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Three times the serial killing in this blu-ray pack that features the best of Hannibal the Cannibal.

Five years before the days of Anthony Hopkins and his exceedingly palatable portrayal of Hannibal Lecter, there was Brian Cox, and before Edward Norton there was William Peterson as the intense manhunter himself, Will Graham. It is a lovely starting place for one of the most memorable characters in the annals of serial killers.

There is a bad man out there, and bad men happens to be the specialty of Will Graham, FBI Special Investigator, now retired. But after a little wheedling from his old boss (and a good look at the two families who have fallen victim to ‘The Tooth Fairy’, he’s on the case. What follows is a… well, the title says it all, really. We follow Peterson’s Graham through a heady, stylistic (think Miami Vice stylistic) belly crawl through the world of a madman, a world that could be the undoing of our hero. Though the 2002 Red Dragon version starring Ralph Feinnes as the dastardly Tooth Fairy is more popular, it is not superior. Feinnes may be a damn fine Voldemort, but he is no Tom Noonan. And while Edward Nortan is a very fine actor, the quiet intensity we’ve come to expect from William Peterson is a perfect fit. In fact, the only place of superiority that Red Dragon holds over Manhunter is Hannibal - Sir Anthony Hopkins is not to be outdone, not even by the likes of Brian Cox (though, to be fair, I couldn’t get the mental picture of Cox from Super Troopers talking about his shit turning purple and tasting like raspberry sherbet out of my head).

The crown jewel of this set, though, is the second film; the film that took Thomas Harris from being ‘on the map’ (in the world of Hollywood) to golden god: The Silence of the Lambs. Clarice Starling (Jodi Foster) is an FBI cadet who shows immense promise. It is this, perhaps, that leads one of her superiors to send her to visit the famously insane Dr. Hannibal ‘The Cannibal’ Lecter for insight into a serial killer who is proving disturbingly hard for the FBI to catch: Buffalo Bill. From the first moments of his appearance, after being sufficiently built up by ever character Starling comes across (and by Starling herself), Hopkins is a master of his field, a genius of creepy noises, unsettling looks, and inducing fear. We are off-kilter, uneasy, and the rest of the film proves no respite. Though the famous courtship of Dr. Lector and Agent Starling are the stuff of film legends, watching the movie itself proves that no matter how fondly you remember it, it’s better. Ted Levine is utterly freaky and frightening as Buffalo Bill, and look out Grey’s Anatomy fans - that’s Brooke Smith, aka Dr. Erica Hahn, as Bill’s lamb to the slaughter. This is a film that ages like one of Lector’s wines, and proves that all the flash of modern filmmaking, all of Bruckheimer’s precious blue filters, are no match for a good damn story.

The last DVD in this set is the follow-up film to The Silence of the Lambs - Hannibal. With Hopkins returning as the title character, it is now Julianne Moore who bears the mantle of Agent Starling, and must step into the rather big shoes Foster left behind.

Life isn’t going so well for Starling; she’s been unjustly accused of fouling up a drug raid, and if that weren’t enough, a nasty little man named Verger (Gary Oldman) wants to use her former ties to Hannibal to lure him out of hiding and into a trap he has made. Silly man. Doesn’t he know that trying to trap Hannibal won’t turn out well for him? In any event, Hannibal and Starling rekindle their courtship, and when all is said and done both of them walk away a little worse for wear. The main problem with Hannibal is that the film disposed the psychological cum procedural drama for an out and out crazy slasher cannibal flick that beats shock value like the proverbial dead horse. While this may appeal to the less refined horror fan, for the bulk of those wooed by The Silence of the Lambs, the story fails miserably, save for a few moments when Harris’s style peeks through.

As far as bonuses go, there isn’t a whole lot to be had. This set isn’t a new, fancy thing; more like a collection of previous DVD releases redone in Blu-Ray. There is nothing on the Manhunter  and Hannibal discs, while Silence sports six featurettes, deleted scenes, a very short gag reel and a phone message ready for your answering machine from Hannibal himself. Mostly this set isn’t about new fancy bonuses; it’s about collecting three films important to the Hannibal mythos in a new format. And on that principle alone, this set is a win.

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