 Thanks for checking out this movie review video. This is for the 1988 film maniac cop and when I'm doing this review It's available on the shutter streaming service also with maniac cop 2 and maniac cop 3 Which I do plan to watch and do reviews for as well. So look out for those now This is my first time actually seeing maniac cop. I've known of it I've heard good things about it and it will also be my first time watching the sequels So just know that so here are my feelings on it that I'm about to get into Obviously, it's spoilers since this is an older film now. This was directed by William Lustig There's a good name that you like to hear because he directed maniac. Yes with Joe Spinell in it man Great film. I love maniac. So I guess he's following up the maniac thing with it's not just maniac It's a maniac cop this time and it is he also directed maniac cop 2 and maniac cop 3 badge of silence Which I'm excited to dig into and that's one of the things is Lustig is a good director and you see that come through Definitely in this film. There's some really nice direction in it. There's some really cool cinematography as well And I'll talk about at least one in particular shot in the film that I was very pleased with it was very visually awesome And loved it. I'm sure people who have seen it might be thinking of the exact same scene right now So this was scripted by Larry Cohen, which he's you know done some crap, but he's done some really good stuff as well and For people who are deep into the horror scene like you know the name Larry Cohen because he's done some amazing stuff that you should remember For me personal favorites cue the winged serpent. I really love that movie And also the stuff both films that I saw before Joe Bob did them Yes, I have seen films before Joe Bob's done them if plenty of people have but for some reason there ends up being this this Notion that if you talk about a film that Joe Bob's covered. It's because Joe Bob covered it Sometimes that is the case for me. Definitely, but sometimes it's not But I would say definitely check out cue the winged serpent and the stuff if you haven't seen it He's also done stuff like it's alive, which I actually haven't seen yet God told me to also. I haven't seen full moon high Maniac cop to and maniac cop three badge of silence So I'm a very excited with the fact that Lustig and Cohen are both involved in this two sequels that is amazing That doesn't happen very often either that the people who scripted and directed the first one end up doing the sequels It usually changes hands after that. Sorry for my cat yelling in the background Chloe She wants attention Don't we all so there's great talent in this obviously like Bruce Campbell who's obviously in you know Evil dead and Ash versus evil dead are be a darkness all that stuff But my fate potentially my favorite other than the evil dead's Bubba hotep great and Bubba hotep if you haven't seen it definitely check that out And then Tom Atkins man love Tom Atkins You might know him from such things as Halloween 3 season of the witch Which I think he's most well known for but also the fog which he is wonderful in and night of the creeps and Escape from New York and creeps show. I mean the titles that this guy is in He's a great actor and I think to be honest. He's my favorite part of maniac cop. I think his acting is awesome It's always great to see him on screen So I was very pleased with them being in here And then as the the maniac cop himself Robert Zadar Which I just know Robert Zadar from the film Samurai cop which he I think wrote and directed and starred in I own Samurai cop and Let me tell you if you haven't seen it if you love so terrible. It's awesome films Samurai cop is one of the best so terrible. It's awesome and Robert Zadar is in it So if you liked him in this and it's pretty different, but he speaks he actually speaks in Samurai cop So check it out for sure this film lost almost half a million dollars. It had a one point one million dollar budget So it didn't really do that. Well, I don't know why like it's it's actually decent And one of the things I like about it most is that it's not just it's not a horror movie I actually think it's more action than anything but it's partially like a police procedural in a way too with you know, Atkins as McCrae going around trying to solve this mystery and Back when this came out, I'm sure people when they were watching it had no clue who the actual killer was So if you kind of put yourself in that mindset, it's structured very well to kind of keep you guessing for quite some time Until they actually, you know reveal what's really going on at the I think it's at the junkyard Or was it a junkyard? That's a port. I think maybe Yeah, so in 2018 it was actually said that there was gonna be a remake in the works and that the remake would end up having a Totally different tone that could mean pretty much anything, but you know, maybe it's a comedic tone Maybe it's you know something else. I don't know and then last year 2019 apparently HBO reported that they were picking up a maniac cop TV show Interesting Produced by Nicholas Winding Refn now I have mixed feelings on that because I really do like some stuff that Refn does But I really don't like some stuff that Refn does and he's one of those People that when they direct they jerk themselves off on screen basically You know what I'm saying like he's he's one of these directors who just thinks the world of himself And everything he does is the best and and and you should think so too and for that reason I don't really like that guy That said I do like I said I do like some of his stuff But if he's producing maybe he's not directing I don't know we'll see but that sounds interesting I would love to see an HBO maniac cop series that could be cool so it's a cool way to do the Opening credits with this one if you're going to show opening credits do something with it And with this one they do you know maniac cop is putting all his stuff on He's basically getting ready to go out and victimize people so It's it's it's something to look at and it's interesting The beginning shows the dangers of the streets But it also kind of shows that people are kind of alone on the streets because when they have that Bystander who does come you know forward later and says, you know I saw this but he sees the woman being mugged and he's just like Not gonna get involved so it kind of sets this tone of the streets are rough and Even if you're in a in trouble, there's no one to turn to Literally no one to turn to at least for this lady in the very beginning because she believes She's turning to the police and in a way she is because he cordel was a police officer, but She gets killed by the police and it's a crazy situation because even at that point the muggers are like Shocked and kind of like oh my gosh, what's going on here? And that's kind of a really cool moment is like showing their reaction Because then you also realize that like at that point she would have been better to just give up her purse Like give in to the muggers and be like here's my purse by Because she lost her life when she thought she was going into the arms of the law What a twist for the Vic I said it was what a twist for that basically of the the woman being killed Not by the muggers, but by the police police officer I like the aspect of the physical acting for the Zadar's character the actual maniac cop It makes it more interesting and it makes the killer seem kind of more sinister Between him not really talking and also his like crazy over-the-top strength that he has It definitely creates a more sinister feel to it now. Obviously he I wouldn't say talks at the end But he makes a noise with his voice at the end. So I guess he could talk maybe I don't know We'll say I guess we'll see in the second one. Maybe if it's even the same maniac cop. I don't know I'll find out. I haven't looked ahead The concrete kill in this where he just kind of like smashes the dude's face in the concrete And I guess he suffocates or he likes fractures of skull. I don't know that's a dumb kill It's very lackluster But the aftermath of it when they show the next day and they're you know They're jack hammering it trying to get the guy out. That's kind of a funny moment because it's like oh his face like Hardened into the concrete like it's a funny visual and it's a funny idea behind it But the actual kill when it was happening. I was like, this is dumb. Can I get a better kill here? The way they did the scene with the woman killing the cop Was really good because it really kept you guessing and that's kind of a smaller Look at what the script itself is doing on a larger scale of just kind of like keeping you guessing for quite some time Because when the woman's like, you know, she just hears on on the radio that oh my gosh, you know There's this killer potential killer cop out there and then a cops coming up to her car She's like she's flipping out and so that she then shoots him Like it was a really well done scene because you as a viewer are just like her at that moment Like you don't even fully know if that's gonna be the maniac cop or not And then it ends up not being and then you feel terrible. You're just like oh my gosh. This is awful situation And that you know obviously ruins that woman's life But this kind of speaks to something I'll kind of touch on later It kind of speaks to the pandemonium that can ensue whenever there's a story kind of like that in the media and how humans in general are just prone to being panicky and just Going over the top and just becoming super paranoid when there's something like that I mean obviously that woman no matter what police officer walked up to her or how they did She was gonna be suspicious and it may have been the same outcome because that story got into her mind the way it was potentially sensationalized and she just She was gonna look at every single police officer as the potential killer when odds would have it They wouldn't be the killer But just saying paranoia is a strong thing In fear they shot this to keep you guessing about who the maniac cop might be But if you know the who the actor is there's actually no mystery. That's one of the things I kind of hate about how Shutter promotes this film because on the website like when you go to actually click on the play button The backdrop is a picture of Robert Cedar's face as the maniac cop So it's totally giving it away there for anyone who hasn't seen it yet But you know, it's my fault because it's from 1988. So just say The killer just keeps popping up all over randomly It's crazy, but it's good because it kind of sets this tone of you never know when you never know Why you never know how like it creates so many questions and it kind of keeps So I wouldn't say it really keeps you on edge because it's not that scary or anything but it kind of puts you in this place where you're like he could pop up anywhere and he could kill anyone and Yeah, I like that. I Like how the lawyer actually Immediately thinks that Jack actually killed his wife. He doesn't even give him the benefit of the doubt He has some no questions. He's just like, okay, here's how we play this because obviously you're guilty That was just kind of funny to me But that's you know, that's kind of feeding into the lawyer stereotype about how terrible lawyers it are And I feel like this film and I'll talk about it more a little bit later This film is kind of pointing out About assumptions that people make, you know, whether it's it's some assumptions out of fear whether it's assumptions out of Guilty by association What profession someone is and what that says to them? That's one of the big things that's shown about the police But also with this lawyer because what does everyone assume about lawyers that if you're a lawyer You're a scumbag. You're a terrible person and that's not true One of the big things that this brings up is everyone well and makes me think about everyone is an individual and Profession doesn't necessarily mean anything about that person You don't know what their motivation is You don't know why they did what they do and you don't know their behavior either unless you've been able to Experience that look for people's actions. Don't assume why they're doing things Just saying I'll talk about that a little more later This does make me think that stories about people encountering issues usually don't come up until something Gains attention within the news. It's like it's kind of like when people feel about people end up feeling validated That that wasn't just like a one-time thing or that what they experienced actually wasn't them Just making something up that it was a legitimate thing and then they feel more comfortable about coming forward with those things Now I started thinking about that because of the scene where Atkins and the other police officer are in the bar And they're showing on the news all these people talking about. Oh, yeah You know because I know a cop who did this and the cops are bad because of this and stuff It just got me thinking because you know those people probably weren't talking about that and tell the story came out in the Media and then it's this combination of feeling validated. Oh of oh, yeah I experienced something like that too, but also, you know, I thought maybe this was a one-off But I guess maybe it's not and that's just something that ends up happening when things, you know become big stories Is the I started thinking very early in this film Is this some sort of like zombie situation with the maniac cop? But it actually be ended up being so much better than that I actually love the twist of him basically being brain dead But not actually being dead and then being able to survive and then he's Kind of zombie-like because he's not totally in control of all his faculties It was cool. It was The there's this tendency a lot of times to just go to zombie because it's a branded thing that people already know So to kind of go your own way in creating something like Larry Cohen did here I think it speaks to the level of creativity. He has and it worked. I think it's cool I think it's better than if he would have been some sort of like zombie Even though he is a little zombie-ish The detective work of McCray is what sets this film apart for me pretty much and and also With a lot of these types of films where it's like killer on the loose type thing. It's more just like straight up It's like killers on the loose people are gonna get killed Let's see who gets killed how they get killed with this it you do have that aspect to it But you have that really nice portion of McCray actually doing the detective work getting in there investigating So it's a little bit like I was saying, you know, it's action. It's police procedural and it's kind of horror But it's less horror than those other things and that's cool. Like I like these hybrid genre films It's very nice. So good job Larry Cohen. RIP. I Like how the jail scene was actually shot the one with that's in his memory like Cordell reliving this Where it was showing him initially when he was being taken into the jail like the way they shot that in slow motion And then they had all the looks from all the inmates like you could feel how dangerous that situation was So it was very effectively done and I really like it and then obviously that leads up to the you know shower scene Where he gets shanked and you know learn about his demise But then that made me start thinking like is this what Cordell in that state that almost zombie-ish state Is that what he keeps going through is he's just reliving these terrible memories? Like over and over and over again because if that's the case It would kind of speak a little bit to the character that he is of just being Angry and just willing to kill because he's just living reliving all the pain and anguish and awfulness of his life I like how Jack tells Teresa to just hotwire a car at one point when he's telling her like get out of the Precinct and this kind of points to something that was happening a lot in 80s and 90s shows and movies Which is for some reason it seemed that everyone just knew how to hotwire a car It was just common knowledge and here it is showing itself once again, and I always have to laugh when that comes up I mean I do because it's so absurd that like Everyone just knew how to hotwire a car in the 80s and 90s like come on. That's ridiculous It sucks terribly that McCray gets killed in this I was really bummed by that cuz I was like no more time at kids No, he like I said, he was my favorite part of the movie He was great and I do think that when he died it wasn't as good. That's just my personal opinion Because Jack ends up being the big hero you actually end up forgiving him for getting about and forgiving him for Being an unbelievable adulterer But I think this points to something that rolls into everything else in this film, which is you Don't know a person and there's a lot of gray area and just because someone does something bad Doesn't mean that they can't then do something good and in this instance He's a complex character like everyone at every actual human is no one's purely bad or purely good. It's always that gray area It's always a mix so they're showing that on full display here like when you first meet him Jack is awful because he's an adulterer. He's cheating on his wife. He's been cheating on his wife. That's terrible with a co-worker and then you get to That you know all the events after that when he's wrongfully accused of being a murderer And then he becomes this huge hero and he saves the day in the end and then you feel very differently about him So it's a cool look at how someone can be bad and good at the same time because that's real life And I think we as a society need to be a lot better about Recognizing those things just because one person does something bad one thing bad doesn't mean they're a Terrible person forever and that you should never speak to them again or just cut them out of your life If if they show the ability to change and they do then good But if they habitually do the same thing over and over and over and they're doing terrible stuff, then that's different So just saying That shot okay This is a shot I was talking about that I was totally in love with that would look so good In the hallway and then there's the doors the two doors at the end with the two windows And the two guys go through it and then all of a sudden the one window You see the hand come up maniac cops hand come up with the knife and then he starts killing and they get killed in the other window That shot was awesome. It looks so good And I can't imagine how tough that was to pull it off because you needed to line them up like perfectly and get Ever get the action to happen exactly where it needed to that was a great shot. I love that I Like the wasting time dialogue from the guy who was escorting Teresa at that one point where he was like Oh, yeah Some attitude on you like you could tell that he was just like wasting time with the dialogue in Order to get to him dying like it was just a time wastern I I think it's funny because it plays that way. So I just laughed at it You basically have to have a car chase on this because it's a cop film Well, I mean it's heavily a cop film So like you got to have a car chase and they have a car chase and it's a decent car chase. It's not the greatest It's okay And then I like how the maniac cop finally makes an audible noise at the end where it's like here He is barreling to his death When although, you know, it's not actually his death as we find out it at the end But he even thinks it might be so it's kind of cool that the whole time he's silent and then at the end You know, he's barreling towards towards his death and he sees the end coming and that's when he can actually you know yell The ending says yes, there will be more I'm assuming that they that they were like We'll do more of these if it makes enough money, which I mean if it lost almost half a million I don't know how they then were able to do more. I guess I'll find out when I do my research for the other ones potentially Yeah, so some final thoughts on this this film addresses the issue of assumptions people make based on a person's profession Just because someone chose a certain job doesn't mean they're a good person or a bad person Every human is an individual and you shouldn't assume their intentions or their motivations You must look for evidence of both of those things We as a society have a problem with making assumptions. That is the biggest issue With a person is the assumptions. They make do not make assumptions Look for the evidence dig into it. Talk to people figure things out It critical thinking it's a very important thing. I'm gonna bring that up again in a minute here It also brings up human hysteria that ensues whenever they hear an unsettling news report because that happens too People are very panicky and suspicious of others. I'm not sure they always have been but The way society is gone. It is that way now So just like in this film that woman heard that there was a killer out there who was potentially a cop So to her every single cop She looked at was suspicious and she so much so that she's like I'm gonna kill them before they kill me even though the Probability of the cops whatever cops you would run into next would be the maniac cop Even if it was a cop because they didn't even know at that point for sure That probability was so low, but she panicked fear. It's fear and paranoia. Like I said very very strong Personal stress also shows up a lot in this and also stress in relationships due to what profession a person has That's a lot of kind of what's going on in the beginning with Jack and his wife, you know are kind of talking about the stressors in their relationship because of his profession But then you also kind of figure out that he's putting in extra time with an affair So a little bit different I guess and my last thought on this is this film Just reminds me that you have to apply reasoning and critical thinking to every Situation and too many people think in terms of all or nothing or black or white But life is basically all gray area That we need to know. I think society needs reminded of that that mostly things are gray area Just saying So take that do with it what you will hopefully something But overall I enjoyed this film. It wasn't an amazing film now. Was it fun? Yeah, so out of five stars with half stars in play. I'm gonna give it a very solid three star rating I'm down with it. I'm excited to get to maniac cop two and three because I'm interested to see where they take it Especially knowing that lustig and Cohen were still involved with those films that makes me even more excited So yeah, thanks for checking this out. I really appreciate it put some comments down there We can talk about maniac cop or whatever other horror stuff. You really want to do me a quick favor though Hit that subscribe button because that is your way to show appreciation for what I'm doing since you know You're not paying for me doing these and you know, I'm not making any money So if you could just do me a favor hook me up hit that subscribe that'd be awesome Also, if you are gonna hit the subscriber you already have hit the notification bell that way You know whenever I'm putting up new videos or doing live streams, but regardless Thanks for checking this one out and until next time keep it brutal