Maniac Cop Blu-ray Review
We continue our catch up with Arrow releases with William Lustig’s cult fav Maniac Cop.
Is seems a disgruntled (and mutilated) officer of the law is out stalking the citizens and it is up to Tom Atkins to figure out what, where, when , why and more importantly… whom the culprit is. Enter into the mix, the likes of cult star Bruce Campbell as a suspect and you have the perfect mix for a trashy 80’s cult flick.
The plot to be fair has more surprises than you’d probably think. But there is also a fair bit of padding and uninspired attacks, and even a couple of uninspired locations. But there is enough action and dialogue here to keep the faithful devoted, and with a large selling point being Campbell on board then you can’t fully lose.
Maniac Cop would go on to produce two sequels and a cult following (one which included the terribly terrific subtitle Badge of Silence). The film has dated poorly though, but it’s the 80’s tropes (editing style, soundtrack etc) that will keep it a warm favourite.
With Arrow at the helm of the release of this edition we have been given a cleaner picture and crisper soundtrack. The extras though are not as plentiful as you may hope – which is sometimes the case with Arrow. Here we get an introduction from leading man Atkins as well as an interviews with him, Laurene Landon and Larry Cohen. Sadly Campbell and Robert Z’Dar are missing. But there is a booklet with more writing though and the cover art is exemplary as usual.
Steven Hurst