No Surrender Cinema: Maniac Cop

It’s time to make some Bulletproof Action history, just in time for Halloween!  This edition of No Surrender Cinema is going to take a slight turn off of the action track, and talk today about a horror-thriller that made people uneasy around law enforcement in the 80’s.  Since I began this column a year ago, I’ve covered movies featuring both good cops and bad cops, but this is the first time I’ve talked about a Maniac Cop!

Played by B movie veteran Robert Z’Dar, the titular character in William Lustig’s tour de police force is not a corrupt cop doing shady deals, or a loose cannon cop that’s gone too far.  The man we only know as “Cordell” (thanks to the name tag he places on his shirt in the opening credits) is an imposing figure, a colossus of a cop who stalks the streets of a gray and grim late 80’s New York City.  Sounds like a good reason for criminals to keep out of trouble, right?  Not this time.  It appears Cordell would rather kill innocent victims rather than those who deserve some street justice, and it’s a point driven home in the first few minutes of the movie.  Maniac Cop kicks off with a woman trying to fend off two would be muggers, and her cries for help are answered by Cordell…or so she thinks.  As she approaches the colossus cop, he grabs her by the neck, ragdolls her and snaps her neck.  The muggers bear witness to this, but are soon apprehended by the NYPD and charged with the murder that Cordell committed.

Additional deaths follow, like a drunk driver getting slashed up by Cordell’s sword (my younger self thought the blade being disguised as a nightstick was an awesome weapon, and my current self still does), and a man being handcuffed, chased, and suffocated in wet cement.  The latter death is a bit cheesy, but maybe that’s because I’ve seen too many wet cement gags done by The Three Stooges to take it seriously.  Even the movie is in on the joke, as the next scene shows a crew with jackhammers working to chisel the body out of the cement.  It’s a blink and you’ll miss it moment, but it adds some levity to the dark plot.

With the death toll rising, paranoia grips the city.  Did a cop become a killer, or is there a killer masquerading as a cop?  Tension is high and trust is low (sadly, this sounds like a modern day headline), causing several unfortunate cases of mistaken identity.  A poor patrolman gets blown away by a broken down motorist who thought she was about to become the next victim, and Ellen Forrest, wife of police officer Jack Forrest (the legendary Bruce Campbell), thinks that her husband may be the Maniac Cop.  The Forrest household is not a happy one, with Jack obviously wanting out of the marriage.  It’s made very clear in the next scene when Ellen, prompted by an anonymous phone call, trails Jack.  Instead of finding her husband in the midst of a murder spree, she finds him in bed with another cop, Theresa Mallory.  After threatening them both with a gun, Ellen runs off, but winds up running right into the real Maniac.  The end results are exactly what you’d expect, and now Jack becomes the prime suspect in the Maniac Cop killings.

Fortunately for Jack, Theresa knows he’s not the Maniac Cop, and Detective Frank McRae is convinced of his innocence too.  A grizzled veteran whose superiors aren’t too fond of (and the feeling is mutual), McRae disobeys orders, talks to the press, and seems to enjoy making life miserable for those above his pay grade.  While city hall does its best to suppress what’s been happening, McRae is the one trying to make the public aware of what’s going on.  He and Theresa come face to face with the killer one night when Cordell tries to kill Theresa while she’s undercover as a hooker.  It’s also during this scene that we get some legitimate BULLETPROOF ACTION ™, as the Maniac Cop no-sells this like he’s Hulk Hogan and the bullets are cruiserweights.

After the incident, McRae and Theresa dig deeper and discover that the Maniac Cop is actually Matt Cordell, a decorated officer who was set up by City Hall before he put an end to the corruption.  Cordell gets put in Sing Sing, and since being a cop behind bars is a fate worse than having to watch Blackbelt II, he’s instantly targeted.  Despite his best efforts to fight off the other inmates, Cordell is stabbed, slashed, and ultimately killed in the prison shower…or so we think.  It turns out that Cordell was near death, but not completely dead.  Believing him to be a vegetable, the coroner took pity upon him and secretly released him to his girlfriend, not having any idea of the carnage he would wind up causing.  Matt Cordell, former supercop, is now the near-dead, zombie like Maniac Cop, and his killing spree is a giant FU to the system that turned its back on him.  It’s now up to our trio of heroes to take him down, while simultaneously trying to stay ahead of a police force who are convinced that Jack is the real killer.

Robert Z’Dar didn’t have to do much except look threatening as Matt Cordell, because his cherubism (a condition that caused his profound jawline) gives his facial features an intimidating touch.  Those features would cause him to be typecast in roles as villains in various movies throughout the years, with his most notable non-Maniac Cop role coming in Tango & Cash as “Face”.  Bruce Campbell is always fun to watch, and as our hero he plays his role as Jack pretty straight rather than incorporating any of his trademark over the top silliness.  Veteran actor Tom Atkins is a perfect fit as the gruff McRae, and Laurene Landon makes for a good heroine who’s also easy on the eyes. There are also a few notable cameos, like Richard Roundtree as a corrupt commissioner, and B-movie veteran Leo Rossi as the mayors assistant (interesting because Rossi would turn up in Maniac Cop 2 in a different role, playing a serial killer).

I still remember the first time I ever saw Maniac Cop, back in the late 80’s when my cousins rented it, and I loved it immediately.  The nightstick/sword as a weapon is iconic to me (the killing of the driver is the first scene of the movie that I ever saw, and it’s always stuck with me), and considering Hollywood has so much trouble with original ideas these days, it’s amazing that I haven’t seen it copied in another film.  Maniac Cop was marketed as a horror movie, with the Maniac Cop apparently the latest in a string of characters influenced by the popularity of slashers like Jason and Michael Myers, but aside from Cordell being “stuck” in his somewhat zombified state, there really wasn’t anything to warrant this being placed in the horror section of your favorite video store.  Sure, there’s plenty of bloodshed and a sinister central character, but Maniac Cop plays out more like a grindhouse action thriller than a straight up horror flick.  The popularity of the film led to two sequels being produced (and in all honesty, I think Maniac Cop 2 is even better than the first…look for that in an upcoming column!), and the original achieved cult classic status despite some mixed reviews.  People seem to either love or hate Maniac Cop, and if you’ve gotten this far into my review, it’s pretty apparent which side I’m standing on.

Maniac Cop (and its sequels) are readily available on all forms of media.  Blu Ray, DVD, and even your friendly neighborhood YouTube site will allow you to see this one for yourself.  If you’re looking for some scares this Halloween season then this might not be the movie you want, but if you want to watch an enjoyable thriller with a gritty feel to it, you need not look any further.  Maniac Cop delivers with its dark premise, and watching it might make you think twice the next time you see sirens flashing in your rear view mirror.