Rent Maniac Cop on Amazon Video (paid link)
Written by: Larry Cohen
Directed by: William Lustig
Starring: Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon, Richard Roundtree, Robert Z'Dar
Rated: R
Watch the trailer
Plot
A killer dressed in a police uniform begins murdering innocent people on the streets of New York City.
Verdict
It's a shallow, vapid slasher. It's a great idea. A police officer, someone you inherently trust, is a dangerous killer. The problem is that there's no real motive, and the plot is incredibly flimsy. I can forgive the lack of explanation for the preternatural part of this, but what is this guy after? It's random killings. Without a foundation, this is a collection of scenes that only resemble a movie.
Skip it.
Review
This was followed by two direct-to-video sequels, Z'dar returned for both of them.
The opening credits portray a police officer getting ready, though we never see his face. With the over the top music, there's no mistaking this as a slasher. In the next scene a woman flees two creeps on the street. She sees a cop, thinking she's saved, but he's the maniac cop and she's killed. The police captain wants to keep it quiet so as not to alarm the public. Detective McCrae (Tom Atkins) wants justice, but as the fear of the Maniac Cop increases civilians become afraid of all cops.
Forrest (Bruce Campbell) is cheating on his wife with Mallory, and his wife catches him. She followed him wondering if he was the Maniac Cop. It's flimsy, but the entire movie is shallow with stilted dialog and in turn flat scenes. I like the core idea, tapping into the unnerving fear that someone you automatically trust like a cop could be a killer. The Maniac Cop kills Forrest's wife and frames him for it. I don't know why. The movie doesn't know why. It's just a way to pad the run time.
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| Bruce Campbell plays Jack Forrest |
The Maniac Cop's killings have no reason or pattern. If he's out for revenge why is he killing random people? We see him shot multiple times at point blank range and he seems unfazed. The cops theorize he had a bullet proof vest, but he was shot in the head.
McCrae follows Mallory's friend Noland which leads him to a warehouse. Somehow Noland knows the Maniac Cop, but the only reason to connect Mallory and Noland is to save on actors. We know the Maniac Cop's identity and that he claims to have been unjustly imprisoned for police brutality. Now he's back killing random people because that does a great job of refuting the brutality charge.
If the Maniac Cop came back to kill everyone that wronged him, I could understand that. Otherwise this is a slasher just for the sake of it. A bit of motivation would provide stakes where even if we don't agree with his methods we can understand them. Just in case you're not paying attention, this provides a lot of dramatic music so you know when intense moments are happening.
Forrest is in custody and the Maniac Cop kills a bunch of people in the station like he's The Terminator. The cops conclude it must be Forrest. How could one man do that, especially when he was in custody?
It's a neat idea, and maybe on par for cheap slashers of the era, but there's just not enough to carry the plot. Why frame Forrest? Is this about vengeance? If so why does he target random people? Very little of the plot seems to follow any kind of logic. The Maniac Cop tries to kill Forrest for no reason other than an attempt at tension and to provide a face off at the end. The Maniac Cop escapes but drives right into the river. That's only so that we can see his hand rise from the water in an attempt to set up a sequel.
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