To be honest, I absolutely love trash like this! Maniac Cop is a film that clearly isn't too caught up with trying to establish itself alongside the more professional efforts of the horror genre, and instead simply revels in it's B-movie status. This gives the film free reign to do whatever it wants to do, as it doesn't have to worry about coherency or logic and this helps it massively as the final result shows. Actually, surprisingly enough; this is a rather professionally handled B-movie and many of the reasons why it works are down to things like atmosphere and characters, which are the things that the film isn't supposed to be bothered about. The plot is well worked also, and the way that the mystery pans out is exciting in all the right places. The story follows a problem in New York. Innocent citizens are turning to the police for help as usual; but one officer isn't bowing to the law, and has taken it upon himself to dish out justice his own way. This maniac cop is exterminating the local population, and it's up to framed copper Jack Forrest and his mistress Theresa Mallory to save the day!

The way that director William Lustig portrays the New York streets gives this film a lot of it's power. It's gritty, in the same way that many of the seventies cop thrillers were and this, when combined with the thick eighties trash crust, is what makes this film a winner. The scenes that see the maniac cop taking people out are fiendishly funny, but also quite shocking. The police are looked up to in most societies, and it would be a huge problem if one of them were to start dishing out the wrong kind of law themselves. Scriptwriter and B-movie god Larry Cohen seems keen to portray this too, with much of the action taking in the panic that previous events have caused. One of this film's main assets is definitely the presence of Evil Dead's Ash, Bruce Campbell. Campbell isn't quite as over the top as he was in Sam Raimi's classic trilogy - but he's playing a different character and just seeing him is a good reason to see this film. He is joined by fellow B-movie actor Tom Atkins, as well as Laurene Landon and Robert Z'Dar, who is perfectly cast in the title role. This isn't a film that will please fans of serious movies - but if you like your silly B-grade films, you'll definitely like this!

One film in this series is quite enough. Worth seeing once for the campy elements and a lot of suspense, but not necessary for sequels other than the financial goals of the movie company and cult fans. This film isn't really all that bloody outside the sight of faked corpses so what you get is an intense action Thriller with horror elements that has only two actors worth mentioning, both in small roles, Richard Roundtree and Sheree North. The monster named Cordell is an alleged dead cop in New York City seeking revenge, attacking random victims in the middle of the night while wearing a cop's uniform. One victim is handcuffed, runs away and uses his nose on an apartment building tenant buzzer to get help, and not surprisingly he only gets told to go away. A couple making out at a stoplight are delayed by the murderous cop, and a victim of a mugging makes the mistake of running to the maniac cop for help.

I love the humorous elements of the tacky storyline, especially a female vice cop and another beat cop arrested as a suspect on the run to hopefully capture the creature. Typical aggressive New York cops get very funny stereotypical presentations, and Tom Atkins in particular is very funny. Production values are decent, and the pace very fast. No moment of this film drags. North isn't quite the glamour girl of her youth, playing a handicapped desk officer with a secret. Robert Z'Dar doesn't say a word but is very creepy. Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon as the team tryong to capture Cordell lead the second half as they hit the streets, making for some exciting vintage New York footage. A fun time passer bit not much else.

Bitter, hulking, vengeful cop Matt Cordell (the enormous Robert Z'Dar in his best-ever role) embarks on a brutal and frightening killing spree in New York City, viciously slaughtering folks left and right. Rugged detective Lieutenant McCrae (the always fine and personable Tom Atkins),honest framed patrolman Jack Forrest (a marvelously engaging Bruce Campbell),and his feisty fellow flatfoot Theresa Malloy (a delightfully spunky and sassy Laurene Landon) investigate the case and discover a major league conspiracy pertaining to Cordell that goes straight to the top of city hall government.

Ably directed with tremendous rip-snorting style and gusto by William Lustig, with a very clever and witty script by the great Larry Cohen, slick cinematography by Vincent J. Rabe, several nifty murder set pieces, a nicely gritty and seedy Big Apple atmosphere, amusingly macabre dollops of pitch-black humor, a spooky, stirring score by Jay Chattaway (the eerie main whistled theme is especially haunting and effective),a constant snappy pace, and a rousing last reel car chase, "Maniac Cop" delivers a great deal of lively, exciting and straightforward rough'n'ready low-budget horror/action thriller exploitation fun. The stand-out supporting cast of wonderfully familiar and dependable B-flick faces in particular is a substantial asset: Richard Roundtree as a corrupt commissioner, William Smith as an equally crooked police chief, Sheree North as Cordell's weary, crippled, protective police lady girlfriend, boxer Jake "Raging Bull" LeMotta as a detective, John Goff as a sleazy lawyer, "Evil Dead" director Sam Raimi as a TV reporter, George "Buck" Flower as a guy on television talking about how nowadays cops have to kill people in order to get respect, and Patrick Wright as a prison guard. Better still, the characters are exceptionally well-drawn with surprising depth and substance. For example, Cordell was originally a good, but overzealous police officer who got betrayed by the very system he believed in and has thus become a lethal ball of homicidal rage who will kill anyone luckless enough to cross his deadly path. Moreover, Forrest isn't your standard true blue pure streak of white heroic protagonist as well; he's a decent, but flawed guy who's unfaithful to his wife and is forced to go into action to clear his unfairly besmirched name. It's this welcome and commendable element of refreshing complexity which in turn makes "Maniac Cop" a superior fright feature that's wholly worthy of its cult status.