Michael Mann's Manhunter: The Final Cut

Director: Michael Mann

1986 / 122min / 4K DCP

The film that introduced audiences to psychiatrist-cum-serial killer Hannibal Lecter—here spelled “Lecktor,” the role originated by a wonderfully gelid Brian Cox—Mann’s magnificent thriller stars William Petersen as Will Graham, an FBI profiler whose day-and-night dedication to his work threatens to unravel his psyche, recruiting Dr. Lecktor to help him track down an at-large murderer whose penchant for masticating his prey has led police to dub him the Tooth Fairy. (The part is played by a looming, melancholy Tom Noonan.) Mann, whose “MTV cops” series Miami Vice was a primetime giant when Manhunter was released, recognized the crucial importance of a good soundtrack, and this one’s a doozy, with tracks from Shriekback, The Reds, and The Prime Movers, and Iron Butterfly’s “In-A-Gadda-Da-Vida” providing a needle drop for the ages.

Distributor: Rialto Pictures

Part of Pulse