Wednesday 30 March 2016

Maniac Cop 1988

Starring: Bruce Campbell, Tom Atkins, Robert Z'Dar

I am a massive fan of 80s horror flicks, especially psycho slashers like this. Halloween, Friday the 13th, anything with an invincible killer is my bread and butter.
Now maniac Cop only made it to three outings unlike the rest of them. I suppose not all of the same genre can make it in a saturated market. I love them though just as much as the others and think it is at least on par with some of the other genres episodes.
So we start of with a terrorised woman fleeing from some thugs who tries to get help from a police officer. She is subsequently strangled to death with the thugs onlooking. Tom Atkins is on the case believing it to be a cop like the thugs say. After a few more killings we are introduced to Campbell's character.
It's classic acting from the king of cool as his police officer having some problems at home. When Cordell (the maniac Cop) kills Campbell's wife he's blamed for it all for being unstable.
Atkins Cop finds out its a cop who was wrongly accused and jailed for a crime. In prison he is brutally attacked and people think him dead.
Campbell's Cop has an alibi in the form of a female officer who he was cheating with over his wife. Atkins believes him and her and looks for the killer.
With Atkins discovery Cordell's ex girlfriend Sally Nolan attacks him knowing she's worthless to Cordell now. Who has subsequently broken into the police station and procedurally murderises all officers. While he's squishing Sally and murdering Atkins Cop Bruce and his gf escape. They go to the morgue to get proof and find out Cordell still had some lower brain functions, scared to put him back in jail they released him to Sally who nursed him.
Armed with this knowledge bruces gf goes to the DAs office who doesn't believe her. Cordell attacks Bruce gets arrested his gf escapes, Cordell comanderes the van Bruce is in and they all go to the cities pier where the films final (and slightly underwhelming) last fight occurs.

This almost immediately links into MC 2 which I'll do next time
I give this film a very strong 3 stars, the acting is infact above the standard slashers of the time, just the story is so run of the mill any non psycho slashers fan might get bored.


No comments:

Post a Comment