Maniac Cop

Maniac Cop is a great exploitation film. It has some truly inspired moments. Bruce Campbell is great and the Maniac Cop himself is a worthy creation in the horror genre. Most people will avoid this and they shouldn't, because for the budget and limitations it's a great flick. Fix a nice big bowl of popcorn and enjoy a great horror cheapie.

I saw the two sequels before I saw this and I am glad to finally see the one that started it all.

Robert Z'Dar is the Maniac Cop in all three, and he really has a creepy presence that will strike fear into anyone coming up against him.

Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon play lovers that try to find out what was going on and catch the killer while being blamed for all the deaths themselves.

Richard Roundtree and Tom Atkins added to the excitement, but seeing Sheree North, who has been in so many TV shows and movies, was a treat.

It's mindless entertainment and just a lot of fun.

When I saw this movie on the market I thought 'what the hell' and bought it. I was so surprised by this movie that now i'm on the search for the sequels. The storyline is good and the action with the horror is great. Watch out for 'Tango and Cash' big jawed baddie Robert Z'Dar and surprise cameos from Sam Raimi and Boxing champ JAKE LaMOTTA. There are loads of killings, plenty of low-budget action and another SURPRISE moment involving Tom Atkins. Don't miss this before you die or go blind. 9 out of 10.

In New York someone is committing brutal murders on unexpected and innocent victims, but to make matters worst for the police force, witnesses claimed it was a cop doing the horrific acts. Now terror fills the people of New York of anyone in a blue uniform. Not too long officer Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) gets accused of these murders, but Cordell a supposedly dead cop who was wrongfully jailed by the higher authorities of the city frames Forrest, so he could get closer to those screwed him. Lt. McCrae (Peter Atkins) who is in charge of the case doesn't believe that the accused officer is apart of it and he goes out of his way to prove that a demented policeman is the one they should be after.

Damn! I wished I watched them in order, as certainly this is by far the best of the three. It's just I couldn't get my hands on it, until after seeing the two sequels and they were just there. But that's always the case when you do something like that. Oh well, I did leave the best for last, which I guess leaves me with more than a satisfied feeling towards the trilogy after the somewhat fair, but disappointing number three.

'Maniac Cop' isn't going to win any awards nor is it not trying to. What we have by Director William Lustig and writer Larry Cohen is nothing but good trashy b-grade action-horror hokum… and it achieves it in a rather sprightly manner. Watching this you'll be thinking your trash heaven! It borders on ridiculous, but hey that makes it even more enjoyable and you could say its one of the better horror flicks that filled the late 80's. It has the slasher touch to it, but with a twist with a killer being someone who we think will protect us. Larry Cohan's screenplay makes great use of this premise, by executing ideas about the hysteria it would cause when playing on society fears of political correctness and people abusing their authority figure and power. These sort of social commentaries you just come to like and grow use to when watching a film that has him credited as writer. Other than the satire part, Cohan adds to the mystery of Cordell in a very compelling structure by providing enough mayhem and more than enough surprises along the way. That's not to say it doesn't have its plot holes and some things just come together a bit to easy, but again it knows its limitations by playing it for fun than going for a serious outlook were every little thing is wrapped up in nice little bow. For me it was more original than most in its field.

The vividly seedy New York backdrop was a superb fitting with its scummy macabre that fills every crevice during the night sequences, but still enough through daylight that you are pulled into panic and uneasy vibe that fills the city. A chilling aurora is felt with rustling sounds that added even more to the grinding tension and increasing dread. Something that the two sequels just couldn't replicate, well not in the same vein. The time pretty much passes by like a breeze, as it's relentlessly at a high-octane pace. That's all because of William Lustig no bars approach to the direction, by adding a pinch of all types of ingredients. Like the usual high speed car chase, interesting interactions between the characters, explosive shootout, exploitative violence that has a tad of gore and the basic flashback on the bad guy and how he become this monster. You'll be on the edge for last 15 minutes.

Although, the performances also make it one hell of a ride with the likes of some favourite powerhouse b-films stars that just have a knack of making any sort of character interesting. You have probably guess who I'm going to praise and I see from other reviewers I'm hardly alone on this one, but Bruce Campbell and Peter Atkins can make anything incredibly lively when they are involved. Both get their fair share of screen time and make the most of it and it's the first time that I've seen Campbell in a tone down role and he still nails it. But again the characters get their witty lines curtsy to Cohen's profound script. Laurene Landon also is quite good as Forrest's mistress and cop buddy. She adds another feisty element to the picture. Also in the support you got the likes of Richard Roundtree as Commissioner Pike and William Smith as Capt. Ripley. Robert Z'Dar plays the hidden figure Matt Cordell that has some supernatural vibe with brute and energy, but even with some passion too. The actual makeup for Cordell's scarred face wasn't too bad either.

Overall, this low-budget feature is immensely messy fun with an above-average script and remarkably agreeable performances by all involved. Definitely check out the sequels if you enjoy this flick as they kind of follow the same path, but also adding their own distinguishable trait to the central idea.

For some reason there is just something oddly entertaining about "Maniac Cop". And I do believe it is based on the fact that I used to have this movie on VHS back in the day when it was released, and I do have fond memories of it being a fairly good movie back then.

Then I got a chance to revisit Matt Cordell and the rest of the people in "Maniac Cop" in 2017. And my fond memories of the movie were slowly starting to vaporize into mist. The movie is quite campy and cheesy actually, and it really had that late 1980's and early 1990's horror movie feel to it.

The story in "Maniac Cop" is quite straight forward and very easy to keep up with. A deranged killer is stalking the innocent people on the streets of New York. And as the death toll rise, police officer Jack Forrest finds himself arrested for a murder he didn't commit. Determined to bring the real perpetrator to justice, Jack seeks out to track down the killer.

"Maniac Cop" is labeled as an action/crime/horror, so it spans over a wide array of genres with very different contents. And to some extend it does deliver on these accounts. The action, well it was there, just don't expect it to be anything grand or jaw-dropping. The crime, well that was actually the focal point of the movie. The horror, again not overwhelmingly a factor for the movie. It wasn't even scary back in 1988.

This movie actually has some interesting enough actors and actresses on the cast list. Most memorable for me was Bruce Campbell, of course, and it is still a wonderful treat to watch him in this movie. However, it should be said that Tom Atkins was also good in this movie, and he is one of those faces that you instantly recognize and remember from that era. And then there is also Robert Z'Dar who brought life to Matt Cordell, and he was nicely cast for the role.

All in all, then "Maniac Cop" is a mediocre movie, but still proves to be entertaining and watchable given how cheesy and campy it actually is. And true to the horror movies of the late 1980's, the ending was just quite predictable, and of course laid grounds for a potential sequel.

"Maniac Cop" is not an overly impressive movie if you sit down to watch it today and compare it to the movies readily available and released today, especially so if you weren't already familiar with the movie from back in the day.