It only took two words to get me to see this movie, the first in a trilogy of under-the-radar cult action/horror films: Bruce Campbell. The irony of that, though, is that Campbell's trademark charm and cornball humor are seriously subdued in this, the first movie he would make… More
It only took two words to get me to see this movie, the first in a trilogy of under-the-radar cult action/horror films: Bruce Campbell. The irony of that, though, is that Campbell's trademark charm and cornball humor are seriously subdued in this, the first movie he would make apart from his cohorts Sam Raimi and Rob Tapert, because his character is kind of a jerk; so instead of another wacky Bruce Campbell vehicle, you have to take Maniac Cop for what it is- a slow-to-build urban slasher that plays like a cross between Halloween and The French Connection. If you have patience and a decent attention span, though, Maniac Cop does deliver- it's an intriguing and unpredictable genre offering, a horror movie with a plot (or at least the pretense of a plot) and some pretty impressive stunt sequences, in particular the driving scenes; considering the obviously low budget, director William Lustig manages to piece together a very solid film that, while it may not have Hollywood-level production values, has a kind of grindhouse-quality appeal to it- the appeal of a film that had real effort put into it instead of just bushels of money. It also introduces an enigmatic new slasher baddie, the titular "Maniac Cop" Matt Cordell (whose face we don't see 'til the very end through some nice framing and effective use of shadow), who would turn out to be quite the horror anti-hero due to a solid sympathetic backstory and the enormous screen presence of B-movie titan Robert Z'Dar, a man whose chin dwarfs that of even the mighty Campbell. And, well, it <i>does</i> still have Bruce Campbell in it, so you've got someone to root for, at least!
What's interesting about Maniac Cop is that, for an exploitation horror flick, the story doesn't fall into too many of the standard horror cliches; in fact, structurally, it's more of a cop thriller than a slasher flick. A series of bizarre, motiveless killings start turning up in New York City, and eyewitnesses can only confirm that the killer is dressed as a beat cop. Detective Frank McCrae starts investigating the seemingly random killings, but before long a suspect is arrested: Jack Forrest, a patrolman whose wife was murdered shortly after discovering that he was having an affair with a (female) vice cop named Theresa Mallory. Jack insists that he's innocent, and that someone is framing him, and before long McCrae and Mallory come face-to-face with the true culprit: Matt Cordell, a former police officer who was sent to prison on brutality charges and was subsequently murdered by the inmates he put in there. Now, somehow, Cordell is back, and he's being aided (and held in check) by his former girlfriend, whose work in the records office of the police station made finding a patsy to frame easy work; but before long, Cordell goes on the rampage, cutting down cops and innocents alike, and only the escaped Jack Forrest and Theresa Mallory stand a chance of stopping him.
The legendary Bruce Campbell plays our hero, Jack Forrest, but unfortunately the role doesn't encourage his particular brand of lunacy... in fact, it's played entirely straight, which does not work in Campbell's favor at all. See, Bruce is a great cult figure, but he's at his best when he can either be goofy or ostentatiously heroic- REAL acting is not in his repertoire (or at least it wasn't back when THIS was made, circa Evil Dead 2). Besides that, the character is kind of an asshole, cheating on his wife (with a woman that's not that much of a trade-up) and then later betraying almost no emotion for her when he finds out that she's been murdered- not even a good, cheesy "NOOOOO!!!". As a result, Campbell only really shines when he does a stunt sequence, which are thankfully plentiful in this movie (and he does get a great fight scene with Cordell at the end in which Bruce gets thrown around like a rag doll- this is the height of the Campbell-ness in the movie). Then there's the pseudo-hero, the guy we <i>kind</i> of think is the main character until he's, well, thrown out a window: Frank McCrae, played by B-movie regular Tom Atkins. Now, this kind of role <i>is</i> exactly the sort Atkins is used to playing: a bland, by-the-book cop who's good friends with people in authority but who can't get them to see what's really happening. Okay, maybe that's not <i>exactly</i> like all the other characters Atkins has played, but I could just never get past the "bland" part. Laurene Landon plays Theresa, the vice cop Campbell is cheating with, and a more manly woman you aren't likely to find anywhere else. I hate to be so harsh, but I can't believe that Bruce Campbell would settle for this woman- and not only that, but he would <i>cheat on his wife</i> (his far more <i>attractive</i> wife) to be with her. She looks... weathered. More than that, though, she and Campbell don't have anything in common other than the job, and there's no attempt to establish anything like romance between the two when they're together- they always just act like co-workers! Then again, I suppose I should be happy- I really wouldn't want to see Landon in a love scene. Richard Roundtree is in this, too, as the police commissioner who doesn't believe any of the heroes' stories until he's run through by the supernatural copper himself. Said copper, Matt Cordell, is an interesting case: played by yet <i>another</i> B-movie mainstay, Robert Z'Dar (starting to see a pattern here?), Cordell is only shown in shadows for most of the movie, and we only get a glimpse of his face in the climactic showdown. In later films he became something of a dark horse slasher icon, like a blue-clad Jason Voorhees with a knife-concealing baton and a revolver; yet in this film he seems much more human (they actually try to rationally explain how he <i>survived</i> being stabbed to death, despite the fact that he demonstrates super-undead abilities on a number of occasions), and his exact motivations are enigmatic (they would shed some light on this in the second movie). Still, he's a strong villain, literally and figuratively, and it's worth the price of admission just to watch the pitched battle between him and Bruce Campbell alone.
This film was shot in 1988, but going by both the poor film quality and the subject matter, you'd think this was a product of the seventies. The whole "nobody trusts the cops" angle is given cursory exploration, but for the most part the movie starts as a cop drama and murder mystery and ends as an exploitation flick; it never really feels like a slasher film, though, probably because Matt Cordell looks pretty much normal up until you see his face in full lighting, and even then he just looks like a guy with some scars, not a ghoulish creature from Hell or anything. Putting the villain in all shadows is a nice touch on director Lustig's part- it hides the inadequacies of the make-up while building a sense of suspense and dread at just what the villain looks like. Lustig knows how to shoot good action sequences, I'll give him that: the car chase scene and the fights with Cordell are good, solid action set pieces from the Don Siegel school of direction. And he does create some effective mood moments, such as Cordell's dream-like flashback to his conviction and ultimate murder in prison (so effective that he saw fit to use it in <i>both</i> sequels...), or Theresa's first run-in with the eponymous maniac cop in a dark back alley. The cinematography looks grainy and seventies-ish, but I think that might have been done on purpose to give the film a gritty, more realistic tone- either that, or the production was so low-rent that they were stuck with crappy film stock. Lastly, the score by Jay Chattaway is largely a run-of-the-mill action/suspense score, but the main theme for Cordell- a spooky whistled lullaby, of all things- gives it just a hint of character.
Maniac Cop isn't the best Bruce-sploitation movie I've ever seen, but it's certainly not the worst, either (Man with the Screaming Brain, anyone?); in fact, when you get right down to it, this isn't really a Bruce-sploitation movie at all- it's an exploitation movie that just happens to have Bruce Campbell <i>in</i> it, which is... rare. Regardless, this has all the makings of a great cult movie, and Matt Cordell is not a bad entry into the whole slasher film maniac category. It's a little too hung up on the police procedural stuff, neglecting to throw in very much of the bad guy himself- too much "cop" and not enough "maniac"- and because of that it drags for much of its run time; also, this might be the first time I've ever seen a slasher villain actually try to <i>frame</i> someone else for his crimes, which is more than a little bizarre. To be frank, though, I really just consider all this to be the set-up for the direct-to-video follow-up, Maniac Cop 2, which was a far superior movie in my opinion- it had better effects, better film stock, and a better story. If you want to see some <i>really</i> good B-movie schlock, check out the sequel; if you're just in it to see Tom Atkins get thrown through a third-story window, however, or to watch Bruce Campbell get his ass handed to him by a hulking mute patrolman, this is the movie for you.
