‘You have the right to remain silent… forever’
Maniac Cop is a 1988 American horror feature film directed by William Lustig (Uncle Sam; Relentless; Maniac) from a screenplay by producer Larry Cohen. The Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment production stars Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon and Richard Roundtree.
The film spawned two sequels, Maniac Cop 2 (1990) and Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence (1993), both also directed by William Lustig from Larry Cohen scripts.
Plot:
Innocent people are brutally killed on the streets of New York by a uniformed police officer. A young cop, Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) finds himself marked as the chief suspect after his wife is murdered.
As Lieutenant Frank McCrae (Tom Atkins) investigates, the death toll rises and he suspects a mysterious police cover-up. This “maniac” cop must be stopped, but it might not be so easy. He seems inhuman, and ready to take on the entire police force, hell-bent on revenge…
Reviews:
“Had Cohen and Lustig hit that satirical point a little harder, Maniac Cop would be as awesome as its title. Instead, it’s too often a routine ’80s genre piece, straight down to the synthesizer score, over-lit night scenes, and bandana-sporting street punks. But Cohen comes up with a few good lines…” AV Film
“While Atkins and Campbell give relatively cheese-free performances, their co-stars aren’t quite as subtle. Jack Forrest’s girlfriend is played by Laurene Landon, whose performance is so over the top it almost negates any kind of credibility Campbell builds during the course of the film.” J Hurtado, Screen Anarchy
“From a production stand point, there is not a single area in which this film is lacking. The visuals perfectly set to mood, especially the kill scenes and the aforementioned flesh-back sequence. Pacing is never an issue…” Michael Den Boer, 10K Bullets
“Only the odd line of dialogue and occasional bizarre detail hint at Cohen’s quirky signature; performances and camerawork are solid enough, but both cutting and direction are formulary and flabby.” Time Out London
“Maniac Cop is a disappointing thriller that wastes an oddball premise and offbeat point-of-view […] Acting is deadpan and straight ahead. Sheree North has an interesting character role as a hobbling, crippled girlfriend to the maniac, combining bitterness and pathos.” Variety
“Maniac Cop crams a lot into 82 minutes (look for Sam Raimi’s cameo) and is thus never boring. Cordell’s carnage-creating romp around HQ is expertly done; A scene where Malloy is handcuffed to a body; Car chases with slo-mo crashes, and all manner of creative shots and visual cues that serve to keep the horrors of the killer’s face out of shot.” Hudson Lee, Vegan Voorhees
“Sporting a decent premise and better characterizations than we’ve come to expect from slasher flicks, this is certainly an entertaining time with alright deaths, a steady script, a good finish that has some okay suspense and one almost skin-crawling flashback to our killer’s prison fate.” The Video Graveyard
” …with someone like William Lustig at the helm, I guess I was just expecting more… pizazz. And since Larry Cohen was at the word processor, I was hoping the social commentary would be a bit sharper; but oh well. But while the flick never quite lives up to its potential; it’s still entirely watchable and enjoyable.” Mitch Lovell, The Video Vacuum
Cast and characters:
- Tom Atkins … Frank McCrae
- Bruce Campbell … Jack Forrest
- Laurene Landon … Theresa Mallory
- Richard Roundtree … Commissioner Pike
- William Smith … Captain Ripley
- Robert Z’Dar … Matt Cordell
- Sheree North … Sally Noland
- Nina Arvesen … Regina Sheperd (as Nina Aversen)
- Nick Barbaro … Councilman
- Lou Bonacki … Detective Lovejoy
- Barry Brenner … Coroner
- Victoria Catlin … Ellen Forrest
- James Dixon … Clancy (as Jim Dixon)
- Corey Michael Eubanks … Bremmer (as Corey Eubanks)
- Jill Gatsby … Cassie Philips
- Rocky Giordani … Fowler
- John F. Goff … Jack’s Lawyer (as John Goff)
- William J. Gorman … Desk Sergeant
- Jon Greene … Tactical Sergeant
- Teddy M. Haggarty … Prison Guard
- Dan Hicks … Squad Leader (as Danny Hicks)
- Erik Holland … Dr. Gruber
- Dennis Junt … Assistant Squad Leader
- Marcia Karr … Nancy
- Judy Kerr … Motel Maid
- Jake LaMotta … Detective
- Judy Levitt … Woman in Car
- Jason Lustig … Squad Commander
- William Lustig … Motel Manager
- Vic Manni … Jail Guard
- Tito Núñez … Chico (as Tito Nunez)
- Daniel Ortiz … Ramos
- Louis Pastore … John
- Frank Pesce … Watchman
- Bernie Pock … Sam
- Ed Polgardy … Man in Bar #1
- Sam Raimi … Parade Reporter
- Carla Reynolds … Police Officer (as Carla Y. Reynolds)
- Jefferson Richard … Witness (as Jef Richard)
- Adele Sparks … Nurse
- Tom Taylor … Man in Bar #2
- Ingrid Van Dorn … Waitress
- Luke Walter … Musician
- Patrick Wright … Prison Guard
- Nicholas Yee … Patrolman
- Lee Arnone … White Woman
- Nay K. Dorsey … Young Black Man
- George ‘Buck’ Flower … Old Man
- Bill Waldron … Young White Man
- Alma Washington … Black Woman
Technical credits:
Running time: 85 minutes | 91 minutes (DVD) | 88 minutes (DVD)
Aspect Ratio: 1.85: 1
Sound Mix: Ultra Stereo
Posted in tribute to filmmaker Larry Cohen who died yesterday.
Related:
HORRORPEDIA is genuinely independent and we rely solely on the very minor income generated by affiliate links and online ads to maintain and grow our online presence. Please support us by not blocking ads on our website. Thank you.
Quick links to site contents:
A | B | C | D | E | F | G | H | I | J | K | L | M | N | O | P | Q | R | S | T | U | V | W | X | Y | Z
The post Maniac Cop – USA, 1988 appeared first on HORRORPEDIA.