this post was submitted on 20 Jun 2025
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Maniac Cop (1988) (piefed.social)
submitted 6 days ago* (last edited 6 days ago) by klu9@piefed.social to c/bmoviebonanza@lemmy.world
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Maniac Cop (1988)

A killer dressed in police uniform begins murdering innocent people on the streets of New York City.

You have the right to remain silent... forever!

Personnel

Director

  • William Lustig

Starring

  • Tom Atkins
  • Bruce Campbell
  • Robert Z'Dar
  • Laurene Landon
  • Richard Roundtree
  • William Smith
  • cameo from Sam Raimi

Info

Trailer

Full movie

(Warning: there's a licensed copy available on YouTube, 1hr 19min, but it screws up the ending, cutting most of it. It was only after running into that problem that I finally remembered it was on Fawesome, complete at 1hr 25min.)

I'm pretty sure I saw this in the 90s. I remembered it a lot more "exploitationy" but seeing it now it was more like a fairly competent TV movie. Maybe the sequels are trashier and I'm confusing the original with the sequels. (For example, I could have sworn I remember seeing Robert Z'Dar in Hell Comes to Frogtown, but it turns out he's only in Return to Frogtown which I didn't even realize existed.)

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[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 6 points 6 days ago (2 children)

Straight up, this movie is a fucking cinematic tour force, and I do not exaggerate. The writing is far, far better than it has any right to be, the acting is genuine, the story is actually intriguing, and Bruce Campbell, of course, is positively a delight as always. I shit you not this is a thoroughly enjoyable and surprisingly well-made film. I cannot recommend it enough. I have not gotten around to watching the sequels yet.

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 5 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Bruce Campbell??

OP should've lead with that!

Currently watching Jack of All Trades and Brisco County Jr., two shows that should've had years of episodes (especially Jack).

Bruce just gets it.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 5 points 5 days ago

Brisco was my jam

[–] fistac0rpse@fedia.io 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

as a huge Bruce Campbell fan, how have I never heard of Jack of All Trades? thank you, gonna download it now

[–] Onomatopoeia@lemmy.cafe 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Jack is outrageously funny, irreverent, and a bit too adult for broadcast TV at the time.

Just like Brisco County, he was just a little early. A couple years later when the dedicated cable channels hit their stride he would've been very successful (FX, SciFi, etc).

I bought the Jack DVD's, they were like $20 - totally worth it.

[–] klu9@piefed.social 1 points 5 days ago

Bruce is in Maniac Cop, but he doesn't get the chance to be very "Campbellesque" ;)

I've still never got round to watching Jack of All Trades, although back in the day I did catch some episodes of its "stablemate" Cleopatra 2525.

I did finally see Brisco a few years ago, such a shame it was cut short. Apparently it was during a moral panic about violence on TV, and the campaign group picked an episode of Brisco featuring a boxing match, and they counted every single punch as another incidence of violence, giving a total that made it seem like it was a Blumhouse slasher.

[–] klu9@piefed.social 3 points 5 days ago (2 children)

So what do you think? Is the maniac cop supernatural or not?

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 4 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Absolutely he was. He survived a ton of damage with no other explanation given. Along with the general vibe of the movie and the fact it came out after Friday The 13th Part 6 which popularized the unambiguously undead Jason.

Also he's straight up undead in the sequel.

[–] klu9@piefed.social 4 points 5 days ago

Thanks. 2 & 3 are on YouTube, don't know if legit, I might watch them in the following weeks.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago (1 children)

Perhaps this is addressed in the sequel. He was pretty freakin hard to kill to NOT be supernatural.

[–] klu9@piefed.social 3 points 5 days ago

2 & 3 are on YouTube, and @SSTF says it's clear he's supernatural.

[–] setsneedtofeed@lemmy.world 5 points 5 days ago* (last edited 5 days ago)

Sequel:

spoilerI had a good laugh in the sequel when they killed off Bruce Campbell really early. The viewing room consensus was that somehow they couldn't afford him.

[–] Sergio@lemmy.world 2 points 4 days ago

Just finished watching it. Not bad, TV-movie-quality but a straightforward script.

Besides Richard "Shaft" Roundtree and Sam "needs no introduction" Raimi, the actual ex-boxer who "Raging Bull" was based on, Jake LaMotta, plays a Detective.

[–] cyborganism@piefed.ca 5 points 6 days ago

Gee... that doesn't remind me of anyone... /s

[–] Krauerking@lemy.lol 3 points 5 days ago

I meant to recommend the second one in here because that one is just wildly over the top but couldn't decide which was the better to recommend cause... Well this one exists and is technically better?

I dunno they are both fun.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago (2 children)

Sailing the high seas was the only way I could find this. I have been wanting to try sharing, say, a folder in my Emby library outside my home network, to see if I can get it to work.

[–] Reverendender@sh.itjust.works 3 points 5 days ago (2 children)

With or without ads?

[–] Sergio@lemmy.world 1 points 4 days ago

I watched it on Tubi... currently ad-free with uBlock Origin adblocker (on Firefox, at least...)

[–] klu9@piefed.social 1 points 5 days ago

On Fawesome, I haven't seen any ads yet. On the Roku Channel, maybe 2 or 3 short ad breaks per hour.

[–] klu9@piefed.social 2 points 5 days ago

I don't know where you are, but in Mexico at least it's available, for free, on Fawesome and the Roku Channel, too.