Maniac Cop

Lieutenant Frank McCrae is investigating a string of brutal crimes committed against random citizens in New York City. Witnesses are claiming it’s the work of a police officer, but the police commissioner is convinced it’s some sort of impersonator. He changes his tune when the wife of lowly Officer Jack Forest is found brutally murdered at a hotel, in the very room Forest admits to having an affair in the night before. Most of the police force assumes the murders were an elaborate ruse by Forest to throw them off the trail just so he could kill his wife, and its case-closed. But McCrae isn’t quite so sure. Instead, the trail he’s been following leads him to suspect a disgraced ex-cop who has a serious bone to pick with the mayor, the commissioner and the entire police force. McCrae’s only problem is, the guy he highly suspects is good for the crime is supposed to be dead…

No, no, not dead. Just MOSTLY dead. Big difference.

Maniac Cop is an action/slasher from 1988, and was written by Larry Cohen, who is also responsible for films like It Lives, Q: The Winged Serpent, The Stuff, and Uncle Sam. So, suffice it to say that I am mildly familiar with his work. I am also familiar enough with this film to know that it was the inspiration for the knock-off film Psycho Cop, when I watched it a couple years ago. I wasn’t particularly impressed with that film when I saw it, but I was looking forward to re-watching Maniac Cop, because I have extremely vague memories of watching it when I was younger, likely because my father rented it and unwisely let me watch it with him against my mom’s strong objections. But after re-watching it I’m reminded that memories are fleeting and nostalgia can be a bitch, because this film is a lot rougher than I remembered. I mean, it’s still loads better than Psycho Cop, just not by quite as large a margin as I had initially presumed.

In fact, it was quite small, actually…

The story for the film feels more mundane than it is thanks to the police angle. Watching McCrae and Forest try to solve the crime, and all the twists and turns the story takes trying to distract you from the identity of the killer by playing with your genre expectations, is a nice change of pace when compared to your typical slasher to come out of the 80s. But thanks to all that police work, and the sudden drop in the murder rate that happens around the same time, the second act sort of plods along, making the middle of the film feel much longer than its 85 minutes would suggest. The film’s believability also takes a hit at this point, thanks to McCrae not only figuring out who the real killer is FAR too early with evidence that barely amounts to bread crumbs, but also by having him accept his otherwise implausible theory without a second thought. It also doesn’t help that the explanations regarding how the killer miraculously survived his apparent death, while also being labeled as almost “brain dead”, yet still being fully capable of taking out nearly an entire police station full of cops without anyone hearing all their grisly deaths, doesn’t really hold up to muster and is pretty much explained away by hand waving. But hey, at least that last one is a familiar 80s staple, so even with the lull in action towards the middle, fans of those similarly ridiculous and cheesy 80s horror explanations should feel right at home here.

The film also isn’t nearly as brutal or bloody as one might expect. The first two deaths are essentially bloodless, and much of the brutality is either suggested or shown off-screen. It also doesn’t help that the killer himself is perpetually cloaked in shadow for about 95% of the film. This is mostly done to keep his true identity a secret, but it also doubles as a cheap and easy way to obscure much of the violence you do manage to see.

Though that’s not to say that the film has no blood. In one particularly brutal moment, an innocent officer doing a routine traffic stop gets shot in the head in a visceral display of splatter, and in the another the killer himself is savagely stabbed and slashed in a shower. Both scenes don’t shy away from showing copious amounts of blood, nor does the one showing Officer Forest’s dead wife. But those moments seem to be the exception, rather than the rule. A rule that I’m sure was at least partially dictated by a lower budget. Because the excuse of “not enough money” is how you end up with characters stumbling upon a nearly entirely full precinct of dead cops that have been beaten, shot and stabbed, yet have them all remain suspiciously free of anything other than a red blotch on their forehead, or maybe a trickle of blood in their mouth. So while the film is violent and has a high body count, it’s not nearly as bloody as some of its contemporaries.

Oh, nameless character we never met… I’ll miss you so…

Beyond the fun plot, I think what helps elevate this otherwise cheesy B-movie to the lofty cult classic heights it’s reached comes down to the excellent cast. I’m not sure how the filmmakers managed to get Bruce Campbell, Tom Atkins and Robert Roundtree to agree to be in this, but you know what, props to them for pulling it off. Because their mere charisma alone helps smooth over some very questionable plot points and dialogue options that a lesser unknown actor likely would have tripped over, possibly causing the film to turn into something much different than what we got.

Also, mad respect for Robert Z’Dar. I don’t think the man had a single line to speak in the entire film, and you couldn’t even see his face for most of the movie, but even covered in shadow he and his massive jawline do make for an effectively intimidating and imposing figure. The dude did good with what little he had to work with.

Maniac Cop isn’t quite the movie I remember, but it’s still a fun B-flick. It’s got some plot and dialogue issues, and the police procedural parts towards the middle causes the pacing in this “action” movie to slow to a crawl for a wee bit. But the story helps to keep things from getting too boring, and I like how the movie pulled a protagonist switch and changed your perception of the film a bit. It’s got its share of flaws, sure, but it’s still an entertaining slasher, and perfect for anyone who’s a fan of the genre.

Maniac Cop is available on a variety of streaming services.

Maniac Cop is also available on DVD and Bluray.

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