOPLE
in the anthology
FEAR THE REAPER

"This Ray Bradbury-esque is one of the most memorable and one of the more original stories I've read in a long time."
- Steve Isaak,
Goodreads

HORROR 201:
The Silver Scream

Filmmaker's Guidebook
featuring
RAY BRADBURY,
JOHN CARPENTER,
WES CRAVEN,
TOM HOLLAND,
E.C. McMULLEN Jr.,
GEORGE A. ROMERO,
and many more.

Extensively quoted in

PHANTASM
EXHUMED
The Unauthorized Companion

And In
CINEMA
E.C. McMullen Jr.
Head Production Designer

MINE GAMES
(Starring:
JOSEPH CROSS,
BRIANA EVIGAN,
ALEX MERAZ,
ETHAN PECK)

Dept. head
Special Effects Make-Up
(SFX MUA)

A SIERRA NEVADA
GUNFIGHT
(MICHAEL MADSEN & JOHN SAVAGE).

Production Designer

UNIVERSAL DEAD
(DOUG JONES,
D.B. SWEENEY,
GARY GRAHAM)

Review by
Kelly Parks

THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS
MOVIE REVIEW

HANNIBAL
MOVIE REVIEW

RED DRAGON
MOVIE REVIEW

LIES HANNIBAL LECTOR TOLD ME
AN ESSAY

MANHUNTER

- 1986
USA Release: AUG! 15, 1986
Dino De Laurentiis Communications / Distibuted by Anchor Bay
Ratings: Germany, Norway, UK: 18 / USA: R

MANHUNTER is based on the Thomas Harris (THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, HANNIBAL) novel RED DRAGON. It was Directed and Written for the screen by Michael Mann (THE KEEP), best known as being the creator of the TV series Miami Vice. It's the story of the burnt out FBI serial killer hunter who captured Hannibal Lector. Special Agent Will Graham (William L. Petersen: FEAR, THE SKULLS) was very good at catching these deviants because he was able to make himself think like them and understand their fantasies. After he caught Lector he wasn't able to stop thinking like him and ended up in a mental ward. He got better, but immediately retired from the FBI.

The movie begins with his old boss, Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina: SAVING PRIVATE RYAN), asking him to come back to catch a new serial killer. This one enters homes late at night and slaughters whole families, then arranges the corpses into an audience and replaces their eyes with mirrors, so he can see them seeing him.

Against his better judgment and his wife's pleadings (played by Kim Greist: C.H.U.D., BRAZIL), Graham agrees to help. And in order to "get the scent back", he goes to visit Dr. Lector in his asylum cell.

Lector (played brilliantly by Brian Cox: THE RING, X2) has his back turned when Graham enters and recognizes his smell (specifically, his aftershave) first. Graham carefully keeps his back against the wall, staying as far from Lector as he can.

MANHUNTER is a fascinating movie. The new serial killer enjoys making his visits during the full moon, so the FBI team has a deadline, as it were. And Graham knows he can catch the guy if he's willing to share his madness, but that could easily mean another trip to the rubber room.

The serial killer is played by Tom Noonan (ROBOCOP 2, THE ASTRONAUT'S WIFE, EIGHT LEGGED FREAKS), one of the creepiest looking character actors around. And the final scene will forever change the way you feel about the song "In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida".

Tom Noonan as Dollarhyde

When THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS first came out, MANHUNTER was shown on TV under the title RED DRAGON. In spite of that most people have never heard of it. Take advantage of the opportunity and seem like a know-it-all. And if you want to take it a step farther, you can point out the two actors who are in both movies:

1. Dan Butler (THE FAN, ENEMY OF THE STATE) played Roden, one of the insect experts in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS, and also played Jimmy Price, the finger print chief in MANHUNTER.

2. Frankie Fraison (CAT PEOPLE, C.H.U.D., MAXIMUM OVERDRIVE, THE LANGOLIERS) played Barney, the asylum guard in THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS and HANNIBAL, and played Lt. Fisk in MANHUNTER.

This one gets four shriek girls. I can't give it five only because there is a scene where they have the most blatant of movie flubs: you can see the boom mike at the top of the shot!