Maniac Cop (1988

[ronnierocketago]

"He'll kill again... he enjoys killing."[/i] [/size]

MANIAC COP (1988) - ***

This slasher movie is about a "dead" cop menacing New York City. If that premise, title, and genre don't interest you, then well shit I'm pretty sure there is no way in hell my review will intrigue you enough to go bother with it. Especially for you Netflix subscribers who can catch MANIAC COP on Instant streaming. I'll try my best to disprove this, but I wouldn't hold my breath. The title killer will do that for me.

I'll just say by saying that this was the brainchild of legendary B-moviemaker Larry Cohen, who's long profilic career as director/writer/producer has proven his knack for coming up with some compelling film concepts. Whether he can deliver on them (IT'S ALIVE) or not (SPECIAL EFFECTS), Cohen certainly always gets your initial attention with juicy promising ideas. My favorite of his was the controversial GOD TOLD ME TO, which pissed people off because somehow he made a compelling thriller out of mixing Catholic theology with aliens. Trust me, it's alot better than it sounds and if you aren't a psychotic albino like THE DA VINCI CODE, you'll be pleasantly surprised.

His other praised trademark is using such junk material for some social commentary. Think of him as the unheralded George A. Romero. And only the liberal Cohen could come up with something like MANIAC COP and be inspired to say something besides showing everyone new ways to commit murder. Take that whole opening when a woman is running away from some rapists, scared for her life until she sees an uniformed cop and is relieved...then she's strangled and tossed aside by him like a rag doll. The spooked creeps witness this and inform the cops...who arrest them for the crime. Homicide detective/B-picture veteran Tom Atkins considers the notion that it might be a cop, and his partners and superiors knee-jerk reject the notion. His boss (Richard Roundtress) even tries to discredit Atkins with a previously documented suicide attempt.

Cohen's comment is on how different people view the police, which roughly breaks down into three versions: (1) Some we trust them to serve and protect, responsibly enforce the laws, and lock up the criminals, (2) Some we think are just assholes who use the badge and gun to force respect out of us, (3) Some we fear harass and commit outright murder with legal immunity and protection from their brothers in blue. Let's be honest, all three sorts exist in various forms in every police department out there. All this comes into play when Atkins leaks the suspect's occupation to the press, and....well maybe he should have thought it through.

Consider a great scene when another woman's car dies in the middle of a neighborhood, and she hears this news over the radio. Then in her rearview window, she sees red and blue siren lights...a cop approaching. This being I persume a middle-class white woman with a sweet car, this is the sort who would usually expect nothing except damn I violated the speed limit again or whatever. Except now she thinks twice. Alone and scared shitless, her imagination surely running wild, she takes the handgun from her purse, and when the policeman taps on her window, she knee-jerk pulls the trigger.

Turns out it's some poor innocent schmuck doing his job, and we never see Atkins' response to this incident. This kinda makes me hate the guy for refusing to take any sort of moral or legal responsibility for this. Of course he might figure it wasn't his fault, but that of the wreckless woman. And the Manic Cop too obviously. But I love this sequence because this probably is how average (armed) folks would react. At least I would think so. Another segment is people on the street being interviewed for T.V., and we hear white lower/middle class citizens either frightened or frighteningly encouraged by all this ("Nobody misbehaves when this cop around!") Then cut to the black guy who shrugs and remarks this is nothing new. I hate to go liberal and all, but damn sad that scene is still relevant 21 years later (especially with the NYPD) considering the Amadou Diallo tragedy and even that recent disaster where a white uniform cop shot an unarmed black guy, who was revealed to be an undercover officer.

But don't worry, that's all the smart stuff for the rest of MANIAC COP is your typical B-monster/slasher movie, a decent one at that. Apparently this fella was a giant Dirty Harry-type super cop who shoot first, ask questions later, and damn the Bill of Rights if they get in the way. Then his department threw him under the bus, the courts sent him up to Sing-Sing, and well showering with all the crooks he busted....shiv happens. Now he's back killing people, or apparently anyone who get in his way of City Hall.

Like cop Bruce Campbell. Yes the Chin himself. with the. I notably like his whole set-up where his wife collects clippings of the murders and thanks with his lately frequent night shifts, she thinks he is the "Maniac Cop". So she stalks him to a motel, where she finds out he's fucking around with a lady cop. I love how her initial reaction to this isn't getting upset, but more relief that he aint the Maniac Cop. Something terribly funny about this. Of course she meets the real Maniac Cop and her remains are found in Campbell's hotel room, and now he's accused. If you want my opinion, they're just prejudicial because they saw his EVIL DEAD movies. Also his buddy Sam Raimi makes an appearance as a TV reporter decrying the violence. Now that's a good inside joke.

Cohen didn't direct MANIAC COP, but was instead helmed by William Lustig, who previously shot the infamous slasher MANIAC, you know the one with the deliciously gory Tom Savini FX that forced the late critic Gene Siskel to walk out after the guy in car's head is blown off at close range by a shotgun. A quick note to all you critics: Such potshots at filmmakers only embolden them even further, a badge of honor really. Point is Lustig is at the least competent if not remarkable or intriguing with this sort of film, which unfortunately for most slasher cinema means he's good I suppose. His other claim to fame is that his uncle is boxer Jake LaMotta (you know, RAGING BULL), and his famous relative even sports a cameo as a cop in MANIAC COP, which has something over RAGING BULL.

Also, The executive producer was James Glickenhaus, who himself directed the sleezy action exploitation THE EXTERMINATOR and THE SOLDIER, and the fun buddy cop flick SHAKEDOWN (aka BLUE JEAN COP) with Peter Weller and Sam Elliot. Behind the cameras, this is an all-star schlock production. I might also want to add that Lustig currently is the head huncho of Blue Underground, that awesomely terrific DVD company which releases cult/horror movies, like numerous European horror and Cohen titles. Also believe it or not, THE FINAL COUNTDOWN. So you know no matter what one thinks of Mr. Lustig, he should be commended for his job over at BU. Keep up the excellent work you guys.

I must admit, despite the story not being rocket science (no shit) and the filmmatics somewhat lacking, I was rather enjoying MANIAC COP and getting involved with the faux-mystery around this Maniac Cop and Campbell having to prove his innocence everyone around him just happens to get slaughtered at the wrong place at the wrong time. The kills themselves aren't memorable, but a cool one was some poor sucker smothered in wet cement, and the next morning crews are chiseling his corpse out.

But you see Mr. Maniac Cop is dead...technically. We're led early on to believe he is a zombie or something, but then it's revealed he survived the prison assassination attempt but is permanently brain damaged. You know a movie might be needlessly stupid when a character being dead is more logical than him alive. As a zombie, it would make sense why he doesn't breath and survive 10 gunshots (2 to the head) and other crazy shit we expect zombies to shake off. But for a live guy: His cut wounds don't look healed, and if this years after his misfortune, wouldn't he have developed gangrene and died off long ago or a giant stump? How can anyone simply walk away from all those bullets, or swim ashore after getting run through by a steel beam? Doesn't he ever eat or take a piss?

I know I know, what did I expect from something named MANIAC COP? But after featuring terrific political insight by Cohen, more intelligence or a story (slightly) more thought out than your usual slasher fare, I am disapointed that the wrong type of questions kept popping into my head during the third act and final confrontation, distracting me. Still it's a testament to what we do have with a good watch in MANIAC COP. We get a creepy notion that Mr. Cop sleeps with his eyes open or a clever creative moment when your archetype last screaming female is handcuffed to a cop who just got degutted, and she's having to escape while dragging that body around.