Review of Maniac Cop (1988) by Ola G — 26 Nov 2013

Innocent people are being brutally murdered on the streets of New York by a uniformed police officer. As the death toll rises and City Hall attempts a cover-up, Detective Lieutenant Frank McCrae (Tom Atkins) heads the investigation. A young cop, Officer Jack W. Forrest, Jr. (Bruce Campbell), finds himself under arrest as the main suspect, having been the victim of a set-up by the real killer and a mysterious woman phone-caller. McCrae sets out to solve the puzzle before the Maniac Cop can strike again...

"Maniac Cop" is a classic gritty 80s NYC slasher from William Lustig with a perfect framing of what it actually is, a B-movie that pretends to be nothing else than a B-movie. "Maniac Cop" offers the viewer a good blend of horror and action. It´s quite intense with a dark vibe, partly scary and there´s a social political comment in the foundation of the storyline. What if you can´t trust the cops anymore? What if cops would end up killing innocent people in personal vendettas? And you gotta give it to Robert Z´Dar, he´s one scary bad guy.