\”With "Hannibal Lecktor" (Brian Cox) now safely behind bars, the traumatised profiler "Graham" (William Petersen) might be looking forward to a well earned-retirement. Thing is, the "Tooth Fairy" has other plans as he embarks on a killing spree that causes his erstwhile FBI boss "Crawford" (Dennis Farina) to seek his help. These murders are truly gruesome with entire families killed, inside their own homes, on nights with a full moon. With the next one of those due very soon, "Graham" has to enlist the help of his former tormentor - whose help is never as straightforward as he might like - to see if they can establish some patterns and preempt more slaughter. Meantime, we are introduced to "Dollarhyde" (Tom Noonan) who's about eight foot tall and maybe not the most stable of photographers we are ever going to meet. It's possible that he might succumb to the more calming influence of the lovingly blind "Reba" (Joan Allen) but with the pressures mounting you wouldn't want to bet on that. Is there a connection? As with Thomas Harris's "Red Dragon" book, the audience is aware of far more than the pursuers and that works well here as we see "Graham" try to work from a blank canvas, and with an insane convict, to track down a man who has left virtually nothing for them to go on. Petersen holds this together quite well and the cleverly cast Cox, well he always comes across as an actor who'd be quite prepared to eat the competition. I found the ending just a little rushed, but the jigsaw is well presented and the jeopardy effectively increased throughout this quite chilling adaptation. Honestly - I didn't much care for the intrusively synthesised score - just a little too much "Miami Vice" for me - but this is a solid and at times quite gripping story of imbalance and mania that I did quite enjoy.”

CinemaSerf