Maniac Cop

"Maniac Cop" is made with enough skill to be watchable, but don't look for anything even remotely original or creative here. It's formulaic stuff, just another pretty basic slice-and-dice entry. It probably had been a quite ambitious project, with an indestructible killer in the Michael Myers - Freddy Krueger tradition, but the result is thoroughly routine. (*1/2)

Maniac Cop is one of the many low budget horror films I like. The movie focuses around Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) who has been accused of a crime he didn't commit. Along with Frank McCrae (Tom Atkins) and Theresa Mallory (Laurene Landon), they set out to find the real person who committed the crime and that is none other than Matt Cordell (Robert Z'Dar) aka Maniac Cop. I really did like Maniac Cop. Yes the idea may be a little bit cheezy, but the way it was portrayed was great. I recommend this film to Bruce Campbell fans and people who like low budget horror. 10/10

This movie is almost completely incredible. The first twenty minutes or so are incredible, with tons of killings. Then, as the plot unfolds, the film turns into more of a detective story, and it loses a little of its punch. BUT, there are glimmers of B movie greatness that make this worth checking out. I viewed it as a William Lustig film, and as a Lustig film, this one lacks a little bit of his signature extremism. 6/10

A good horror flick, not to much to dislike about this movie, some good performances, and an interesting killer. (shouldn't see the killer's face at the end, much more mysterious without seeing it) The story is Innocent people are being killed on the streets by a maniac dressed up as a cop who seems to have insider information to the police business. This monster of a man has to be stopped. All up a good watch, isn't the best movie but that's what makes it so good.

I saw this in the late 80s on a VHS. Revisited it recently after hearing about the remake in process. The plot - People are being murdered by a uniformed police officer. A young cop, finds himself under arrest as the suspect. Solid genre team comprising of director William Lustig (Maniac, Vigilante), screenwriter Larry Cohen (God told me to, Q) n actors Bruce Campbell n Tom Atkins. Basically it is a low budget slasher with an equally brutal n indestructible killer like Jason,  Freddy n Myers. The killer in this film is big built n strong. The kills r brutal. The wet cement kill was laughable though. The fact that the killer is indestructible is never really explained. Also there r scenes which makes no sense. The killer appears n disappears outta nowhere. The music is proper 80s. The dialogues n editing r bad. The 2nd n 3rd part were atrocious.

I saw the two sequels before I saw this and I am glad to finally see the one that started it all. Robert Z'Dar is the Maniac Cop in all three, and he really has a creepy presence that will strike fear into anyone coming up against him. Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon play lovers that try to find out what was going on and catch the killer while being blamed for all the deaths themselves. Richard Roundtree and Tom Atkins added to the excitement, but seeing Sheree North, who has been in so many TV shows and movies, was a treat. It's mindless entertainment and just a lot of fun.