Maniac Cop (1988): B

A tag-team made in B-movie heaven, director William Lustig (Maniac) and writer/director Larry Cohen (It’s Alive, Q: The Winged Serpent) joined forces in 1988 for Maniac Cop, a sturdy slasher flick that laces its splattery slayings with some anti-establishment undertones. Detective Frank McCrae (Tom Atkins) is on the hunt for a killer cop whose modus operandi involves offing anyone that crosses his path, his investigation leading him to believe that the unfaithfully married officer (Bruce Campbell) pinned for the crimes isn't the real culprit. He’s right, of course, as the gargantuan law enforcement villain is none other than resurrected “shoot first and ask questions later” supercop Matt Cordell (Robert Z’Dar), who’s risen from the grave to stick it to the crooked mayor and police commissioner (Richard Roundtree) who gave him a one-way ticket to Sing Sing to live with the very cretins he’d put behind bars. It’s the return of the vengeful repressed, and in Lustig and Cohen’s capable hands, Cordell’s rampage is an instrument for both murderous kicks – the best involving a face being smothered in wet sidewalk cement – and goofy commentary about the selfishness, greediness and corruption of our official powers-that-be. Unfortunately, the pair’s contributions to the film’s pleasures don’t turn out to be quite equal: while Cohen’s script is full of moments both funny (McCrae’s wan attempt at a smile) and sharply political (a man selfishly ignoring a pursued woman’s cries for help), Lustig’s direction is occasionally listless, though never as embarrassing as the awful make-up used for Cordell’s scarified mug.