Cinema / Film

Manhunter: The Final Cut (40th Anniversary)

88 Lothian Road

Sat 26 Sept · 12:25

Michael Mann · 2026 · 122m

About this event

PERFECT PAIRS: Book tickets for both Manhunter: The Final Cut and Heat in the same transaction to receive a discount! In retirement following a nervous breakdown, preternaturally gifted FBI profiler Will Graham (William Petersen) is persuaded by his former boss Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina) to hunt down a new serial killer terrorising the American South. Promising his wife Molly (Kim Greist) to stay out of harm’s way, he warily investigates the man the press have dubbed the Tooth Fairy – due to his signature bite marks. Graham decides that Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox), the high-IQ cannibal murderer and one-time psychiatrist who formerly attacked him, holds the key to solving the case. Visiting Lecktor in his high-security cell, Graham requests his insights. But when the wardens discover a note from the Tooth Fairy in Lecktor’s affairs, it becomes clear that he is ensnaring his FBI counterpart in a deadly game. Michael Mann's Manhunter , celebrating its 40th anniversary this year, is an incredible example of virtuoso filmmaking in many different ways. Extensively researched with several crimefighting agencies including the FBI Behavioral Science Unit ( Criminal Minds , anyone?), Mann wrote the script over three years based on Thomas Harris' novel Red Dragon , the predecessor to The Silence of the Lambs . Tom Noonan requested that none of his co-stars would be allowed to see him outside of shooting - this combined with his incredible physique attained through body-building in preparation from the role and sitting in the dark alone between takes led to the cast and crew being incredibly intimidated by his Tooth Fairy. The production even had to resort to guerilla filmmaking for the airplane scene, as Mann had failed to get permission to use a plane - instead, the cast and crew had to book tickets for a public flight and keep the rest of the passengers quiet during filming by giving them Manhunter crew jackets!