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Directors
Michael Mann
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Producers
Richard Roth
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Composers (Music Score)
Michel Rubini
The Reds
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Editors
Dov Hoenig
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Screen Writers
Walon Green
Michael Mann
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Others
Art Director - Jack Blackman
Associate Producer - Gusmano Cesaretti
Book Author - Thomas Harris
Casting - Bonnie Timmermann
Cinematographer - Dante Spinotti
Composer (Music Score) - Michel Rubini
Composer (Music Score) - The Reds
Costume Designer - Colleen Atwood
Executive Producer - Bernard Williams
Makeup - Stefano Fava
Production Designer - Mel Bourne
Songwriter - Barry Andrews
Songwriter - Martyn Baker
Songwriter - Doug Ingle
Songwriter - Kitaro
Songwriter - Curt Lichter
Songwriter - Gregory Markel
Songwriter - Carl Marsh
Songwriter - Gary Putnam
Songwriter - Severs Ramsay
Songwriter - Klaus Schulze
Songwriter - Gene Stashuk
Songwriter - Dave Allen
Sound Editor - J.Paul Huntsman
Special Effects - Joseph de Gaetano II
Special Effects - R.J. Hohman
Stunts - Don Pulford
Stunts - Bud Davis
Stunts - Bernard Johnson
Stunts - Jack Carpenter
Stunts - Chuck Hart
"Manhunter" is a visually assured psychological thriller.
Michael Mann builds tension through color, framing, editing, and sound with such skill that his actors can underplay their emotions. This mix is unusual, but it works superbly. Although the characters in this film engage in extraordinary activities, the low-key performances make them seem like real human beings.
"Manhunter" succeeds at making the viewer feel the consequences of chasing serial killers for a living.
William Petersen wears a haunted look that elicits sympathy, as well as a touch of fear, in the audience. Like
Christopher Walken in
"The Dead Zone",
Petersen does a spectacular job of physicalizing the toll his mental condition is taking on him. We sense his tenuous grasp on mental stability thanks in part to
Brian Cox's terrifying portrayal of Hannibal Lecter. The Lecter in
"Silence of the Lambs" and
"Hannibal" wishes for nothing more than comfort. His animosity is directed at those who inflict unpleasantness on him (or Clarice), characters always portrayed as unlikable people anyway. The Lecter of
"Manhunter" has an enemy. Will has caught him, and Lecter hates him for it. Now the pure intelligent evil of Lecter is directed at someone the audience cares about, and we constantly fear for Will's safety because of it.
"Manhunter" is an underrated film that deserves to stand alongside
"Seven" and its younger sibling,
"Silence of the Lambs", as benchmarks of the serial killer genre. ~ Perry Seibert, Rovi