Manhunter (1986)

Those of you waiting for Season 3 of Mindhunter to come out in 2078 may like to fill some of the time with this adaptation of Thomas Harris' Red Dragon, the first of the author's serial killer thrillers featuring Hannibal Lecktor/Lecter, the incarcerated psychotic psychiatrist who helps the FBI with serial killer investigations, because it is superior to the Red Dragon of 2002 and like Mindhunter features a retro time-specific look and feel and soundtrack, and the investigator, Will Graham played by William Petersen is essentially a prototype of Mindhunter's Agent Holden Ford (Jonathan Groff).

★★★☆☆

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Hannibal (2001)

Oh dear, the subtle, chilling and in many ways groundbreaking Silence of the Lambs is followed up by this blatant, bloated, over-the-top gothic melodrama, a sequel which replaces Jodie Foster's intense, determined but vulnerable Clarice with Julianne Moore's personality-free version who starts off being held responsible, ridiculously, for a 70s blaxploitation movie's stakeout-gone-wrong and then bungles her way through a dull serial killer investigation involving so much exaggerated horror without any let up or normalcy that in the end it feels like a desperate, unclassy, um, assault upon the brain.

★☆☆☆☆

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The Silence of the Lambs

*SPOILER ALERT*

Rewatching this serial killer chiller is a sobering indication of how naive a filmgoing audience we once were but are no longer, for when Hannibal Lecter says very early on, "Why do you think he skins his victims, Clarice?" the obvious answer today in place of yesteryear's innocent bewilderment, is the quick, plain, "He is probably making a human suit."

★★★★☆

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