User Reviews

I saw the two sequels before I saw this and I am glad to finally see the one that started it all.

Robert Z'Dar is the Maniac Cop in all three, and he really has a creepy presence that will strike fear into anyone coming up against him.

Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon play lovers that try to find out what was going on and catch the killer while being blamed for all the deaths themselves.

Richard Roundtree and Tom Atkins added to the excitement, but seeing Sheree North, who has been in so many TV shows and movies, was a treat.

It's mindless entertainment and just a lot of fun.

For some reason there is just something oddly entertaining about "Maniac Cop". And I do believe it is based on the fact that I used to have this movie on VHS back in the day when it was released, and I do have fond memories of it being a fairly good movie back then.

Then I got a chance to revisit Matt Cordell and the rest of the people in "Maniac Cop" in 2017. And my fond memories of the movie were slowly starting to vaporize into mist. The movie is quite campy and cheesy actually, and it really had that late 1980's and early 1990's horror movie feel to it.

The story in "Maniac Cop" is quite straight forward and very easy to keep up with. A deranged killer is stalking the innocent people on the streets of New York. And as the death toll rise, police officer Jack Forrest finds himself arrested for a murder he didn't commit. Determined to bring the real perpetrator to justice, Jack seeks out to track down the killer.

"Maniac Cop" is labeled as an action/crime/horror, so it spans over a wide array of genres with very different contents. And to some extend it does deliver on these accounts. The action, well it was there, just don't expect it to be anything grand or jaw-dropping. The crime, well that was actually the focal point of the movie. The horror, again not overwhelmingly a factor for the movie. It wasn't even scary back in 1988.

This movie actually has some interesting enough actors and actresses on the cast list. Most memorable for me was Bruce Campbell, of course, and it is still a wonderful treat to watch him in this movie. However, it should be said that Tom Atkins was also good in this movie, and he is one of those faces that you instantly recognize and remember from that era. And then there is also Robert Z'Dar who brought life to Matt Cordell, and he was nicely cast for the role.

All in all, then "Maniac Cop" is a mediocre movie, but still proves to be entertaining and watchable given how cheesy and campy it actually is. And true to the horror movies of the late 1980's, the ending was just quite predictable, and of course laid grounds for a potential sequel.

"Maniac Cop" is not an overly impressive movie if you sit down to watch it today and compare it to the movies readily available and released today, especially so if you weren't already familiar with the movie from back in the day.

This movie is almost completely incredible. The first twenty minutes or so are incredible, with tons of killings. Then, as the plot unfolds, the film turns into more of a detective story, and it loses a little of its punch. BUT, there are glimmers of B movie greatness that make this worth checking out. I viewed it as a William Lustig film, and as a Lustig film, this one lacks a little bit of his signature extremism. 6/10

'Maniac Cop' is the most enjoyable of William Lustig's movies for me. If I was being objective I'd have to admit that it's stupid trash, but I love it just the same, and never tire of watching it. The team of Lustig ('Maniac', 'Vigilante') as director and the legendary Larry Cohen ('Q', 'The Stuff') as writer really worked well here. Each sequel is slightly worse than the one before - though still entertaining enough - and their latter day attempt to start a similar franchise with the overlooked 'Uncle Sam' wasn't as successful, though that movie was a lot of fun for me. Facially challenged b-grade regular Robert Z'Dar ('Cherry 2000', 'Tango And Cash') "stars" as Matt Cordell the Maniac Cop, but the real drawing card here are cult favourites Tom Atkins ('The Fog', 'Escape From New York') and Bruce Campbell ('Evil Dead', 'Crimewave'), who are both always cool to watch. The supporting cast includes the legendary William Smith ('Run, Angel, Run', 'The Ultimate Warrior'), original Shaft Richard Roundtree, and Laurene Landon and Frank Pesce, both regulars of Lustig and/or Cohen. Lustig himself pops up in a cameo, as does his Uncle 'Raging Bull' Jake LaMotta, director pal Sam Raimi, and the ubiquitous 'Buck' Flower. I love 'Maniac Cop', an 80s trash classic that I enjoy every time I watch it. Highly recommended fun!

Maniac Cop is a great exploitation film. It has some truly inspired moments. Bruce Campbell is great and the Maniac Cop himself is a worthy creation in the horror genre. Most people will avoid this and they shouldn't, because for the budget and limitations it's a great flick. Fix a nice big bowl of popcorn and enjoy a great horror cheapie.

I saw this in the late 80s on a VHS. Revisited it recently after hearing about the remake in process. The plot - People are being murdered by a uniformed police officer. A young cop, finds himself under arrest as the suspect. Solid genre team comprising of director William Lustig (Maniac, Vigilante), screenwriter Larry Cohen (God told me to, Q) n actors Bruce Campbell n Tom Atkins. Basically it is a low budget slasher with an equally brutal n indestructible killer like Jason,  Freddy n Myers. The killer in this film is big built n strong. The kills r brutal. The wet cement kill was laughable though. The fact that the killer is indestructible is never really explained. Also there r scenes which makes no sense. The killer appears n disappears outta nowhere. The music is proper 80s. The dialogues n editing r bad. The 2nd n 3rd part were atrocious.

Although hampered by a very low budget, by the looks of things, this is still a passable thriller which is along the lines of THE TERMINATOR and THE HITCHER in that it charts the murders of an unstoppable killer. There's even a police station massacre which bears direct resemblance to the former film. Probably the best thing about this film is the talent involved, from William Lustig (big-time horror fan and director of gritty urban horror MANIAC) as director to the all-star, cult cast of familiar faces: not only do you get Bruce Campbell in the leading role, the underrated Tom Atkins appears in a supporting role while blaxploitation star Richard Roundtree also cameos!

The most disappointing thing about this film is the lack of action; the low budget means that there's only really one notable action sequence in it, and that occurs at the very end with the van chase. Other moments which could have been spectacular are only hinted at, for instance : the police station massacre sees a number of officers being strangled and hanged, but we only get to see the aftermath of this event. A spooky moment, yes, but one which could have been phenomenal with the right money to spend. The plot is adequate and quite complex to begin with, and at least the script writer figures out a psychology and motive behind the crimes. I also liked the fact that the maniac cop is a zombie (how else could he survive all those bullets?) is never explained, just left to the imagination.

The film is pretty grisly in places but the death scenes are kept brief. There are a lot of them to compensate for this, with about 95% of the cast being slaughtered through and through. Bruce Campbell looks too young to be a cop but, as per usual, he's charismatic and likable in his leading role. Tom Atkins, a familiar face in '80s films, is also fine as the older policeman investigating the crimes. One person I didn't like was Laurene Landon, who plays Campbell's mistress. As much as I hate to be rude, this actress's acting was a definite down side to the film! Richard Roundtree is good and gruff as usual but underused, while William Smith's croaky-voiced commander is another plus point for the film.

This is one of those films which keeps the face of the killer hidden for the entire running time and then ruins the shock at the end with some extremely poor makeup. The cop - played badly by Robert D'Zar - just has a few scars on his cheeks, that's all, which doesn't explain why everybody screams when they see his face. What this film does succeed in doing is painting a dark and gritty picture of life in New York - realism is at a high here. Plus the scenes of people being chased by the cop are successfully tense and suspenseful. Although not a brilliant film and slightly disappointing for most people, I did fully enjoy this movie and look forward to watching the sequels some day.

When old (and by 'old' I mean in the eighties!) horror films are discussed, you normally hear about the Friday 13th and Nightmare on Elm Street franchises. Granted, they were the most successful, yet for some reason the unsubtly-titled 'Maniac Cop' never really gets a mention. This is surprising for two reasons: the first is that it stars Evil Dead lynchpin Bruce Campbell and, secondly, it's actually quite good.

Okay, so when I say 'good' I kind of mean that it's good if you know what you're getting. And you should. In the same way as if you watched 'Snakes on a Plane' you should know what kind of film you're about to sit down to. Maniac Cop is a horror, vaguely slasher film, although rather than having an unstoppable brute mercilessly stalking a bunch of over-sexed teens, you have an unstoppable, well, maniac policeman stalking people in a major U.S. city.

But, fear not good citizens, for every nut-job with a badge who wants to hack you to pieces for running a red light, there's an honest cop waiting to solve the mystery (and a mayor who doesn't want to admit that there's a problem – kind of like that official in 'Jaws,' but we're dealing with a shark with a truncheon here). So, our decent, law-abiding boy in blue sets out to investigate the strange sightings of a cop out of control. But our hero isn't Bruce Campbell. He's also in it, but spends a large portion of the film in a cell. That's not really a spoiler as it happens almost directly after meeting him. However, he does – as in many cheesy horror films – tend to steal every scene he's in and the film wouldn't be half so much fun without him (even if his 'boomstick' never makes an appearance.

As I mentioned, Maniac Cop never received the attention other – equally B-movie – horror flicks got and perhaps that's because it's (if I'm being generous) a little uneven (and if you don't like the film you'll probably call it 'all over the place plot-wise). It's like it really wants to be taken seriously as a film, yet exhibits no real traits of anything other than a B-movie horror film. Everyone plays it straight and there's nothing particularly tongue-in-cheek here. The plot has various elements and threads which start heading in one direction, only to go off in another. Like I said, this could be a deliberate attempt to mislead the audience by the writer, or it could just be sloppy writing. We may never know.

However, what I do know is that Maniac Cop – for all its numerous faults – is actually quite good fun and well worth a watch if you're into horror (and Jason-style slasher) films in general. See it quickly before it's remade for the worse (Evil Dead, I'm looking at you).

The movie deals about numerous murders executed by a policeman and being framed Bruce Campbell . He's imprisoned , but he breaks out helped by Laurene Landon . Tom Atkins is the inspector who must solve the awful and ominous killings .

The picture blends suspense , tension , shocks and a great lots of blood and guts. From the beginning until the end the action packed and terror is continuous . The final showdown between the starring and the hideous killer is breathtaking and overwhelming.

The movie had success and expanded second and third part : ¨ Maniac cop 2 ¨and ¨ Maniac Cop 3 : Badge of silence ¨. The three films were well directed by Willian Lusting and the screenplay written by Larry Cohen. The main and support cast is similar , thus acted : Robert Z'Dar , Laurene Landon and Robert Davi in 2ª and 3ªpart . The best one turns out to be the first installment . The motion picture is fast moving and the action-pace is correctly realized and for that reason isn't boring , neither dreary, but entertaining . The pic is classified ¨R¨ for the crude and cruel murders and is only apt for mature people, nor little boys or squeamish , so abound blood and violence . The picture is professionally directed by William Lusting , he previously directed ¨Maniac¨ with more rampage and extreme gore. The dark cinematography is full of lights and shades ; furthermore , the granulated and worn-out photography creates a frightening and scary atmosphere. The fable will appeal to gore and action movies fans . Rating: Average.

This movie is absolutely bonkers - in the best sense of the word. We get Tom Atkins playing the cynical, un-trusting detective, a post Evil Dead II Bruce Campbell giving his best "leading man" performance, classic late 80's gore effects and a strange, pulsing synthesizer soundtrack.

As much as I enjoyed Maniac Cop - and I did enjoy it - I certainly wouldn't defend this movie as being a great film or as some underrated art piece. While there is some great subtext about police brutality and the public's growing mistrust of authority figures, the movie isn't mature enough to really tackle these themes. Director William Lustig lacks the finesse and skill of George A. Romero - the undisputed master of political horror - which could have elevated this film to classic territory.

In the end, the movie is what it is. A fun, vibrant, and occasionally clunky 80's slasher... and there's absolutely nothing wrong with that. It's certainly worth a watch for any horror fan. There's a lot of fun moments and creative sequences.

"Maniac Cop" is made with enough skill to be watchable, but don't look for anything even remotely original or creative here. It's formulaic stuff, just another pretty basic slice-and-dice entry. It probably had been a quite ambitious project, with an indestructible killer in the Michael Myers - Freddy Krueger tradition, but the result is thoroughly routine. (*1/2)

When I saw this movie on the market I thought 'what the hell' and bought it. I was so surprised by this movie that now i'm on the search for the sequels. The storyline is good and the action with the horror is great. Watch out for 'Tango and Cash' big jawed baddie Robert Z'Dar and surprise cameos from Sam Raimi and Boxing champ JAKE LaMOTTA. There are loads of killings, plenty of low-budget action and another SURPRISE moment involving Tom Atkins. Don't miss this before you die or go blind. 9 out of 10.

The plot is familiar one: normal dude becomes a murder suspect while the 'real killer' is still out there. He has to solve the crime and clear his name. It was an effective story device in the hands of a master like Hitchcock, but here it's just hackneyed and obvious. The real killer turns out to be one of those 80's style near-invincible slashers and a cop, a fact that other in his department are covering up. This is all made clear to the audience early on, leaving little further mystery to be solved, while most of the movie's running time gets taken up by bad 80s chase action and bad cop 80s dialogue.

This was the sort of movie sold as 'horror' back during the heyday of 'slasher' movies, but really it isn't. It has the plot of a mystery thriller, but with a little extra splatter to make up for its weaknesses as either a mystery or thriller. This is poor compensation. There is no strong atmosphere of threat here, an absolute requirement of any thriller, and little in the way of originality or cleverness in the narrative. If you can see events coming twenty minutes ahead, how effective a mystery are you seeing? Exactly. The main baddie, hulking Robert Zdar of Tango and Cash, makes a strong visual impact in the title role, but beyond him there is really very little here that we have not already seen way too many times.

Maniac Cop is a cool little movie. Made with a small budget and few known actors, I thought that it was going to be stupid and cheap looking. I was wrong. With an original script that features respective characters and a new horror villain, this film was very entertaining and well done. Unlike many horror and action movies of today, this film didn't need a huge budget to make it good. It just called for good direction and good use of low funds.What really made this film good was not just a cool hero like Bruce Campbell to root for, but the actual reality that some of the things in here could very well happen in real life, adding to the films scary mood. The main point of this flick is about a cop who was killed in prison by his fellow inmates(after being sent their for police brutality and murder)and then somehow returning to life to go back onto the streets and get revenge against not only criminals but against innocent people as well. It is then up to Bruce Campbell and company to put an end to the Maniac Cops murderous rampage and restore peace to the fearful city once again. I recommend this film and think you should rent it whenever you get the chance to. I give it two thumbs up. RATED R FOR STRONG ACTION, VIOLENCE/GORE,LANGUAGE, AND INTENSE SITUATIONS.

A police revenge thriller. Let me repeat, a police revenge thriller. Instead of saving people, we have a faceless cop figure, killing people. He's Matt Cordell, (love the name) or he's better known as the maniac cop, who's out tonight, again on the prowl. He's a cop who went too far in an incident, where unlike Freddy and Jason, who's faces were burned, his face was cut up, during his prison sentence, and we know how much prisoners love cops, especially when it's personal. Now back out, we too can feel his rage, but this unstoppable figure must be stopped someway. Matt, who's face we never see, or voice we never hear, is out to kill everyone, including known cop associates. It's a real bitch too, when this cop was spose' to be thought dead. One cop, a familiar face in a lot of other cop movies, who has trouble smiling, is the only one who still believes Cordell to be alive, especially in the aftermath of a series of murders, some of them quite gruesome. This one is the most violent in it's series. On the surface, this is just a revenge cop movie of death in numbers, but while being an inventive small flick with a quite good background story, that's really all it is that carries it. We know too the scripts in good hands from the pen of Larry Cohen, and Robert D'zar who carries the title, is a new acting force to be reckoned with. For horror revenge buffs, who should get their five bucks worth.

I have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised with 'Maniac cop'. Having seen the posters and video years and years ago and heard it mentioned numerous time, I finally got around to, ahem, 'acquiring' it for myself. First off the setting and pace of the film are spot on and fit perfectly into the horror genre so prevalent in the late 80s. This film is really a blend of cop and horror genres and scores well on both counts. There is ample gore and some genuinely chilling scenes which are well backed up by sturdy performances from genre favourites Bruce Campbell, Tom Atkins and even 'Shaft' himself - Richard Roundtree. I recognised many of the other actors from other 80s films like the sleazy mayor, crippled policewoman and others and this all helps the film along. Make no mistake about it, this film still packs a punch, despite the somewhat jokey killings and the air of invulnerability of the eponymous 'Maniac' is reminiscent of 'Manhunter' and especially 'The Hitcher'. If you love 80s trash films then this is a real treat.

7 out of 10 - very enjoyable.

This film has such incredible potential, but just throws every opportunity away to be great. The opening credits are way too slow, the film doesn't really try very hard to keep your attention, and the moments that could have been suspenseful seem to fall right into place as one might expect (especially a scene where a man is caught cheating on his wife).

The story revolves around a cop who goes around killing innocent civilians, and Bruce Campbell becomes the prime suspect in the murders.

With Bruce Campbell as a main character (though not the character with most screen time), one would expect a good time. He has consistently delivered to his fans, in "Evil Dead", "Brisco County" and "Jack of All Trades", to name a few. But in this he does not have the humor or charm he usually does, and I have to blame the director for this, because it is so completely out of the norm for Campbell that I can only suspect he was asked not to be himself.

Likewise, Sam Raimi appears briefly. By appearing, along with Campbell, this film likely got more attention from fan than it would have otherwise. And that's too bad, because this is a blotch on the record of Raimi.

Many of the killings could have been incredibly gory, but were done in such a way as to be clean and many times were not shown at all. A remake of this would be sure to really get the blood and gore in key moments.

All in all, a great idea for a film (with all the "corrupt cop" movies, why not a monster cop?) but horrible execution that seems to drag and not let the best aspects (death scenes and Campbell) shine.

Maniac Cop is definitely a cult classic horror action flick from the 80's.In New York a man dressed as a police officer is killing innocent civilians. Jack Forrest is a cop and gets framed, the real killer is Matt Cordell, a cop who was sent to prison for brutality and ended up getting killed inside. Forrest, his piece on the side Theresa and detective Frank McCrea try to solve the case, before the maniac cop kills again.

Maniac Cop is a 1988 American action-slasher film directed by William Lustig and written by Larry Cohen. It stars Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon, Richard Roundtree, William Smith, Robert Z'Dar, and Sheree North. Z'Dar plays the title character, a murderous ex-cop who returns from the dead, chased by his former co-workers. It was released on May 13, 1988, and grossed $671,382 from a budget of $1.1 million. Maniac Cop still is a cult film today.

I seriously love this action Horror film. Tom Atkins,Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon did definitely the best acting job. Specially Robert Z'Dar who plays Maniac Cop, a murderous ex-cop who returns from the dead, chased by his former co-workers did a terrific job one of his best roles I have ever saw. I love the sequels but for me this one is the best in the series.

The acting in this film is pretty decent good for a 80's slasher horror flick. Jack Forrest is played by the legend Evil Dead trilogy Bruce Campbell. Campbell is one of the few actors that can make even the worst of films watchable, and makes any good film like this that much better. After the Evil Dead movies and Army of Darkness this is Campbell's best work. Genre legend Tom Atkins is perfectly cast as McCrea, Atkins starred in some of my very favorite 80's movies including The Fog, Escape From New York, Lethal Weapon and obviously this. He was also the main star of the underrated Halloween 3 Season Of The Witch, a film that would probably be quite well liked if they had left Halloween out of the title. He also played in another horror flick that I do like very much My Bloody Valentine 3D. Richard Roundtree who is better known as Shaft is good in a small role as commissioner Pike, Laurene Landon, William Smith and Sheree North give good support. Robert Z'Dar who looks like a real life Quagmire from Family Guy, is a huge man and is very effective as the supernatural Matt Cordell.

Maniac Cop is definitely William Lustig's and Bruce Campbell's best Action Horror fun flick from the 80's. I really miss the 80's because back than they had much better action horror slasher films. 10/10

Lustig and Cohen do what they do best, a quickly written script, shot in the streets of New York, probably without the right licences and get whatever actor is available usually the B movie kind.

It's an intriguing, low budget slasher film with a big man dressed as a cop killing all sorts of innocent people in gruesome ways. We never see his face (Robert Z'Dar) until the end of the film.

Bruce Campbell is the prime suspect as the slasher cop, although it is obvious looking at him he would not be able to kill these people in brutal ways.

It is left to Tom Atkins first and later Campbell and his cop girlfriend Laurene Landon to find the real culprit.

This is an unpretentious film, some nasty deaths, some blood, some ropey acting and dialogue, but atmospheric enough.

Landon is glamorous enough but Campbell is well toned down here from his performances from the Evil Dead films, maybe some crazy wit from him would have helped.

I was lucky enough to find a MANIAC COP DVD recently in a bargain bin at the local supermarket, of all places! I hadn't seen the movie in over a decade but remembered enjoying it (and its two sequels) back in my slasher-crazed teenage days so I gladly slapped down $3.99 and took this slice of trashy B-cinema home for immediate viewing. Y'know what? MANIAC COP has held up pretty well. It may not be gory enough to appease the splatter hounds but if you enjoy B-Movies that blend action, crime drama and horror, MANIAC COP should make for a decent night's popcorn entertainment. M.C. paints a gritty, bleak and fairly realistic picture of what might happen if a New York City police officer suddenly went off his nut and started killing innocent civilians, as crazed cop Matt Cordell does here. Innocent beat cops start getting blown away on the streets by fear crazed citizens while an honest cop (Bruce Campbell, who's always fun to watch, even if he's not in lunatic "Ash" mode here)is wrongly accused of Cordell's string of murders. Aided by a grizzled NYC detective (Tom Atkins of "Halloween III" fame), Bruce escapes from jail to stop Cordell's rampage and clear his name. Due to the low budget some of the fighting and action scenes are a bit underwhelming, but overall Maniac Cop is a well written, well acted, overlooked little action/horror flick. It was followed by two sequels, neither of which I've seen in years, but if memory serves the gore and violence quotient was upped in each one and Cordell became more of a "Jason" or "Michael Myers" character dressed in a cop suit, i.e. another seemingly indestructible psycho slasher. Now I'm going to have to do some bargain bin diving and see if I can find parts 2 and 3!!

Possibly a top action flick of the 80's. Bruce Campbell plays his part to perfection as Atkins plays an unbelievable star role. I give this movie a 6/10 without a doubt. MOst of the 80's horror and action flicks are a little bit to corny to even be put out for sale. But Maniac Cop is a definite action/horror flick that should keep you watching and free of being bored. Bruce Campbell is so talented at the acting business and it really comes to life in this movie. He already was the man after Evil Dead was released but Maniac Cop really brings out his action side to his acting personality. I already purchased this movie because i like it so much, so i recommend to everyone to look past the date of the movie and give it a chance..you will like it.