"Maniac Cop" An Arresting Horror Classic

4/5/2022

Director William Lustig helped kick off the 80s horror barrage with his disturbing cult classic film “Maniac”. Then at the end of the decade, he went back to the well with another horror classic in “Maniac Cop”.  Although only related to each other in name, “Maniac Cop” also spawned a couple of sequels in ’90 and ’92.

Horror icon Bruce Campbell of “Evil Dead” fame stars as Jack, a New York City cop who becomes the prime suspect in the murder of his wife and a string of other killings perpetrated by a man in a police officer's uniform.  The real culprit or “Maniac Cop” is played by Robert Z’Dar.  The Maniac’s name is Matt Cordell, a good cop who was betrayed and sold out by his fellow officers.  He was then subsequently murdered in a prison shower beating and mutilation.  He is back for revenge and to also I guess kill a lot of innocent people too.  We find out that similar to other horror icons like Michael Meyers and the soon to appear Jason Vorhees.  Matt Cordell cannot be killed and is a sort of supernatural being.  It's kind of funny and ridiculous that when that characters find out that bullets don’t faze him they still don’t hesitate in unloading an entire clip into him in every movie, but isn’t that the fun of it?  They try to offer an explanation for his return in the third movie but it’s pretty laughable, kind of like the whole third film in general.

Another iconic actor known for playing cops, Tom Atkins plays Frank a detective on the trail of this Maniac. Years ago his partner had killed himself and this has had lasting effects on him.  He is convinced that Jack is innocent and when he gets too close to the truth he is thrown out a window to his premature death.  This was actually quite shocking to see, but Bruce Campbell was always meant to be the hero of the film. 

Jack teams up with Officer Theresa Mallory a friend from the vice squad to hunt down this Maniac Cop.  Although he is still thought of as a suspect he uncovers the hidden conspiracy about Matt but is too late.  During the St. Patrick’s Day Parade, Matt makes his move to take revenge on the Police commissioner, who is played by Richard Roundtree of “Shaft” fame, and the officers who betrayed him.  After the massacre, there is the requisite car chase through the city ending up with a big face-to-face showdown at the pier  Matt is thought to be spectacularly killed off and drowned in the water but wait, horror villains never really die do they?  His white-gloved hand emerges from the water and grasps the dock.  Roll Credits.

Both “Maniac” and “Maniac Cop” are classics of the genre but are of different tones.  “Maniac” is a brutally depraved masterpiece thanks to the performance of Joe Spinell, while “Maniac Cop” is more of an entertaining action film with notes of horror”.  Check out my review of “Maniac”.