MANIAC COP 2

Now do you know what the difference is between a maniac cop and a maniac politician? No? Well, it's about three-hundred-thousand dollars, plus a need to dance the flamenco with a limp. Yeah. Honestly. Just ask the Director of this film: William Lustig; and the Actors: Bruce Campbell, Robert Davi, and Robert Z'dar. But only ask them in 1991, and for about 90-minutes. I thank you.


Maniac Cop 2


THE STORY:

Alright my friend. Have I got one hell of a question for you. Who do you think would: [1] Protect the guilty and fight off the innocent. [2] Skewer big-chinned cop, Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell), as if he were a Donna-Kebab. [3] Turn Jack's buxom girl-pal, Teresa Mallory (Laurene Landon), into a pez-dispenser. And [4] Basically, run riot all over New York City, with a fist of pure ice, plus the determination of a politician on the take.

Yes, dear reader! That is correct. None other than the 'Maniac Cop' himself, Matt Cordell (Robert Z'Dar), is back from the dead. Fighting fit, and ready to cause a right ruckus to whomever crosses his path. Furthermore, this aubergine-faced Frankenstein also manages finds the time to help out a known sexual deviant with his killing spree too!  

But don't you fret though, folks! There are a couple of nice people who are trying their best to stop Frank in his tracks! Like the psychiatrist, Susan Riley (Claudia Christian) for instance -- who goes public with Franks re-emergence on national television. Plus the hard nosed Detective, Sean McKinney (Robert Davi), as well -- who seems like the type of chiseled-chin-chap-y that wouldn't allow anything to get in his way. 

BANG! BANG! BANG!

See!

Still, that's most probably why what next transpires all comes around when a dead man starts to recollect his own origins. As a sexual deviant get clobbered by some tits -- a police station gets blown to bits - a prison quickly comes under some unfriendly fire - and revenge ends with a rather pleasant dose of a heavenly choir.

THUNK! Or maybe not?

THE REVIEW:

Off the bat, please allow me to state for the record that 'Maniac Cop 2' is a much better film than it's predecessor (click here for the review). The story is conveyed in a more logical fashion. The actions scenes are really action-packed. And I have to say that the overall production value is an awful lot better by far.

Granted, it's no 'Evil Dead'. No way, Jose! Because there were one or two pit-falls this production failed to avoid. However, before I get to that, let's have some filmic facts first, shall we? (1) '20th Century Fox' released this $4,000,000 dollar movie on the 18th of July, 1990. And at the box office, it clawed back $75,788 in the UK; $120,000 in Germany; and $653,859 in Hong Kong. (2) To achieve the 'R' rating it was eventually awarded with, the MPAA coaxed the filmmakers to cut-down the 'police station massacre' scene quite a bit, although it was included in its entirety in a flashback sequence seen in 'Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence'. (3) Now did 33 people die in this film? Or did 34 people die in this film? If you include the cop who was killed within the reused opening footage, I'd say 34. (4) Big chinned actor, Bruce Campbell, doesn't like to talk about this movie at all. Mainly because he was going through a messy divorce at the time it was being made. (5) Even though throughout his career, the actor, Robert Davi, has always played 'bad-boy roles', in real life, he's actually a classically trained opera-singer. (6) This adventure was dedicated to the actor, Joe Spinell, because he would've played 'Turkell' in this movie if he didn't die beforehand -- thus directly bridging the gap between this film and Lustig's earlier film, 'Maniac'. Please note, that's 'Maniac' -- not 'Maniac Cop'. (7) There was an inadvertent explosion caused during the 'hand-cuffed' car chase scene, resulting in one of the stunt-drivers escaping from a burning car, which momentarily halted the production. (8) Did you know that prior to becoming an actor, Robert Z'Dar was just you're run of the mill Lithuanian Police Officer pounding the beat? (9) Compared to its predecessor, this sequel wasn't panned that much by the critiques. 'Variety' magazine stated that it's 'a thinking man's exploitation film, improving on the original'. Whilst movie-review-site, 'Rotten Tomatoes', gave it a 50% 'rotten rating'.

Hey! Did you take note of point 9 in my trivia splurge? Yeah! Good. So I must be right with my initial assessment then. 'Maniac Cop 2' is a much better film than its first installment.

Here, check out my reasons why in this bullet-point summation. (1) Unlike the first film, this one actually tries its best to give you something original and innovative in retrospect. For example; this is the first time I've seen a fairly competent fight scene with one of the combatants actually on fire. Also, this is the first time I've seen a very dynamic car chase too; which had one of the drivers hanging out of the car in question with a pair of hand-cuffs on. (2) Like the first film, the actors involved in this production were very mannered and bold with their respective performances. Nonetheless, this somehow helped the overall story development, focusing it more on plot than on pathos. (3) Now another thing that was similar to the first film; is that in this one, it was difficult to get a good sense of who the characters really were as individuals. However, yet again, this doesn't seem to matter that much within the scheme of things. Because whatever character was on show, it still aided the tale in an inadvertent manner. Like Robert Davi's hard-nosed persistence for instance, or Claudia Christian's very cleaver yet cute demeanor. (4) My only slight gripe with this movie is that I would have liked to have seen more of Bruce Campbell in it -- as I'm a big fan of his. Moreover, the 'Maniac Cop's' make-up did look more like 'Killer Crock' than 'a man scared by life'.

All in all, 'Maniac Cop 2' is a pretty so-so film. It's original in places. It's pedestrian in others. But it by in large it does manage to tell a story -- and overall -- is one of those good-bad ying-yang b-movie productions, only for those people who don't mind some splatter with their cinema. 

Nice.

THE RATING: B