Review of Maniac Cop (1988) by Richard C — 29 Aug 2006

After a series of brutal murders in New York City are linked to a cop, the City's police force find themselves under pressure to catch the culprit as NY's twitchy residents begin blowing away anyway in a cop uniform. So when a cop's wife is found strangled to death and in possession of tape recordings incriminating her husband, Officer Jack Forrest (Campbell) finds the finger of blame pointing squarely at him.

Maniac Cop is trash and never tries to be anything else. Full of OTT action, illogical plotting, 80s electro score, cheesy dialogue and a decent body count. Campbell is undoubtedly undersued but the little time he spends on screen is fully utilised by some great lines (check out the motel scene) and his natural on-screen charisma. The supporting cast visibly struggle with the roles given to them but the tongue-in-cheek tone just adds to proceedings.

Perhaps not the most coherent or high-brow film to surface from the US (this was the 80s remember) but it's a fairly entertaining one at least and worthy of a rent.