The Maniac Cop series: Maniac Cop 3

"Now onto the final film of the series and perhaps considered the worst in the series. Director William Lustig went so far to take his name off of the film and now the Blu-ray simply says Alan Smithee. Lustig left production because he refused to film any more scenes as the budget was stretched to it's limit he couldn't do the scenes he wanted to. So the film was finished by producer Joel Soisson. The film contains stranger elements not seen in the Maniac Cop series before from Voodoo to Cordell finding love."

The Plot;

The film opens with a Voodoo priest practicing Voodoo on a severed head, this then miraculously brings back Cordell, it then shows the same shot (previously shown in Maniac Cop 2) of Cordell smashing his hand through the coffin. We are then shown a firing range where we see the return of Detective Lieutenant Sean McKinney played by Robert Davi with police officer Katie Sullivan played by Gretchen Becker. They shoot a few targets and talk about Katie's nickname she has been given "maniac". She then leaves to go on duty. This is one of many scenes that is described by director William Lustig as "filler" because of his rough cut that only reached 51 minutes they had to add scenes to pad out the running time.

Mckinney and Sullivan have a quiet chat.

McKinney arrives at a crime scene where a body is beheaded and has a chicken crammed down his throat. McKinney then realizes out of nowhere that it is a voodoo ritual and the chicken signifies the soul to take flight from the body. 

Meanwhile police officer Katie Sullivan is trying to stop a hostage situation, two cameramen film the events taking place. Officer Katie Sullivan shoots the robber and goes to help the hostage only to be shot in the head. The cameramen then decide to air the footage edited, which looks as if officer Katie is helping the robber only to get shot. She is now then named the new "Maniac Cop". She is then rushed to the hospital and by this time she is brain dead. Detective Lieutenant Sean McKinney sees the news report and doesn't believe officer Sullivan did it, so he decides to try and clear her name. The robber played by Jackie Earle Haley is now on life support. 

Crazy aim!

Now Cordell (Robert Z'Dar) walks the streets in search of the person who resurrected him he finally meets the voodoo priest. The priest said his soul was restless and the only way he could have brought him back was if he wanted to return. Cordell then sets out to get officer Katie from the hospital and return her to the voodoo priest to resurrect her. Detective Sean Mckinney now knows Cordell is alive, he sets out to take him down once again for one last time.

Cordell goes into the hospital and breaks out Katie with the help of the robber. McKinney while in the hospital starts to see the bodies Cordell is leaving behind. This then leads to McKinney having a relationship with Doctor Susan Fowler, both of them team up to stop Cordell. 

Cordell helps a crook.

The next scene and best scene in the whole film in my opinion is when McKinney is on a gurney and it slowing rolls across the hallway towards the robber and his goon friends then suddenly bullets blast through the covers. Cordell then gets a hold of Officer Katie and brings her to the Voodoo priest. McKinney then asks doctor Susan Fowler if she can survive without the oxygen tubes, she replies she cannot. 

John Woo style.

McKinney and the doctor then track down Cordell and the Voodoo priest, the voodoo priest admits to resurrecting Cordell. Cordell then forces the priest to attempt to resurrect her by saying his one line in the film, "finish it" but with no luck due to her soul being at peace. Cordell then kills the priest and the entire church goes up into flames, McKinney and the doctor struggle to get out while Cordell grabs Officer Katie's body while in flames. They then escape and the church explodes into a fireball.

Their love burns externally!

Both now think Cordell is dead and not coming back but they are wrong, while they are in the ambulance Cordell drives up to the right side of them and starts to ram the car while he is still on fire. He then grabs hold of the car door and doesn't allow them to escape, McKinney then gets an oxygen tank from the back and throws it through the back window of the car. He shakes Cordell off the car and speeds off while Cordell gives chase literally pushing cars out of the way with his bare hands!

A chase to the death.

Both cars eventually crash at the docks and just as Cordell is about to kill both McKinney and the doctor in the car, the Oxygen tank ignites from the flames and it explodes. McKinney and the doctor get out, McKinney slowly walks up to the car. He picks up Cordell's arm and while it is still on fire lights his cigarette with it, they both walk away.

Need a light?

The final scene is Cordell lying in a bodybag on a gurney, the camera pans in and his arm moves. This is obviously hinting at another sequel. 

Just as maniac Cop 2, this film is given the best possible treatment on Blu-ray by creator William Lustig's film label Blue Underground.

Blu-ray extras;


The Blu-ray comes with a 25 minute making of documentary mostly the director, writer and producer bad mouthing it. Also it comes with a bunch of deleted and extended scenes.


4/5


Blu-ray Picture Quality;


The original negatives have been scanned at 4K and downgraded to 2K for Blu-ray. Just as Maniac Cop 2 the film looks as if it was filmed just yesterday, perfect.


5/5


Blu-ray Audio Quality;

Blue Underground has given the film a 5.1 dts hd master audio. I did notice some scenes were slightly hard to hear and muffled but other than that it sounded great.


4/5


This film is truly a mess but not as bad as you would think. Most of the stunts and action scenes are well executed but the story is just scraping the bottom of the barrel by this point they just made a film for the sake of making money. As shown in the Blu-ray extras the film is literally Bride of Maniac Cop. Without the return of Robert Davi as McKinney the film would not be as nearly enjoyable.


Recommended to fans only



"That wraps up the Maniac Cop series!"




Andrew

The Maniac Cop series: Maniac Cop 2

"Now, so maybe you were wondering why I didn't mention the name of the killer in my review of maniac cop. Well I decided not to spoil the film but since this is the sequel it has already been revealed, so I will be using the killer's name from now on."

"Alright let's get this review started. Now to start off this is considered mostly by fans of the series the best film in the series due to it having a bigger budget, more fast paced and bigger action set pieces. Also not to mention it is the favourite film of director William Lustig's trilogy."

The Plot;

The film takes place straight after the events of the end of Maniac Cop when the killer cop Matt Cordell is plunged into the New York river, they thought he was dead. They thought wrong. Matt Cordell quickly starts his rampage again across the city and is on a mission to find Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) and Theresa Mallory (Laurene Landon) who attempted to kill him. Theresa Mallory is under mental examination by officer Susan Riley.

Both Jack and Theresa still believe Cordell is alive and still after them but no one else does. In a dark night Jack Forrest buys a newspaper from the newsstand and then suddenly a knife is quickly pierced through his neck and kills him.

Insert Groovy caption here.

We are then introduced to the main character, Detective Lieutenant Sean McKinney played by the great Robert Davi. He is a cop that doesn't play by the rules but seeks justice. He is out to get Turkell the serial killer who targets strippers. Meanwhile Theresa Mallory is ready to go live on TV to talk about Cordell. Officer Susan Riley thinks she shouldn't go alone so she offers to go with her. They both get in the taxi but it only makes it a few miles down the road when the tyres puncture. The Taxi Driver pulls over to fix it when Matt Cordell comes around the corner and gives chase to the girls, Mallory jumps into the drivers seat and drives off. 

You have the right to remain silent... Forever!

The chase is frantic and relenting going down public footpaths smashing into objects until it gets into a crash. Cordell handcuffs Susan to the wheel while she is standing outside of the car. Mallory then gets thrown through a glass window by cordell, she then picks up a chainsaw and a huge fight begins. Cordell brings out his trademark sword and begins to fight with her only to leave her with a broken neck at the end. 

The Car that officer Susan Riley is handcuffed to is then pushed down a steep hill while she is hanging for her life outside of the car. This stunt has to be one of the most dangerous I have ever seen, so many close calls. The car comes to a crashing stop and the officer is given medical attention.

Meanwhile the Serial Killer Turkel played by Leo Rossi has found his next victim and is ready to kill. He breaks into the strippers flat and is ready to lunge a knife into her when the police arrive, suddenly Cordell comes in and kills both officers. He then helps Turkell get away and they go back to his apartment. 

Mine is bigger.

Strangely Officer Cordell develops a friendship with Turkell as both have the same interests in killing people. Turkell decides to leave the apartment and goes out to find his next victim, he then gets caught at a stripclub by Detective Lieutenant Sean McKinney.

Turkell is jailed and officer Susan Riley is put in charge to look after the inmates. Cordell then finds out what has happened and starts a gory police station massacre and breaks out the inmates and recruits them to break into the prison where he was sent and killed on death row.

Cordell breaks into the station and kills the three inmates that killed him on deathrow while he is set on fire. Turkell then loses his mind and stabs cordell in the back. While this is happening Sean Mckinney has tracked down the commissioner Edward Doyle (Michael Lerner) who says over a PA system that he admits it was set up and his case has been reopened. Cordell then fights with Turkell and breaks through a solid brick wall and falls 50 feet into a prison truck and explodes.

Insane finale!

The final scene is then Cordell's funeral in which he gets full honours and is recognized as a fallen hero. Mckinney and Riley attend the funeral, Mckinney throws Cordell's badge into the grave and walks away. After a few minutes the camera pans in and Cordell's hand breaks out of the coffin and takes the badge.

A fallen hero.

 
Director William Lustig who owns the film label Blue Underground has given Maniac Cop 2 the best possible treatment on Blu-ray.

Blu-ray extras;

The Blu-ray comes with a 45 minute documentary on the making of maniac cop, which covers everything you would want to know. An audio commentary with director William Lustig and Director of Drive Nicolas Winding Refin. A 30 minute Q and A session with director William Lustig and also a deleted scene in which it shows Evil Dead director Sam Raimi as a news reporter.


5/5 


Blu-ray Picture Quality;

The original negatives have been scanned at 4K and downgraded to 2K for Blu-ray. The film looks amazing, everything is perfect. There is no scracthes, debris or any digital manipulation.


5/5 


Blu-ray Audio Quality;

Blue Underground has given the film a 7.1 dts hd master audio. It sounds equally as perfect as the picture quality. 


5/5



This film marks the departure of the classic slasher elements the first had but ramps up the action and violence. In my opinion it is a much more fun film than it's predecessor and has a lot more replay value.


Highly Recommended! 



"Don't forget Maniac Cop 3 will be reviewed on Friday, Stay tuned!"




Andrew

First update, The Maniac Cop series: Maniac Cop

OK, now that everything is up and running let the reviews commence! 

I will be reviewing the whole Maniac Cop series this week, starting today.

I came across this film series a few years back when I heard Arrow video were planning to release the first Maniac Cop film on Blu-ray. I was interested in seeing it because firstly the title intrigued me. Secondly the film had some notable names attached to it, Bruce Campbell (The Evil Dead series) and the director of 1980 cult horror film Maniac, William Lustig.

I knew now I had to buy it. So I did, and what a surprise I had when I watched it, what a great concept. A cop who gets falsely imprisoned and then murdered by the inmates he had put away earlier and returns to kill anyone who comes his way. 

 

The Film;

The plot is this, a mysterious police officer is walking the streets at night and committing gruesome murders on innocent people. The news quickly gets wind of it and the police are now seen in a different light. Innocent officer Jack (Bruce Campbell) is accused of the murders and now must try to clear his name and bring to light who the real killer is with the help of his police officer friends Frank (Tom Atkins) and Theresa (Laurene Landon). 

The film has so many well known actors, Bruce Campbell, Tom Atkins and B movie star Robert Z'Dar (most may know him from Tango and Cash as "Conan").

Courtesy of Warner Bros.

Maniac Cop is a different sort of slasher, it has brains. The back story of the character and I suppose the character in general is different to other slashers of that time period. Who are you to trust if you can't even trust a police officer? His weapon of choice is a police baton which is actually a sword is a nice touch. The kills may not be as gory as Friday the 13th or The Prowler but what it lacks in gory kills it makes up in a good story and great stuntwork.

Tom Atkins plays a great burnt out cop in this one and is easily the best part of this film. Bruce Campbell while he is more suited to the larger than life hero types, he plays here as a great ordinary cop trying to desperately find out who the killer is. The one problem though I have with the casting choice which in my opinion weighs down the film is Laurene Landon, her acting ability doesn't seem to be as strong as her fellow cast mates and at times her dialog seems forced and not real.

The film is sometimes slow moving and nowhere as fastly paced as the sequels but it does make for a good viewing and some of the stunts while not as crazy as Maniac Cop 2 are still very good. William Lustig is proud of this film and rightfully so, the film definitely lives up to it's title.

I recommend this film.


The Blu-ray Disc;

Extras;

The Arrow video disc comes with an exclusive introduction with Tom Atkins and also contains an interview. Also it contains interviews with Laurene Landon and Larry Cohen. All extras are very insightful and well worth the watch.

3/5



Picture Quality;

The picture quality is impressive in this release. Compression is good and there are no signs of artifacts. There is also no signs of DNR or Sharpening. The 2K restoration has worked wonders. 

4/5



Sound Quality;

The sound quality is clear and robust, there is no times when dialog is muffled and hard to hear.

4/5

 Overall this release gets a 4/5.


 
I hope you have enjoyed my first official review on this blog and if you have any questions or tips please comment below!

Andrew