I must say that having watched the sequel recently I was let down by the first instalment after all these years.
When someone in a New York policeman’s outfit starts killing innocent people, a policeman (cult Icon Bruce Campbell) is framed for the killings.
With the help of a senior detective and his vice squad girlfriend, the trio must prove his innocence whilst avoiding the police force and the maniac cop.
Whilst the story is alright, there was just something about this film which made it a tad dull. Perhaps it was the lack of big action sequences or the fact that the main characters don’t really come into their own until the latter part of the film, but this was just not as enjoyable for me as the sequel.
An excellent cast of vets are led by a great genre talent in the form of William Lustig, but the sequel is far superior.
OVERALL SUMMARY
Preceding the Scream trilogy by almost 10 years, the Maniac Cop films deserve far better respect than they get and despite my preferences this is still a very good genre effort.
