Maniac cop 3 - Il distintivo del silenzio

"Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence" is yet another solid sequel that is just as good as the previous two movies in the series. As weird as it may seem, the maniac cop (played again by Robert Z'Dar) seems to have a heart in this one when he starts protecting a female cop who was wounded in a shootout and was said to be too hard on criminals. Now the crazed cop goes on another killing spree and it is up to Robert Davi (repraising his role from "Maniac Cop 2" to stop him. If you're a fan of the first two, be sure not to miss this entry with the exciting climax with the crazed cop a flame behind the wheel of a car. *** out of ***** Stars.

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.

Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence (1993) is very underrated and it might be the worst one in the series but is my second favorite Action horror flick from the 90's and I still love it. I even more love it than I like the second film. I know that this film is different from the first film that started all and I still think the director and cast crew did a great job in this final installment of Maniac Cop franchise. Claudia Christian,Michael Lerner,Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon,Clarence Williams III,Leo Rossi,Lou Bonacki,Paula Trickey and Charles Napier none of those actors from the second film come back for the third ride but I think new cast and new plot did a great job. I Love this film because it is an Action Horror flick from the 90's and the film is also dark not as dark as Maniac Cop 1 & 2 but still dark. Like I mentioned I love Action horror flicks and this one did delivered because it had some great action sequences and shootings that I did liked and I thought it was much better film than Maniac Cop 2 because Robert Davi's character Det. Sean McKinney had something to do than he did in the second film because wounded one criminal and through the rest of the film he didn't do anything except talking here he at least did something.

The end of the film when Matt Cordell was in flame again and he died caring his bride Kate and Sean didn't do anything I was mad because I thought the film ended without Matt burning to death again and that's it? No action sequences nothing? I was really surprised by the ending and that finally Sean did fought Matt and he defeat him that's what I love in this film. The chase sequences burning police car chasing an ambulance was an fantastic scene.. I am glad Joel Soisson took over the direction when the original series director William Lustig just left the film project and refused to shoot the additional scenes the producers wanted and quit the project.

Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence is a 1993 action horror film written by Larry Cohen and directed by William Lustig, and an uncredited Joel Soisson. It is the sequel to 1990's Maniac Cop 2, and the final installment in the Maniac Cop series, which began in 1988.

A female cop is gunned down and wrongly accused of using excessive force in a hostage rescue attempt. Maniac cop returns from the dead once more to seek revenge, destroying everything and anyone that stands in his way. A voodoo priest resurrect Matt Cordell from dead once again to get revenge on the people for framing fellow officer Katie Sullivan in hostage rescue attempt.

Robert Davi as Det. Sean McKinney did a terrific job as the main hero. The shooting scene in the Hospital was one of his best scenes in the film. He shoot three guys with two guns which was awesome including Jackie Earle Haley as the killer. He fought with Matt Cordell and he finally killed him on the end. Caitlin Dulany as Dr. Susan Fowler was awesome as Doctor in the hospital she did a great job. Gretchen Becker as Officer Katie Sullivan was amazingly fantastic, she shoot with automatic riffle Daisy Softair Model 15 MP-5K in the store on the robber Jessup this Action sequence was fantastic. Killing an insider the store clerk was Jessup's accomplice when she fired on Katie and Katie shooting her in the head was awesome, I love this scene.Jackie Earle Haley as Frank Jessup did a good terrific job as the villain in this film and Julius Harris also did a good job as a voodoo priest. Robert Z'Dar as Matt Cordell did a good job performing his character not that good as he did in the first two films but I still like his performance in here.

I love this Action Horror flick and I really miss Action Horror films form the 90's. Yes Maniac Cop 3 wasn't the best or that good like were it's predecessors but it was still a good film for it's third ride. They aren't any good Action Horror films today, it is so sad, I want to see movies like are this one today in 2015, but I want. I also love the main theme from Joel Goldsmith better than I did in the second film.

7/10 Grade: -B Studio: NEO Motion Pictures, First Look Pictures, Overseas FilmGroup Starring: Robert Davi,Caitlin Dulany,Gretchen Becker ,Paul Gleason, Doug Savant and Robert Z'Dar. Director: William Lustig,Joel Soisson. Producer: Joel Soisson, Michael Leahy Rated: R Running Time: 1Hrs. 25Mins.

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. (**)