Maniac Cop 2 (1990) Reviews

• Maniac Cop is back on the beat!

  lost-in-limbo2006-06-10

  The film starts off with a recap of what happened at the end of the original Maniac Cop and this leads to the police force believing that Matt Cordell drowned and his body got washed away. Well, they are wrong as he is back on the streets of New York doing what he does best, by seeking revenge on his fellow officers, unexpected citizens and on those crooked authorities who framed him. But his not alone on this crusade, as he's joined by a jolly serial killer. So, it's up to detective Sean McKinney and police psychologist Susan Riley to put a stop to this macabre madness. "Maniac Cop 2" is a pearler of a trashy sequel that's just as dark and entertaining like its predecessor… maybe more so. Although, I probably like the original a tad more. But what makes this one a little more exciting is that it goes for more expansive and quite highly energetic action set-pieces. They seem to up the ante and nihilistic violence within each scene that follows in such a rapid pace. We can thank this winning formula to the pairing up again of director William Lustig and writer / producer Larry Cohen who did a really fine job on "Maniac Cop". The story by Cohen treads the same path as the original, but gladly along the way it adds in some refreshing developments to make it stick out from a usual carbon-copy sequel. He puts forward a lot of the focus on the mysterious back-story and the motive behind all of this chaos that leads Cordell doing bad deeds and taking the criminals' side. Also evident in the script is plenty of black humour and sardonic wit that mixes well with the grungy and dry dialogues. Just like the first there is also a social commentary lurking about on how corrupt and weak the decaying justice system is and the foolishness of these higher superiors, but all of that is overshadowed by its exuberant and quite meaty stunts. And of course it seems to play the terror of this novel idea more for fun and it works out for that reason alone. Obviously that's the reason for Cordell getting himself a partner. Quite an eccentric and clingy, non-stop chatterer was this serial killer who was played superbly by Leo Rossi. Compared with the silent, brute sized zombie figure of Matt Cordell that emitted such an eerie tone played by the dominating presence of Robert Z'Dar. They were definitely the odd couple! Robert Davi paints an convincing performance as the hard-ass detective Sean McKinney who's on the trail of Cordell and Claudia Christian is equally good as police psychologist Susan Riley. Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon feature again from the first flick to come up with rather small roles on this outing. Michael Lerner is excellent as the slimy Commissioner Edward Doyle and there's some quick scenes with Charles Napier, Sam Raimi and Danny Trejo. Director Lustig manages to grab you with some well set-up explosive thrills (like the terminator style slaughter of a police station) and he makes the most out of the very grimy and atmospheric backdrop of New York. The seedy night scenes really creep up on you with what's lurking in the shadows and the lighting composition is handled very well. When the film what's to be creepy the score ranges from a chillingly, whisper with the odd chant and whistling tune, but when it kicks into gear so does the score with an thumping and quite jarring arrangement. It's not a particularly gory film, but there's a big body count and the deaths are extremely violent. The makeup effects are quite superior with Cordell's face looking horrendously, hideous and that's a good thing as he looks dead. In all it mostly delivers on the very important staples that's makes this trash enjoyable. This is one amusing sequel that's nearly as good as the original and benefits from keeping the same tone if only going one step bigger in the energy levels.

• Great sequel

  Rautus2007-04-19

  The first Maniac Cop was a great horror/ thriller about a super cop that was wrongfully in prisoned and was killed by the men he put away but then came to life again as a crazy Maniac Cop killing for revenge. The sequel begins where the first finished with Matt being impaled in the van and falling in the water. It's now Chirstmas time and Matt's still alive. Jack Forrest has cleared his name and is on the force again with his girlfriend Teresa Mallory who helped him in the first, but they still need to see a police shrink has they still believe that Matt Cordell is still alive. After having a small argument about whether Matt is still roaming the streets Teresa walks off leaving Jack with the shrink. That night Jack goes off to buy a newspaper when Matt Cordell shows up and kills him. Det. Sean McKinney Shows Teresa Jack's body and knows who killed him, she has an encounter with Maniac Cop with a car chase, she then confronts him with a Chainsaw but he overpowers her and kills her. Matt then teams up with another killer and them the two start a plan to enter the prison and recruit an army of criminals to take over the streets but McKinney knows how to stop Matt and that is to prove his innocence for being arrested all those years ago. Proving that the Maniac Cop is innocent he goes and kills the inmates that killed him then throws himself and the killer out of the prison wall. Maniac Cop 2 is a great sequel to the first Maniac Cop and has more action to it. 10/10

• Faintly demented, solid second movie in an impressive series...

  Zombified_6602005-07-07

  Let's get the obvious comparison section of this review out of the way. Is Maniac Cop 2 as good as the original Maniac Cop? Well, no. But it's damn close. And in Terminator 2 fashion, while it's not quite as good, it adds a lot of fun extras to the Maniac Cop pie. In fact Maniac Cop 2 while not being quite as exciting or fresh as the first movie, adds a whole demented spin to things that is wonderful to behold. Vicious zombie psychopath Matt Cordell is back, he's bigger, he's a lot scarier looking on account of a short sojourn at the bottom of the New York river, and man is he mad. Starting his vendetta anew with a few random victims and the man who put him in the river in the first place, Jack Forrest (played for an alarmingly short period of time by an earnest and confident Bruce Campbell, as in the original film). Maniac Cop 2 plays up the 'unstoppable zombie SOB' element of the original, turning Cordell into a Voorhees style proper zombie cop as opposed to the disfigured mute from the original, but it works well, given that he's spent a fair while at the bottom of a river, he would have decomposed a bit, and given the increased action quotient of this addition to the series, it makes sense to have him more openly horrifying as he has to spend a lot of time on screen. Given that the scar make-up in the first movie was by all accounts only really good looking from a distance (a fact Lustig knew and exploited by avoiding having his face on screen until right at the end of the movie) this new, more zombified Cordell is a welcome addition. Again, the movie is also convincingly tense and gritty, often wringing genuine shocks out of you, despite it's restraint and relative lack of gore. That said, Maniac Cop 2 is much more violent than Maniac Cop. The latter half of the movie has one of the most exciting and brutal shoot-outs I've seen in a western film, with Cordell tearing through an entire police station's worth of fellow officers. The increased violence could well be a turn off for those who enjoyed the almost bloodless original, but it sits well with the movie's 'bigger, harder, faster' ethos, and doesn't wreck the atmosphere. The plot of this first sequel is pretty bonkers. The cast are as convincing as the original cast, and the hangover of Bruce Campbell and Larene Landon from the original movie (though for god's sake don't get attached to them as otherwise you may get really upset by the film, as they don't last too long if you know what I mean) makes the film feel like easing into a nice pair of old slippers. New additions Robert Davi and Claudia Christian are both amiable and fun to watch, both making interesting new leads. The plot line, involving Cordell's return from the supposed grave and eventual team-up with a religious lunatic killer to storm the jail he was convicted in, rips along at an awesome pace, never dragging, making the original seem quite slow and thoughtful in comparison. If I have any minor criticisms of this movie, it's only that at times some of it seemed a little too over the top to take entirely seriously. While the original was quite Hitchcockian, and more of a whodunnit style plot, this is a slasher flick, albeit a clever one with a fast-pace and impeccable set pieces. While the original would appeal to a variety of audiences, this is an out and out horror movie, and as such would probably only appeal to horror fans and fans of the original Maniac Cop. That said, this is a damn fine horror movie, and still knocks almost everything else in the genre I've seen in the last four or five months into a cocked hat. A great movie in it's own right, and a worthy addition to the series.

• A worthy, sleazy sequel...

  MetalGeek2010-10-26

  William Lustig's "Maniac Cop 2" is a rare thing - a sequel that surpasses its original. Granted, the original "Maniac Cop" wasn't exactly Shakespeare (though it is a hell of fun trashy B-Movie) so that probably wasn't very hard to do. This direct-to-video follow up still holds up well as one of the better B-films of the early 90s. We all know the story of how dedicated NYPD officer Matt Cordell became the Maniac Cop after being framed by his superiors and sent off to prison as part of a corruption cover-up. His vengeance against those who wronged him served as the plot of the first film, and as "2" opens, the horribly scarred, hulking Cordell still has a few loose ends to tie up. Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon return briefly from the first film though neither of them survives very long, and new characters are brought in to deal with the psychotic officer: grizzled NYPD detective Robert D'avi (of the James Bond flick "License to Kill") and police psychologist Claudia Christian (who went on to "Babylon 5" as well as lots of other genre TV/film). The ante is upped this time because the Maniac Cop has hooked up with a partner for this second installment (Leo Rossi of "Halloween II" fame), a serial killer who's been stalking strippers and prostitutes on New York's seedy streets. Cordell shoots up NYPD Headquarters in a hilariously over the top shootout/massacre that simply has to be seen to be believed before he and Rossi (along with a few other criminals freed from police custody) head for the prison where Cordell first met his fate, to take care of the inmates there who were responsible for his beating/coma/"death" in part 1. OK, so the plot is ridiculous and was probably written on a cocktail napkin. That doesn't take away from the fact that "Maniac Cop 2" works beautifully both as an action flick and a horror/slasher movie. Lustig puts the pedal to the medal virtually from the first scene and doesn't let up through one bloodbath after another. Car crashes, shootouts, throat impalings, explosions -- whatever your taste in carnage, "Maniac Cop 2" will have a scene that satisfies. The (slightly) larger budget when compared to the first "MC" go-round allows for nastier makeup on the Cordell character (who by this time is basically a hulking, undead Jason Voorhees type in a cop uniform), better set pieces, and improved stunts and pyrotechnics. Say what you want about "Maniac Cop 2," but you can't say it's a boring movie. Fans of the "MC" series have long acknowledged that this second film is the highlight of the series. Sadly, the only DVD available in the U.S. went out of print almost as quickly as it appeared (and it was in fullscreen besides -- arrrgh!) but if you can get hold of a copy, "Maniac Cop 2" is a worthy night's viewing for action freaks and fans of cop-related carnage.

• Lovely sequel to a great 80's horror

  The_Void2004-08-26

  Robert Z'Dar returns as the super cop, turned maniac cop; Matt Cordell in this surprisingly good sequel to the surprisingly good 1988 horror-thriller, Maniac Cop. This time, however, he's not alone in his fight against the police force as he's found an accomplice; the local serial killer. This movie is probably the quintessential late-night video rental in the late 80's to early 90's - not only is it pure B-grade schlock rubbish, but it's a sequel to pure B-grade schlock rubbish; and you don't get much more B-movie than that! (except maybe a second sequel, of course). The directing and writing/producing team of William Lustig and Larry Cohen return to helm this movie, and do a good job as they did in the first. The acting in this film isn't good, in fact, certain scenes are downright embarrassing; but you don't go into a sequel to an 80's schlock fest expecting great acting, so it's forgivable. The majority of the cast from the first film met grisly ends, but the two survivors; B-movie god, Bruce Campbell, and Laurene Landon reprise their roles. Unfortunately, however, their roles in the movie are little more than cameo appearances; Bruce Campbell in particular is not at his charismatic best. In The Evil Dead films, and a lot of his small cameos in bigger films, Bruce approaches his roles with great heart and gusto and you can really tell that he's enjoying himself; but here, I was getting the impression that he couldn't be bothered. I got this impression somewhat with Bruce's performance the first film too. Of course, his role in the Maniac Cop films is nothing like the Ash that we all know and love, but B-movie fans have come to expect a certain kind of performance from Bruce and that wasn't what he gave in the first movie. Naturally, his mere presence is enough to make a film a must see, though. Laurene Landon enjoys herself a bit more, and gets to use the greatest melee weapon in the history of movies; the chainsaw. The chainsaw is such a brilliant weapon, it almost takes on a life of it's own. Any movie that utilises the chainsaw commands your respect, even if it only gets a brief appearance as it does in this movie. The only other thing that returns from the first is the incredible tagline; 'You have the right to remain silent...forever', which is quite simply; one of the best taglines ever written. The rest of the cast is new to the series. Robert Davi, who is a very good actor, takes over Bruce Campbell as the new leading man. Davi portrays his character; a hard-bitten New York with a gruff voice and no messing persona brilliantly, and very much looks the part. Also new is Claudia Christian, who pretty much does what Laurene Landon did in the first film, and Leo Rossi enters the fold as Matt Cordell's newfound friend, who also happens to enjoy strangling strippers. Also; watch out for blink-and-you'll-miss-it cameos from Danny Trejo and Sam Raimi. Just like in the first film, a foreboding New York atmosphere is created, which lends the film a creepy and distinct atmosphere, particularly in the nighttime scenes. Also like the first film, the sequel features several instances of lovely black humour, portrayed best by Maniac Cop saving a man from a parking ticket, and then taking the traffic officer away...literally, on the back of his crane truck. The film also doesn't let up for a second; it stays entertaining for the duration and the action comes thick and fast, which ensures that the film stays entertaining. There is also a theme of justice, and it's pitfalls, which is heavily referred to at several points in the movie. Of course, this point is lost somewhat under the violent gun battles; but the fact that the movie is actually trying to convey a point is admirable from a film that you wouldn't expect any kind of meaning from. Overall, Maniac Cop 2 is a lovely piece of B-grade cinema. As a technical project, it's pretty worthless, but it's very entertaining and fans of this sort of film will find lots to like about it. As a fan of the original, this sequel satisfied me and therefore I recommend this to anyone that is also a fan of the original.