Maniac cop 3 - Il distintivo del silenzio

Former killer cop, officer Cordell is resurrected to take care of some unfinished business and exact revenge on those who have disgraced a policewoman shot in the line of duty.

Despite being made in 1993 Badge of Silence reeks of the 80s farmore than Cordells rotten flesh, basically it's part slasher flick, part cop shoot 'em up. There's stunt doubles, car chases and cops on the edge. To its credit Larry Cohen's Maniac Cop 3 story touches on some topical issues, problems with gun crime, the TV/press manipulation and corrupt officials.

With a hint of the Bride of Frankenstein and a more blatant supernatural overtone Robert Z'Dar is reduced to a zombie with a bigger chin than Bruce Campbell as wronged cop Matt Cordell. It feels like Z'Dar has less to do this time around and through no fault of his own his character is a shade of grey with his motivations as murky as cities officials.

The casting is above par for this kind of flick. Robert Davi is on form as usual, returning as Det. Sean McKinney and pretty much owns each scene with a Dirty Harry grimace. Top character actors Robert Forster and Paul Gleason have welcomed bit parts with Ted Raimi putting in cameo.

Where as part one shocked because of its daylight surprise setting, two because of its dark tone, grit and seediness, part three is most notable for being the darkest looking instalment lacking it's own identity - it feels like an episode of the Equalizer starring The Terminator in places. However, where the aforementioned parts were low budget with a big budget results, edgy and delivered shocks, three falls short feeling rushed and underdeveloped retreading the antagonists past and redemption. Nevertheless, to director William Lustig's credit and writer Cohen part 3 manages to mix a voodoo element on the gritty police backdrop successfully unlike for example Halloween 6 which followed two years later.

Overall, while not as entertaining nor as well executed as its predecessor it's worth seeing if only for Caitlin Dulany and Davi's performances and also to hear Joel Goldsmith overlooked score.

Officer Matt Cordell (Robert D'Zar) returns yet again in this, the apparent final sequel to William Lustwigs 1988 original movie.

Far from being laid to everlasting rest after having his name cleared in the previous entry, our undead psycho slayer is resurrected here once more, this time by a voodoo priest (for reasons that are never actually explained) However it seems that beneath all that rotting flesh is a lonely heart as evidenced when he takes an amorous interest in a female police officer after she is gunned down during a drug store robbery. It seems that our misunderstood anti-hero wants her to join him in his un-death, again to be achieved by voodoo machinations. Before this, he resolves to bring about the violent dissolution of all those people who contributed to her comatose state and in addition those who would aggravate it (including in the later category the always excellent Robert Forster!)

Returning once more is the welcome face of Robert Davi who ironically shares a similar agenda to Cordell i.e. to punish those responsible, but who is none too compliant with the undead marriage plans.

It has to be said straight out that the film in question is not a patch on its two predecessors in terms of either story, script, action scenes or gore content. However, having said this and despite the hokey plot, the film does contain a few great set pieces including a cool scene where Davi rolls down a hospital corridor on a bed towards the bad guys and jumps out from under the covers with guns blazing.

Overall then, for fans of the series this is well worth a watch. Maybe with some luck we'll yet see Matt Cordell rise from the grave once more hopefully sometime soon for a fourth entry in the series….

The plot apparently was not the main consideration of the people who decided to make this, the second sequel to the 1988 surprise hit; that's the only way to explain why there are so many gaps in it (like "Who is that voodoo master?", "Why did he choose to resurrect the Maniac Cop" and "Why does the Maniac Cop kill / help good AND bad guys so arbitrarily?"). Since justice had been set straight at the end of the previous installment, there is no really compelling reason for the title character to return from his grave, so the whole movie seems pointless and unmotivated. But the lengthy chase sequence near the end is so fast-paced and well-done that made me raise the film's rating by half a star. (**)

Maniac Cop 3 is another great sequel to the 1988 Cult Classic original, part 2 was great but i enjoy part 3 more but the first film is the best of this excellent underrated Horror Trilogy. I just really think these flicks are so much fun.

The excellent Robert Davi is back in the lead role as tough Detective Sean mckinney (from Maniac Cop 2) who is again on the hunt for a newly resurrected zombie Maniac Cop, there's a nice night time voodoo atmosphere & this time the Maniac Cop "Cordell" is definitely a zombie & is out to murder once again, the Maniac Cop is very much like "Jason Voorhees" here as he's a big hulking silent,super-strong killer & is almost unstoppable.

Robert z'darr plays the matt Cordell aka the Maniac Cop & he's still the same in his movements & presence but more zombie looking this time.

Our Hero of this slick looking 90's Slasher-Thriller is of course the excellent rugged Robert Davi who is perfectly cast in the role of the no-nonsense,tough & gritty Detective sean Mckinney, Davi plays Mckinney serious & moody & like the equally excellent Tom Atkins in the first Maniac Cop, hes the best character & performance in the whole movie!!!

Davi has a cool presence about him, he looks rugged & comes accross like a Detective from an old pulp novel or even a bounty hunter, Davi is a class actor who appeared mostly in straight to video low-rent Thriller's during the 90's but he was always great to watch even if the B-movie isn't that good, Davi always gave a good memorable perfperformance & that's why he's one of my favourite actors along with Atkins, they both have that screen quality where you look forward to seeing them in anything. Davi is a true retro action star of the DTV B-movie era & has given us plenty of low-budget gems to uncover!!! Davi is great in The Bad Pack, The Zone, Night Trap, Center of the Web, Peacemaker & many more, go check out his awesome filmography.

Maniac Cop 3 is pure early 90s in it's look & tone, it feels like a 90s Dark Thriller with slasher elements here & there but it feels more like a Cop film or a Detective Thriller & that's fine, there is a darkness to this movie in it's style & visual look & a great new setting within a hospital abit like "Michael Myers" stalking the hospital in "Halloween 2" & it works well here as we've watched the Maniac Cop stalk the dark city streets in the other films so this is a nice new setting & feels fresh.

There's a little side story mixed in about a good lady cop who becomes abit of a bride of Frankenstein in a way to the Maniac Cop, its a fun little fantasy bit even if it's abit silly really it doesn't hurt the movie as it's so entertaining with a fantastic shootout scene in the hospital with "mckinney" taking on some street thugs in a hospital corridor, it's truly an Awesome action scene & there's another great bit where "mckinney" discovers a secret underground tunnel leading from the hospital to an old church where the Maniac Cop hides out along with the zoodoo witch doctor guy who brought him back to life, the look is lovely with candles all over the old church it's a great peice of production design in it's almost cosy look.

There's also the spectacular end car Chase sequence, it's Amazing.

Maniac Cop 3 is a thrilling sequel with a great rare lead role for Davi & some excellent action scenes & some real gory death scenes, it's great late night entertainment in it's old school 90s vhs Slasher Thriller feel.

In a word, wow! Maniac Cop one was awesome: great subject matter, assured direction, true excitement and Bruce Campbell. I thought I'd watch the sequel for a laugh and ... it too was awesome. Enter Robert Davi and some more great action and laughs. What's that I hear you say? A cheap eighties action/horror with an equal sequel? Well you won't believe this, but I watched number three last night and I was blown away. Once again this film is equal to the original, and also enjoys a new cynical humour which was great fun. In this movie the cops and reporters and doctors all have a really crass way of talking about death when Robert Davi ask's how his partner is doing he gets the reply "Put her in a rock garden", with her parents well in earshot! This kind of sick humour punctuates the impressive action and actually adds to the realism of the movie. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes to enjoy themself(which has to be everyone). Go watch!