Bovie Movie

In 1989, Oregon Department of Corrections director Michael Francke was murdered near an office building. The case remains unsolved and in the opening and closing credits, the filmmakers offer viewers $1million for information that leads to the arrest and conviction of the killers. This taut crime/courtroom thriller has a two-fold purpose. The first is to chronicle a brother’s search for the truth and the second is to call the fairness of the American justice system into question. Either way, it’s a scary tale. Shortly before Francke was killed he visited his brother Kevin in Florida. There he confided that he had accidentally discovered a drug smuggling ring that linked his colleagues with prison inmate. Later when the Salem police contact Kevin about the death, they assure him that Michael died during a routine robbery, but Kevin doesn’t buy it and so heads to the northwest to investigate. It doesn’t take long for him to get knee-deep into a complex conspiracy plot that leaves him wonder whom, if anyone in town he can trust.

Red Dragon, the Thomas Harris novel that introduced serial killer Hannibal Lecter to the world, was adapted for the screen by Michael Mann as Manhunter. Ace criminal profiler Will Graham (William Petersen) is very good at his job because he has the ability to make himself think like the killers he tracks. Will has been in retirement since catching Hannibal “the Cannibal” Lecter (Brian Cox), as being inside that particular deranged mind caused Will to have a breakdown. Will’s boss Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina visits Will at his home, showing him pictures from a murder scene and asking for his help in catching a new killer they have dubbed “the Tooth Fairy” (Tom Noonan). In order to test his mental strength, Will visits Hannibal in his prison cell. Adding to the already substantial mental stress Will experiences when he returns to the job are nosy tabloid reporter Freddy Lounds (Stephen Lang), as well as Hannibal’s attempts at seeking revenge through the Tooth Fairy. After two additional films that featured Anthony Hopkins as Hannibal Lecter (Silence of the Lambs and Hannibal) became box-office blockbusters, Manhunter was re-made as Red Dragon starring Hopkins and Edward Norton as Will Graham.