It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

It is interesting even when nothing much happens, which is for most of its 3-hour running time. Read full review

A movie that not only functions as a solid scarefest but a razor-sharp satire.

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.

UGH, this movie. Look, I wanted to like it, I really did. It's got the perfect 80's vibe going' on, it's a RIDICULOUS and awesome plot, and it's got both Bruce Campbell and Tom Atkins. You'd think this would be a no brainer. But this movie just wasn't good, and is certainly not worthy of any kind of cult status. Like, really, a bad movie from the 80's should not be automatically escalated to "cult movie" status. That is a title that should only go to movies truly deserving due to the perfect balance of entertainment, ridiculousness, and quotability… not just ANY movie that bombs.Anyways, from the opening credits — complete with SO MANY freeze frame shots of the titular "Maniac Cop" putting his uniform on — I knew I was in for SOME kind of ride. The basic plot is that there's a man in New York City dressed as a cop, but rather than protecting and serving he's slashing and killing. Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell, who is one of very few things that make this movie watchable), a cop himself, sets out to solve the mystery after his wife (Victoria Catlin) suspects that HE is the killer (shortly before being murdered herself). He pairs up with his girlfriend-on-the-side, Theresa (Laurene Landon), to figure it out and clear his own name. It's eventually discovered that the killer is Matt Cordell (played by uber villain Robert Z'Dar), an officer that was legendary among the police force but was jailed for brutality and killed by fellow inmates. He's now back to exact revenge (I think? Except he's just killing random people?). Horror classic Tom Atkins is there alongside Campbell and plays Lieutenant Frank McCrae, good guy cop who is doing his best to help. Cool, right? YOU WOULD THINK SO, WOULDN'T YOU.I don't mind it not having much substance. I don't even mind it being straight up brainless at times. I'm alllll about a mindless gore fest. But THE KILLINGS WEREN'T EVEN FUN. At best they provided a moment of "oh, neat" and at worst they were straight up laughable — and I don't mean I'm laughing because it's so over-the-top ridiculous, I'm just laughing because it's sad. The paddy wagon flying off the pier was pretty neat, I'll give it that. And I'll watch literally anything with a shirtless Bruce Campbell. But those were, sadly, the only highlights of this movie.

"Maniac Cop" definitely has one of the coolest villain designs and backstories I've ever seen. By 1988 it was tough to find something that hadn't been done before in this genre, but this one is completely unique. It surpasses the genre, because we get characters we actually care about in situations that are actually unpredictable and suspenseful. Director William Lustig also does some amazing things with dark back alleys, the movie bathes in a chilling atmosphere. However, the last fifteen minutes of this movie are so dumb that they kinda pull you right out. None of the characters' actions make any sense anymore, everything happens simply because the movie is wrapping up. The big showdown between our hero and the killer is an incredible letdown, and the 'twist' at the end is as transparant as they come. It's almost like they were getting close to a deadline or something. Thankfully, all this comes after an infinitely rewatchable first hour or so.

a genre first, rarely imitated. a cast of TV and Hollywood regulars, with some very notable firsts.... Sam Raimi in a short speaking part (first partnering with Bruce?)Richard Roundtree as the commissioner, though he probably has less than 5 minutes of screen time. William Smith in a typical Bill Smith role. hugely notable, easily missed, watch for Tim Roth in a cameo role (uncredited because he delivered no lines) as the patrol cop shop by the frightened woman whose car won't start (quick face shot of his body though).decent script for what it is, awful blending of lot shots with NYC location exteriors (port of long beach obviously in the background in the first pier 14 scene, ROFL). directed well, the cast perform as one would expect from this collection of once and future veterans, with typical 80s costuming and hair (female lead with the least cop-like coif in cinematic history, LOL). no chance of any Oscar nods, but entertaining, has the odd moment of tension, and bit actors of future Raimi productions by the boatload if you watch carefully. worth watching even if just for the history lesson. solid 6 star average class flicker to lose an hour and a half behind