MANIAC COP
Our odyssey through the seedy underbelly of urban life continues, fiends, and I know I´ve been holding out on you a bit lately. I haven´t been ranting about horror movies. Well, at least not real horror movies, like the ones you´re used to me babbling about. So, I figure it has to end… for now. I will continue to try to widen your horizons, you denizens of horrorland. With that pleasant introduction, let me tell you this: It´s not easy getting by in a big city. I live in Gothenburg, Sweden and it´s the second largest city in our country and sometimes it´s a living hell. Then try to imagine what it´s like in a city like New York. If I were to compare the two cities in size, I´d say that Gothenburg is like John Leslie and New York is John Holmes but still, it can be a pretty cruel place (when was the last time you heard a porn-film analogy? I even got the word ANALogy in there, too. I´ve just made your day, right?) Just look at one of the more recent films I recommended to you; “MS. 45”. If you were to ask the main characters in that movie, I´d bet my right nut that they would answer: “Urban life is hell!”
I´ve often thought about how people found it to be living in a big city during the 80´s. If you look at the horror films from that decade, it looks like the filmmakers hated every minute of it. Big cities are portrayed like a big melting pot of depraved lunatics and perverts. If you look at the action films, it seems that you weren´t able to go into a convenience store without getting mugged and/or shot dead on sight. It must´ve been pretty rough back then…
Well, I´ll tell you one thing: it couldn´t have been easy being a cop back then. Just ask Frank McRae (played by the insanely cool Tom Atkins) in “Maniac Cop” (1988): “The whole city´s goin´ to hell. You can´t take a pee anywhere anymore”. If there´s one thing we judge the decay of the western civilization by, it´s the fact that we cannot urinate in the open streets anymore. Just think about Frank! He´s a cop on the beat! He´s out there on those godforsaken streets all day with no chance of relieving himself! What kind of world is it that we live in? Not only that, innocent people are being brutally murdered on the streets of New York by a uniformed police officer and as the death toll rises, City Hall attempts a cover-up and Frank gets to head the investigation. This looks like a hard nut to crack but they get a chief suspect in Jack Forrest (the one and only Bruce Campbell), a young cop who has been set-up by the real killer. Now it´s up to McRae and Forrest to prove his innocence…
If you´ve read this far, you´ve realized that this film has both Tom Atkins and Bruce Campbell in the leads, which means that this film is automatically going to rock your damn socks off! But hey, it doesn´t end there! It´s directed by the awesome William Lustig (“Maniac”, “Vigilante” and “Uncle Sam”) and written by the impeccable Larry Cohen (“God Told Me To”, “Q: The Winged Serpent”, “It´s Alive” and “The Stuff”). These guys really know their exploitation movies. If you ask me, they´re like the Lieber & Stoller of exploitation-flicks (for you kids out there, Lieber & Stoller were a couple of guys with funny names who wrote a bunch of songs for Elvis that made tons of money but they haven´t gotten the respect they deserve. In other words, kinda like Lustig & Cohen). “Maniac Cop” is a fun movie, the kind of fun that they ain´t making anymore. This is basically an action movie with some horror elements to it and it´s a shame that no one is trying their hands at these kinds of movies nowadays. Back in the 80´s we got a whole slew of horror-tinted action films, like “The Hidden” and Kevin Tenney´s forgotten masterpiece “Peacemaker”, but that genre has sadly died a lonesome death. The last really fun action horror movie I can remember was when the governator of California, Anhuldt Schwarzenegger decided to take on the Devil in “End Of Days” back in ´99. Other than that, the genre has been pretty extinct, from what I can tell. That´s why, on those long and lonely nights, I seek comfort in the exploitation films of yesteryear and it doesn´t get much better than “Maniac Cop”, fiends!
The majority of the movie going public will definitely argue that this is NOT a work of art, but it definitely is excellent craftsmanship. Lustig knows his way around a camera and what comes out of this is a solid exploitation-flick where Larry Cohen´s excellent script is filled with great lines and also manages to combine a cop movie with the slasher genre. Lustig also has the great taste to populate the film with some great B-movie veterans like William Smith, Richard Roundtree, Sheree North and Robert Z´Dar. Let me just mention this fella Robert Z´Dar. I don´t know if you´re familiar with him but he has one of the strangest faces ever. He´s the guy that Sylvester Stallone and Kurt Russell have to escape from, when they´re in prison in “Tango & Cash”. You know, the guy with the insanely big jaw. He has to be seen to be believed. And then there´s Tom Atkins… Tom Atkins from “The Fog”. Tom Atkins from “Halloween III”. Tom Atkins from “Night of the Creeps”. Tom Atkins from “Lethal Weapon”; one of the coolest actors to ever walk this earth, like a mortal. I don´t know what it is about him, but he´s got this thing like he just doesn´t give a shit about anyone else. His style of acting suits movies like this perfectly. Anyone remember “Halloween III”? I remember thinking that he seemed to be drunk the whole movie. You gotta love a guy like that. Just watch the scene in “Maniac Cop” where he utters the unforgettable line “He´ll kill again… He enjoys killing!” Now that´s what I call showmanship, Lieutenant!
This film is actually sort of a rare bird. Since it was written by Larry Cohen it manages to both pretty dark and scary at times but also pretty silly and camp. Cohen manages to work some themes of a corruption in there, without the script getting too heavy handed. The film doesn´t takes itself too serious but it doesn´t skimp out on the scares, either. God, I wish Lustig and Cohen would make more movies together. It´s been eleven long years since their last effort, the enjoyable “Uncle Sam”. After hearing what I´ve told you about this movie, you´re not surprised that the movie was a success, right? That´s why Lustig & Cohen made two sequels, “Maniac Cop 2” and “Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence”. I will admit that they´re not as good as the first one, but they are a lot of fun! It´s been a long time since I´ve seen them (in fact, I just ordered the German DVD´s, which are supposed to be uncut) but I especially remember part 3 being very over-the-top, which is always fun. So here I am, sitting alone in front of the computer trying to convince you to watch a twenty year old movie that no one cares about, except your fellow horrorhounds, and what do I stumble upon? Here´s what fangoria.com wrote a couple of weeks ago:
“At this past weekend’s Anthology Film Archives screening of the first two films in the MANIAC COP series, director William Lustig broke the news that the franchise, on which he teamed for three movies with screenwriter Larry Cohen, will soon see a rebirth. “Larry and I have gotten the sequel rights back for MANIAC COP, and we’re preparing to do a MANIAC COP 4,” Lustig tells Fango. “I don’t have any more details other than that; this all happened within the last month, so it’s so fresh… When I get back to Los Angeles, Larry and I are going to sit down and work on something.” No doubt Lustig will be seeking more creative control than he had with the last installment, 1993’s MANIAC COP 3, which ran afoul of producer interference.”
Jumpin Jesus Christ! This can´t be happening, can it? Lustig & Cohen, together again! Forget Lewis & Clark, Batman & Robin, Rosencrantz & Guildenstern, this is the original dynamic duo! This could be the straight-to-video-flick of the century, fiends! Sometimes, not always, not even often, but sometimes life is sweet. This is one of these times… Keep your eyes open and ears peeled for more news. In the meantime, go back to the source and you´ll understand why I´m so excited. Wouldn´t it be embarrasing if part 4 is released and everyone´s going crazy for it and you haven´t even seen the first one? Avoid the long face and seek it out. You know you got the time to kill…
Until next time: Stay ghoul & take scare!
Thomas