A brilliant underseen thriller movie is airing on TV tonight

The film features the first onscreen appearance of one of the most famous characters ever.

Based on the beloved novel Red Dragon by Thomas Harris, the film follows Will Graham (William Petersen, CSI), a genius and former FBI criminal profiler who left the bureau after a nervous breakdown.

This was a result of being attacked by the cannibalistic serial killer Dr. Hannibal Lecktor (Brian Cox, Succession), whom he captured.

Graham, however, is called out of retirement by his former superior, Jack Crawford (Dennis Farina, Snatch), to assist in the investigation into a serial killer known as the "Tooth Fairy" (Tom Noonan, Heat).

Despite his trauma, Graham visits the imprisoned Lektor in an effort to get further insight into the Tooth Fairy's possible motives.

"Soon, Graham and the FBI are entangled in a deadly cat-and-mouse game between the Tooth Fairy, Lecktor and an interfering journalist (Stephen Lang, Avatar)," the plot synopsis adds.

Manhunter is a seminal crime thriller for various reasons.

The movie marks the first onscreen appearance of Hannibal Lecter (albeit spelt slightly differently), six years before Anthony Hopkins would win an Oscar for playing the character in The Silence of the Lambs.

Also, though, the film is credited as being one of the first to draw parallels between detective characters and the criminals they are pursuing, suggesting they are more alike than one may think. This is a theme that Mann would return to in his 1995 crime epic Heat.

Incredibly stylish and boasting a haunting soundtrack as well, Manhunter was nevertheless a commercial and critical disappointment upon release. That said, it has been reassessed in the decades since as a cult classic. In fact, some regard it now as being the best of the Hannibal movies.

Manhunter is airing tonight on BBC Two at 11pm.

Here are the other movies airing on TV tonight:

Military Wives - TG4 - 9.30pm

A former FBI agent is coaxed out of retirement to track down a serial killer behind the slaughter of entire families.

Hot Fuzz - ITV4 - 9pm

Action comedy, with Simon Pegg, Nick Frost, Jim Broadbent, Timothy Dalton and Paddy Considine.

Pooja, Sir - Channel 4 - 02.40am

A female police inspector is sent from Kathmandu to a small Nepalese border town to investigate a kidnapping case. 

Hard Target- Legend - 11pm

John Woo's action thriller, starring Jean-Claude Van Damme, Yancy Butler, Lance Henriksen and Wilford Brimley.

Righteous Kill - Legend Xtra - 01.00am

Two veteran New York detectives are assigned the case of a murdered pimp.