Story: People are terrified by a murderer dressed as a police officer who’s stalking the streets of New York killing innocent citizens. Police officer Jack Forrest (played by genre fave Bruce Campbell) is the prime suspect when his wife ends up dead, but Lieutenant Frank McCrae (Tom Atkins, folks!) isn’t convinced, especially when the murders continue. Who exactly is the “maniac cop” and can he be stopped?!

The Film Itself: “You have the right to remain silent… forever!” Back when I was a kid and I’d rent these sicko movies from the mom & pop video store, the video box for Maniac Cop sported that tag line, and I was in love! After years of not being available on DVD, Maniac Cop finally gets the Special Edition treatment courtesy of Synapse Films. They just don’t make solid horror movies like this anymore. This is probably one of my fave flicks from director William Lustig, most famous for his horror classic MANIAC and his DVD label Blue Underground. Written by Larry Cohen, Maniac Cop features all the classic elements that make a horror flick so memorable. The story unfolds as a bit of a mystery, slowly revealing the corruption within the police department that led to the wrongful framing and death of Officer Matt Cordell, played by the imposing Robert Z’Dar. It’s nice to see Bruce Campbell playing it straight in a horror flick. It’s equally nice to see Tom Atkins, who was always such a great character actor. Actors like Tom just aren’t in today’s horror flicks and that’s such a shame. Don’t forget to keep your eyes peeled for a cameo by director Sam Raimi as a news reporter. Maniac Cop, the movie itself stands out as one of my faves from the 80’s “slasher” era. Now let’s take a peek at the special features…

Special Features: Imported over from the previous Elite release is the audio commentary track with Director William Lustig, Writer/Producer Larry Cohen and Lead Actor Bruce Campbell. It’s pretty informative and straight-forward. Bruce isn’t the wise-guy he usually is but offers some tid-bits behind working with Lustig. And Lustig and Cohen often explain how certain plot points came to be, what it was like shooting the actual movie, and talked about some of the things they disagreed on. As a fan of the movie, it’s definitely worth a listen. Also included here are theatrical trailers and tv spots, as well as a few deleted scenes that were used for the Japanese television broadcast, which expands upon the set-up of Cordell. Last but not least is a new interview with Maniac Cop himself Robert Z’Dar, who looks back and shares stories on his experiences as the lead villain. Synapse Films does a solid job in presenting an almost lost 80’s gem on DVD. Recommended. –Robg.

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