By Geno McGahee
I’ll start off by saying that Ed Norton is a very talented actor. He adapts to every role he takes on and is believable every time. I’ve heard he’s a dickbag to work with, but he is an incredibly talented actor and was one of the reasons why I gave RED DRAGON a shot. I haven’t seen THE SILENCE OF THE LAMBS since it was released in 1991 and I remember not being crazy for it, but this film was recommended by a friend and I’m glad that I gave it a shot. It was weird, but RED DRAGON was a very interesting crime/thriller/horror movie.
Hannibal Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) is exposed as a serial killer by Detective Will Graham (Norton), leading to a stabbing attack. Graham is left cut and Lecter is laid out with an arrow and some gunfire. It was enough to get Graham out of the game and put Lecter away for life. That was the end of the story until a new serial killer dubbed “Tooth Fairy” by the media appears. He has brutally murdered families and the police are baffled. They are so desperate that they convince Graham to return to investigate. He does and that leads to a reunion.
Graham and Lecter meet up again and Lecter enjoys the dance. He considers their relationship to be somewhat of a friendship and he gives Graham tidbits of information to help him catch the killer. Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes) is the “Tooth Fairy” and he smashes every mirror he sees and cuts out the eyes of his victims. It’s pretty brutal stuff, which this series is known for. Dolarhyde starts corresponding with Lecter and it’s another relationship that the imprisoned murderer enjoys.
On his job, Dolarhyde meets up with a blind girl, Reba (Emily Watson), and the two hit it off. Because she is blind, she cannot see the disfigurement on his face. She falls for him and he attempts to have a normal relationship away from this demon that controls him. It works…to a certain degree. At one point, he takes her to a vet and there is a tiger sedated and she is led to it. She actually grabs the tiger’s balls. It was weird. I am assume the tiger felt violated. He was under, but he could still sense things I bet. When a human grabs your furry sack, you can’t live that down with the boys. I think that the scene was put into this movie to further unsettle the audience. Just seeing tiger balls was enough but seeing a blind person get a handful proved bothersome. This was based on a book. I sort of wonder if they wrote something like “grabbed a handful of tiger balls.” I’ll research and let you know.
A special mention should go to the late Philip Seymour Hoffman. He played a sleazy journalist named “Freddy Lounds” for a rag called “The Tattler.” His role was rather small but his performance was very memorable and his death was remarkable. It was gruesome but it played with your imagination more than showed you any gore. They did a great job and Seymour Hoffman was a notable from this production.
Graham gets closer and with some more help from Lecter, he figures out who the killer is, leading to a dramatic showdown. Graham must kill the killer to protect his family and get this murderer off the streets and it gets pretty messy.
RED DRAGON is a really good horror film. I think they had too much man ass in this. I know he’s a crazy serial killer, but he could have worn a pair of boxers around the house. I could have done without the tiger balls too, but you already know that. Ed Norton hits it out of the park, but he really doesn’t know any other way to do it. Hopkins was hit or miss here. At points, he is very believable, but at other times, it’s like he’s just going through the motions. He’s not being the character. He’s just stretching out each word. This was definitely not Hopkins’ A game.
The strong writing and mostly strong acting is enough for this movie to be a must see for horror fans. I guess it’s more of a crime thriller than a horror film, but it rides the fine line. I’ll have to go back and review the first now and see if I like it any more than I did when I saw it in 1991.
Rating: 7.5/10
THE NEWEST HORROR COLLECTION IS UNLEASHED – ORDER NOW!
When you get a chance, watch Manhunter, which is also based on the Red Dragon novel. Manhunter was filmed first back in the late eighties by Michael Mann and starred William Peterson as Will Graham. Hanibal Lector had a small part in the film because he wasn’t famous yet with Silence of the Lambs. Brian Cox played Hannibal and was terrific in the little time he had. The movie also had a hero’s ending, which I liked. Much more so than Red Dragon, though Red Dragon is certainly closer to the novel. Manhunter, however, doesn’t have any “ass” shots or manipulating of “tiger’s balls”. Just plenty of suspense and action.