Red Dragon

(Herald rating: * * *)

"When we get to the end, he wants to start all over again," sighed the Band, weary of playing one-night stands all over America.

It's the feeling after seeing this movie, the first in the Thomas Harris trilogy about the depraved serial killer Hannibal Lecter, which comes after Nos. 2 and 3 have been box-office smashes, and 16 years after the story was first filmed under its original title of Manhunter.

The film begins with Lecter (Anthony Hopkins) enjoying a classical recital. When one of the orchestra makes a mistake, that trademark eyebrow is raised. Cut literally to a dinner party that Lecter has organised for the musicians, where the guests compliment the chef, Lecter, before continuing their conversation about their playing mate's sudden and mysterious disappearance.

The bad doctor's cannibalistic tendencies are uncovered by Will Graham (Edward Norton), an FBI investigator who has the ability, extremely useful in his chosen profession, to see into the minds of the most sadistic killers. Their gory showdown ends with Lecter's arrest and Will retiring from the FBI to spend more time with his wife (Mary-Louise Parker) and son.

We know this cannot be the end of the story, (a) because it is too early in the movie and (b) because there are two more books/movies to come. So when two families are slaughtered by a killer nicknamed the Tooth Fairy, we are not surprised to see Will's old FBI boss, Jack Crawford (Harvey Keitel), wheedling him back to the bureau to help the manhunt.

Just as Clarice Starling, Will's successor, will be forced to do in the next tale, Silence of the Lambs, Will is forced to turn to Lecter to help to profile the killer before he strikes again.

The killer is a rather marvellous villain, the heavily tattooed Francis Dolarhyde (Ralph Fiennes), abused as a child and now violent and obsessed with the poetry of William Blake. He is a danger to everyone he knows, especially a blind workmate, Reba McClane (Emily Watson) and a sleazy reporter, Freddy Lounds (Philip Seymour Hoffman: all the big names are here).

There is not a lot of Lecter/ Hopkins on screen, but it is back to the Silence of the Lambs' character — chilling, calm and stylish, carrying a good deal more menace than the overblown circus tricks of Hannibal, the second book/movie.

Red Dragon is an above-average psycho-thriller. Perhaps because it is the third time around, perhaps because we know so much of what to expect, Lecter is far less scary now (though if you see him, don't tell him I said that).

DVD features: movie (124min); trailer