An underrated horror movie is trending on Netflix today. We’re all familiar with The Silence of the Lambs and the Hannibal TV series, but 2002’s Red Dragon is not as widely remembered as those two entries in the Hannibal Lecter saga. The movie was added to Netflix at the beginning of the month, though, and it’s going down a treat with viewers, as Red Dragon currently sits at number 10 on the streaming site’s list of its most-watched films.
Red Dragon is the third and final movie to feature Sir Anthony Hopkins as the infamous cannibal, though it was the fourth overall for the series, as Brian Cox was the first actor to play the part on screen in 1986’s Manhunter. In fact, that pic was also an adaptation of the Red Dragon novel by Thomas Harris.
For those unfamiliar, the plot sees Edward Norton’s FBI agent Will Graham forced to ally with Lecter in order to hunt down a mysterious serial killer known as “The Tooth Fairy.” As directed by Brett Ratner, the film also features Harvey Keitel, Emily Watson, Phillip Seymour Hoffman and Mary-Louise Parker in supporting roles. If you haven’t seen Red Dragon but are a fan of the TV show, it’s worth a watch as the series loosely adapted the same story in its third season, with Richard Armitage taking on the role of killer Francis Dolarhyde, who’s portrayed by Ralph Fiennes here.
Red Dragon was released one year after 2001’s Hannibal, the first sequel to Silence that was directed by Ridley Scott. Despite Scott’s involvement in the previous entry, this one is actually considered a big improvement on its predecessor, as Ratner’s film sits at a decent 68% on Rotten Tomatoes, with audiences being slighter kinder, rating it 74%. Meanwhile, Hannibal is classified as rotten at 39%. That makes it the third highest-rated Hannibal production, behind Silence (96%) and the TV show (92%).
If you haven’t already, why not check out Red Dragon on Netflix this week? It’s certainly worth your time.
