With releasing Maniac Cop, a film I hadn't previously heard of or seen, Arrow Video has once again brought a new title and director to my attention. Although most of their earlier releases were of films by directors including Dario Argento, Lucio Fulci and Dario Argento and I was aware of some films made by Larry Cohen and William Lustig, I hadn't come across this, but the combination of the two, with Cohen as screenwriter and Lustig as director really whetted my appetite.

With the brilliant tagline 'You have the right to remain silent. Forever', Maniac Cop begins with a woman, Cassie Phillips, being hassled by some Puerto Ricans who try to steal her handbag, making her run and find the nearest safe haven or authority figure. When she does see a member of 'New York's finest', Cassie runs towards him but, when she sees his face, she begins screaming, something which is cut short when the cop grabs her by the throat, strangling her and shaking her so violently he breaks her neck.

After visiting the morgue and seeing the body, Detective Frank McRae is, like the mortician, puzzled by the immense strength needed to inflict such injuries and who would do such a thing – it clearly wasn't two Puerto Rican kids. As Frank, along with other cops, used to go into her home for a couple of night caps and listen to her latest jokes, he figures she wanted help and ran to a cop, hence the large handprints on her throat. That night, a couple are driving home when they stop at traffic lights and, when a cop knocks on the driver's window, the man gets out and tries to explain they weren't doing anything wrong. Suddenly, the mysterious cop pulls out a knife, slashes the man's throat and throws him against the car's windscreen, smashing it and terrifying his girlfriend who turns on the wiper blades and drives away in a panic.

Ordered to appear in front of the Commissioner, Frank explains why he suspects a cop is behind the murders, one with a history of psychological damage but, when it's pointed out he suffered a breakdown and tried to shoot himself when his partner was killed, Frank sheepishly leaves the office. Not content to leave it there, he meets a news anchor in a nearby bar and gives her a great deal of information for an exclusive report on the killer she dubs a 'maniac cop'. When another man is mysteriously handcuffed for trying to open his own car and then suffocated in the wet concrete, New Yorkers become suspicious of every police when they come across, with one woman shooting a perfectly normal cop in the head when he approaches her broken down car, the political pressure is on to try and find out the identity of the mysterious killer.

Suspicion falls on beat cop Jack Forrest who, after dressing for work and leaving his apartment, is followed by his wife Ellen when she receives an anonymous phone call insinuating Jack is cheating on her. Sure enough, Ellen follows him to a cheap motel where she finds him in bed with another cop, Theresa Mallory. The next day, Jack is pulled to one side by Captain Ripley and told his wife was found dead in the motel with her throat slit and, as he has a motive, Jack is taken into custody. Unwilling to name Theresa and have her provide an alibi, he's on very shaky ground but, as there's no material evidence or witnesses, the police don't have enough evidence to charge him.

Certain Jack isn't the killer, Frank visits him in the cells where Jack tells him about his affair with Theresa and why he doesn't want to bring her into this. Believing him, Frank begins his own investigation which brings him into contact with a disabled desk clerk, Sally Noland, and suspicious the real killer may be Matt Cordell, a no-nonsense cop who was killed in jail some years ago. When Theresa is working undercover and is confronted by the 'maniac cop', who she repeatedly shoots in the body and head, with Frank watching, she knows her life is in danger.

From there, the death toll rises and it's up to Jack, with Theresa's help, to escape from jail, prove his innocence and try and end Cordell's murder spree.

No one can ever accuse William Lustig of being the most subtle, groundbreaking or respected director who ever lived, but he certainly knows how to make action oriented horror movies and, with legendary B-movie director, writer and producer Larry Cohen providing the screenplay, there is some real talent behind the camera. On the other side of the lens, Bruce Campbell plays Jack Forrest, Richard Roundtree is Commissioner Pike and genre favourite Tom Atkins (probably best known for his role in Halloween III: Season of the Witch) as Frank McRae, there are plenty of recognisable faces around.

Not knowing anything about Maniac Cop on first viewing, not even the director, screenwriter, actors or the genre, I went into this completely blind and with no preconceptions, a state of mind which I always like when watching something for review. With some brutal murders, a post-Evil Dead Bruce Campbell, the always dependable Tom Atkins and a fine performance by Laurene Landon, replete with crimped perm, I found this to be a very well made film which kept me engaged from the first scene to the last.

The Disc

Extra Features

When you play the film, it begins with an introduction by Tom Atkins, which is best avoided if you are unfamiliar with the movie and, as he gives away a major plot spoiler, get ready to hit the skip button on your remote!

Doomed Detective: Tom Atkins on Maniac Cop (20:14, HD) is a comprehensive, illuminating and entertaining interview with the veteran actor who remembers his experiences of the shoot, meeting co-stars after the film had been released and other memorable episodes from his career. Needless to say, there are major plot spoilers here so you should only watch it after the film.

Lady of the Night: Laurene Landon Remembers Maniac Cop (13:26, HD) is, like the interview with Tom Atkins, revealing and interesting as she reminisces about the shoot, working with Tom Atkins and Bruce Campbell and how she became an actress in the first place.

Scripting a New Slasher Super-Villain Larry Cohen on Matt Cordell (18:55, HD) is perhaps the most entertaining of the three interviews as Larry Cohen is an effusive speaker and, despite being involved in scores of films during his career, remembers a great deal about Maniac Cop (and its two sequels), talking about how he became involved in writing the screenplay and producing the film. During the interview, he isn't afraid to name drop or talk about related films, helping to make this as interesting and enlightening as possible.

All three interviews are extremely well edited, using footage from the film to illustrate points or put a break between questions, as well as film posters and stills to show the film or person mentioned so you can put a face to a name or find out the date and director of a film which you may want to investigate further. As usual, top work by Calum Waddell and Naomi Holwell from High Rising Productions.

Finally, there are two theatrical trailers and two TV spots, all presented in high-definition.

As is customary for an Arrow Video release, this has a reversible sleeve with four different artwork panels, a poster with the new artwork on one side and the American poster on the other and a booklet with two articles, one by Troy Howarth and the other by Calum Waddell, both of which are well worth reading.

The Picture

As I haven't seen this on any other format, it's difficult to judge how much of an improvement this new HD encoding is over any previous DVD release but, judging this on its own merits, it's incredibly impressive.

With deep contrast levels, strong colours and little, if any, DNR, the picture is stable throughout and with good detail in every scene, from the brightly lit interiors to the lower light nighttime sections. At no point do the close-ups of people's faces appear waxy and there is generally good definition so you can make out skin blemishes and other things I imagine the actors would rather you didn't!

The location shooting in New York City gives the film a suitably grimy and realistic look, never glamorising the city and making parts look fairly seedy and dangerous. There was also some shooting in Los Angeles, but I'm not sure what scenes these were.

When it comes to the SFX make-up, the wounds, corpses and Matt Cordell's face all look pretty realistic, although they have become slightly less effective in the 24 years since it was released.

The Sound

The only audio option is a LPCM 2.0 stereo one and, as this was shot with stereo sound, this perfectly suits the film and there aren't any scenes which call for a 5.1 surround option. As this is uncompressed sound, the dialogue is crystal clear, whether in scenes in which people are just talking, when there is music playing, background chatter or during an action sequence.

Jay Chattaway, who composed the music for this and its sequel, but is probably best known for writing the music for Star Trek: The Next Generation, Star Trek: Deep Space Nine, Star Trek: Voyager and Enterprise, wrote a fine piece of music for this, really underscoring the horror and constant sense of danger. As with most good scores, it's one of those which goes unnoticed for large parts of the film, perfectly complementing the visuals to the point where the two become interlinked.

There aren't many action sequences, but those when the titular policeman attacks people, whether slowly or in a fight and during the car chase sequence near the end use the side speakers to good effect to emphasise the tempo and collisions.

There are English HoH subtitles available which do a good job of conveying the on-screen action and dialogue and, thanks to the white font with black edging, are visible against both light and dark backgrounds.

Final Thoughts

Maniac Cop will never be considered great film, but its status as a fan favourite and cult film is well deserved as, though it's really just (semi) disposable trash, it's very well made and utterly entertaining trash. Having now watched it three or four times, it certainly has longevity and stands up to repeated viewings.

Although it's perhaps a shame there isn't a commentary, the interviews with Tom Atkins, Laurene Landon and Larry Cohen (which are about an hour in total) provide so much information about the background to the film, the shoot itself and how the film was received, I'm unsure as to what could really be added by a commentary track except, of course, entertainment if Bruce Campbell was involved.

As it is, this is a thoroughly entertaining film with very good AV quality and selection of extra features which makes this well worth a blind buy or, if you have already seen the film, something you should definitely consider adding to your collection.