The thing about this film is that it contains characters, notably Hannibal Lecter, before they became household names. In "Red Dragon", Lector is a minor character (it's even spelled "Lecktor" here, and he only has about three scenes in the movie, and they are effective enough, because he's not the key character.)
Obviously, the character was expanded in "Silence of the Lambs" and its sequel "Hannibal", prequels, "Red Dragon" (based on the same source novel) and "Hannibal Rising" so people watching this film wanting more Hannibal, and wanting Anthony Hopkins to play him.
Watch this movie pretending none of those other films ever existed, and that Hopkins never played the role, and you'll enjoy the film.
William Peterson (who later went on playing a very similar character in "CSI") delivers as a profiler who gets too close to his work, just getting burned by the insanity he has to try to comprehend without being swallowed up by it. Dennis Farina (Law and Order, amongst other things) plays Jack Crawford, an FBI agent who balances his friend's sanity versus the need to stop a maniac. These are the important characters in the film, and it's about them. The remake "Red Dragon" shoe-horns Lector into the film where he doesn't need to be, really.
The scenes with the Dollarhyde character are truly uncomfortable to watch, which is the point, I guess, particularly when he seduces the blind girl and then wants to kill her in a jealous rage. It's very effective.
Okay, we have to look at it, Brian Cox as "Hannibal Lecktor", not to be confused with "Hannibal Lecter", played by Sir Anthony Hopkins and having become a pop-culture icon. Cox is very effective. His "Lecktor" is not possessed of super-human powers. He's just a very clever psychopath. He's effective for his role in the plot, compared to the way he gets portrayed in the sequels and prequels and remake.
In short, check your preconceptions at the door, and you'll enjoy this film.
Obviously, the character was expanded in "Silence of the Lambs" and its sequel "Hannibal", prequels, "Red Dragon" (based on the same source novel) and "Hannibal Rising" so people watching this film wanting more Hannibal, and wanting Anthony Hopkins to play him.
Watch this movie pretending none of those other films ever existed, and that Hopkins never played the role, and you'll enjoy the film.
William Peterson (who later went on playing a very similar character in "CSI") delivers as a profiler who gets too close to his work, just getting burned by the insanity he has to try to comprehend without being swallowed up by it. Dennis Farina (Law and Order, amongst other things) plays Jack Crawford, an FBI agent who balances his friend's sanity versus the need to stop a maniac. These are the important characters in the film, and it's about them. The remake "Red Dragon" shoe-horns Lector into the film where he doesn't need to be, really.
The scenes with the Dollarhyde character are truly uncomfortable to watch, which is the point, I guess, particularly when he seduces the blind girl and then wants to kill her in a jealous rage. It's very effective.
Okay, we have to look at it, Brian Cox as "Hannibal Lecktor", not to be confused with "Hannibal Lecter", played by Sir Anthony Hopkins and having become a pop-culture icon. Cox is very effective. His "Lecktor" is not possessed of super-human powers. He's just a very clever psychopath. He's effective for his role in the plot, compared to the way he gets portrayed in the sequels and prequels and remake.
In short, check your preconceptions at the door, and you'll enjoy this film.