Review of Maniac Cop (1988) by Matthew F — 26 Feb 2017

Maniac Cop is a 1988 horror film starring iconic Bruce Campbell as Jack Forrest. This is a film that fits within the sub-genre of slashers, which were booming during the 80's and still hold a great deal of relevance in today's pop culture.

I'll be honest with you, I enjoyed Maniac Cop, but it definitely pulls its punches about midway. The movie opens up with a woman being harassed by a couple of teenage boys who look no more threatening than Yogi Bear and Boo Boo, all they wanted was her picnic basket...After escaping them, she runs into the waiting arms of her heroic police officer...only he's not just a cop. He's a...MANIAC COP!

Our movie revolves around this maniac cop taking people out one by one, for now we don't know why as his motives remain hidden until much later in the film. The portrayal of the maniac cop is done in excellence by actor Robert Z'Dar and his amazing jawline. For most of the movie, we get a shadowy amorphous killer. This makes gives the killer more resonance when he's on the scene, truly invigorating a sense of mystery and dread. Mostly sticking to his superhuman strength as his main method of destruction, he does sometimes use other means to bring down the long arm of his "law". What's unfortunate, is the times we actually get to see our killer, are few and far between.

The hero of our movie is the indomitable Bruce Campbell, who plays patsy to our maniac cop by means of a Hand of God moment that felt a little bit forced. We're getting a more sophisticated Bruce in this movie, more Evil Dead I, rather than the campy Army of Darkness Bruce I adore so much. Still, Bruce does well with what the writers and Larry Cohen's script gave him to work with.

Though the slow burn of this movie doesn't have a huge pay off at its climax, this movie still succeeds, here's why. The believability of this type of horror actually happening in real life is very possible. There's even a turn of events where a tormented cop trying to do the right thing, takes matters into his own hands and deliberately disobeys his superior officer. This tormented cop Is worried about more people being hurt and tells a reporter of the killer's possible police officer background, since he wears an officer's uniform. Once leaked to the public that a cop is the one responsible for the recent murders, the public goes into a panic. One woman, pulled over for speeding even shoots a rookie officer out of fear. Director William Lustig (Maniac 1988) managed to portray a strong sense of this horror, both during the night, and during the day (a rare sight to see). Turning an entire entity of safety such as the police force, into an embodiment of our fears is true horror that's apparent for both the entity itself and the public in this film. Relevance to our current day is pretty strong here, making the tone of this film even more terrifying...

Exploring a slew of cinematic styles, and breaking the slasher mold, the audience can be assured that at times, they're going to get a smorgasbord of fun. Some aspects of this film got me thinking of films like Zero Boys (1985) where an action movie wiggled its way into a slasher movie's pants, giving birth something truly memorable.

Though this isn't your typical slasher, that's not a bad thing and if you can go into this movie, expecting something new, I think you'll be pleasantly surprised.

I recommend this movie to any fan of 80's horror movies that's willing to keep an open mind. Though the plot tends to suffer later in the film, the theme remains strong and supported by a killer cast of stars. Buy this movie.