Maniac Cop (1988)

What a great 80s treasure MANIAC COP is & so much fun!!! This was one i owned on old vhs & watched it tons of times it's so rewatchable & exciting, It's a very dark & gritty New York mystery Horror Thriller all in one & works perfectly. Cult Horror icon TOM ATKINS is fantastic as the tough & gritty detective Frank Mcrae a perfect performance by Atkins he's born to play these rugged hero types especially cops!!!! & Bruce Campbell is good in this as the other hero who takes over in the second half of the film & he's good not great like Atkins but just good as he doesn't have the screen presence that Atkins does but all in all this is a BRILLIANT brutal slasher Thriller set in the very scary darkness of 80s very gritty New York City a place full of creepy atmosphere & plays like another character in this film!!! Also Matt Cordell the Maniac Cop is a great Villain who should be up there with Jason Voohees & Michael Myers!!! Robert z'dar is another great screen presence as this big scary violent Cop turned Maniac after the system screws him over & puts him in a tough prison surrounded by criminals he's put away, a really great 80s film & a really great Cop Thriller & Horror Slasher combined. Tom Atkins is great in this probably my favourite role & performance by the King of cool!!! MANIAC COP truly is one of those 80s gems & so much more!!! Thank you TOM ATKINS you make these movies even better.

This is a very scary movie. There are not to many movie is scarier then A Nightmare on elm street. This is one of them. This has a great story line. It also has great acting. It a very scary movie.

A tile like 'Maniac Cop' should be an indicator of low quality but this film even though low budget is surprisingly good. A disgruntled ex-cop thought deceased is killing people in New York but it is not as simple as that. Who he is and why he is killing are eventually explained which involves the justice system, the penal system and ideas of trust and betrayal. There is a lot in the film and it moves along briskly with good character scenes and exciting action scenes. The last stunt is amazing. When the city realises there is a killing cop the paranoia of the population is well portrayed.The cast acquit themselves excellently, particularly Tom Atkins as policeman Frank McCrae, William Smith as Captain Ripley and Sheree North as Sally Noland. Robert Z'Dar as the titular cop is frightening, even in silhouette standing still. Bruce Campbell plays an adulterous cop who is accused of the crimes. Apparently the actor disliked the film but what does he know? He is fine in it.It's not really a slasher film, it's not a monster film, it's not a police procedural film. The laudable direction by William Lustig and script by Larry Cohen makes it rather a good drama and more engrossing than many a bigger budgeted thriller. There were sequels but was definitely the best one.

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.