I've always wondered why the great Larry Cohen (The Stuff, It's Alive, Bone) chose not to direct Maniac Cop. His script fits perfectly into Cohen's gritty, grungy oeuvre. Nevertheless, director duties went to William Lustig (Maniac).
The film stars Tom Atkins ( Halloween 2), Bruce Campbell (Evil Dead), Robert Z'Dar (Tango and Cash) and Laurene Landon (Samurai Cop 2).
Z'Dar, the biggest chin in Hollywood, plays the eponymous maniac cop, back from the dead to take his odd revenge. Tom Atkins, playing largely Tom Atkins is the detective on the case. The maniac cuts a swath of seemingly random murders, and only Atkins thinks the killer could be a real cop.
Enter Bruce Campbell (the second biggest chin in Hollywood) playing Michael Moriarty in any other Cohen penned movie, as a hapless beat cop who is suspected of being the killer after his semi-estranged wife is murdered.
Landon plays the vice cop that Campbell is sleeping with behind his wife's back. She too joins the hunt for the hulking killer.
Maniac Cop is a bunch of stupid fun, if lacking in Cohen's normal social commentary. It's much less sleazy and gory than Lustig's Maniac, as well. It has some fun kills, solid B movie acting, and touch of wry himor.
It's a solid Sunday morning watch.
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