Maniac Cop works on many different levels. It can be viewed from various standpoints as a horror film, an action movie, or an inner city crime thriller. However you take it though, it surely doesn't disappoint. It's a gritty stew of high octane excitement and suspense.
When a crazed New York City police officer starts brutally murdering innocent people, the citizens start to fear and hate the cops. The department and the mayor seek to gain control of the situation but, with each new death, the city becomes more and more hostile. When an innocent cop is shot and killed out of fright by a scared citizen, the police force resorts to drastic measures. They arrest officer Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) as a patsy to pin the blame on. But certain other people, including detective Frank McCrae (Tom Atkins) and Officer Theresa Mallory (Laurene Landon) suspect otherwise and investigate on their own. Officer Mallory is sure Jack is not the killer because she was having an affair with him at the time some of the murders were committed. After finding some clues, they fear they know the identity of the real killer; and now only have a short time to prove Officer Forrest is innocent. However, when Maniac Cop finds out that he's been discovered, all three become his main targets.
Directed by William Lustig, Maniac Cop is not as brutal as his earlier horror venture, Maniac. However, like I mentioned before, the film lends itself very well to genres other that horror. It is, in some ways, well representative of its producer and writer Larry Cohen's work. The film has a slight similarity in story and substance to Cohen's movie God Told Me To. Overall, Maniac Cop is quite entertaining and worthy of much praise and attention. Ignoring this flick would be a crime!
When a crazed New York City police officer starts brutally murdering innocent people, the citizens start to fear and hate the cops. The department and the mayor seek to gain control of the situation but, with each new death, the city becomes more and more hostile. When an innocent cop is shot and killed out of fright by a scared citizen, the police force resorts to drastic measures. They arrest officer Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) as a patsy to pin the blame on. But certain other people, including detective Frank McCrae (Tom Atkins) and Officer Theresa Mallory (Laurene Landon) suspect otherwise and investigate on their own. Officer Mallory is sure Jack is not the killer because she was having an affair with him at the time some of the murders were committed. After finding some clues, they fear they know the identity of the real killer; and now only have a short time to prove Officer Forrest is innocent. However, when Maniac Cop finds out that he's been discovered, all three become his main targets.
Directed by William Lustig, Maniac Cop is not as brutal as his earlier horror venture, Maniac. However, like I mentioned before, the film lends itself very well to genres other that horror. It is, in some ways, well representative of its producer and writer Larry Cohen's work. The film has a slight similarity in story and substance to Cohen's movie God Told Me To. Overall, Maniac Cop is quite entertaining and worthy of much praise and attention. Ignoring this flick would be a crime!