Manhunter (1986)

Silence of the Lambs was not the first of the Hannibal Lector movies. This movie is based on the Thomas Harris’ first novel in the Lector series, Red Dragon. The story loosely follows the idea of Silence of the Lambs in that Hannibal is used to get into another criminal's mind. The film has a huge cult following and is considered by many to be superior to its sequel. Interesting fact: Manhunter and Silence of the Lambs share a few characters, but the only actors be to featured in both movies are Dan Butler and Frankie Faison, though both actors played different roles in each film. (Written and directed by Michael Mann)