Maniac Cop: O Exterminador

This movie is almost completely incredible. The first twenty minutes or so are incredible, with tons of killings. Then, as the plot unfolds, the film turns into more of a detective story, and it loses a little of its punch. BUT, there are glimmers of B movie greatness that make this worth checking out. I viewed it as a William Lustig film, and as a Lustig film, this one lacks a little bit of his signature extremism. 6/10

Maniac Cop is a cool little movie. Made with a small budget and few known actors, I thought that it was going to be stupid and cheap looking. I was wrong. With an original script that features respective characters and a new horror villain, this film was very entertaining and well done. Unlike many horror and action movies of today, this film didn't need a huge budget to make it good. It just called for good direction and good use of low funds.What really made this film good was not just a cool hero like Bruce Campbell to root for, but the actual reality that some of the things in here could very well happen in real life, adding to the films scary mood. The main point of this flick is about a cop who was killed in prison by his fellow inmates(after being sent their for police brutality and murder)and then somehow returning to life to go back onto the streets and get revenge against not only criminals but against innocent people as well. It is then up to Bruce Campbell and company to put an end to the Maniac Cops murderous rampage and restore peace to the fearful city once again. I recommend this film and think you should rent it whenever you get the chance to. I give it two thumbs up. RATED R FOR STRONG ACTION, VIOLENCE/GORE,LANGUAGE, AND INTENSE SITUATIONS.

'Maniac Cop' is the most enjoyable of William Lustig's movies for me. If I was being objective I'd have to admit that it's stupid trash, but I love it just the same, and never tire of watching it. The team of Lustig ('Maniac', 'Vigilante') as director and the legendary Larry Cohen ('Q', 'The Stuff') as writer really worked well here. Each sequel is slightly worse than the one before - though still entertaining enough - and their latter day attempt to start a similar franchise with the overlooked 'Uncle Sam' wasn't as successful, though that movie was a lot of fun for me. Facially challenged b-grade regular Robert Z'Dar ('Cherry 2000', 'Tango And Cash') "stars" as Matt Cordell the Maniac Cop, but the real drawing card here are cult favourites Tom Atkins ('The Fog', 'Escape From New York') and Bruce Campbell ('Evil Dead', 'Crimewave'), who are both always cool to watch. The supporting cast includes the legendary William Smith ('Run, Angel, Run', 'The Ultimate Warrior'), original Shaft Richard Roundtree, and Laurene Landon and Frank Pesce, both regulars of Lustig and/or Cohen. Lustig himself pops up in a cameo, as does his Uncle 'Raging Bull' Jake LaMotta, director pal Sam Raimi, and the ubiquitous 'Buck' Flower. I love 'Maniac Cop', an 80s trash classic that I enjoy every time I watch it. Highly recommended fun!

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.

Although hampered by a very low budget, by the looks of things, this is still a passable thriller which is along the lines of THE TERMINATOR and THE HITCHER in that it charts the murders of an unstoppable killer. There's even a police station massacre which bears direct resemblance to the former film. Probably the best thing about this film is the talent involved, from William Lustig (big-time horror fan and director of gritty urban horror MANIAC) as director to the all-star, cult cast of familiar faces: not only do you get Bruce Campbell in the leading role, the underrated Tom Atkins appears in a supporting role while blaxploitation star Richard Roundtree also cameos!

The most disappointing thing about this film is the lack of action; the low budget means that there's only really one notable action sequence in it, and that occurs at the very end with the van chase. Other moments which could have been spectacular are only hinted at, for instance : the police station massacre sees a number of officers being strangled and hanged, but we only get to see the aftermath of this event. A spooky moment, yes, but one which could have been phenomenal with the right money to spend. The plot is adequate and quite complex to begin with, and at least the script writer figures out a psychology and motive behind the crimes. I also liked the fact that the maniac cop is a zombie (how else could he survive all those bullets?) is never explained, just left to the imagination.

The film is pretty grisly in places but the death scenes are kept brief. There are a lot of them to compensate for this, with about 95% of the cast being slaughtered through and through. Bruce Campbell looks too young to be a cop but, as per usual, he's charismatic and likable in his leading role. Tom Atkins, a familiar face in '80s films, is also fine as the older policeman investigating the crimes. One person I didn't like was Laurene Landon, who plays Campbell's mistress. As much as I hate to be rude, this actress's acting was a definite down side to the film! Richard Roundtree is good and gruff as usual but underused, while William Smith's croaky-voiced commander is another plus point for the film.

This is one of those films which keeps the face of the killer hidden for the entire running time and then ruins the shock at the end with some extremely poor makeup. The cop - played badly by Robert D'Zar - just has a few scars on his cheeks, that's all, which doesn't explain why everybody screams when they see his face. What this film does succeed in doing is painting a dark and gritty picture of life in New York - realism is at a high here. Plus the scenes of people being chased by the cop are successfully tense and suspenseful. Although not a brilliant film and slightly disappointing for most people, I did fully enjoy this movie and look forward to watching the sequels some day.