The Maniac Cop trilogy; underrated Slasher flicks

        As far as I know, and I know very little, police brutality was a hot button issue in the late 80's early 90's...which I care very little about being that A. this is an uncultured swine article and B. thinking about news stuff takes up brain space that could be used for useful things like action figure pricing and how much beer money comes out of a 35 hour workweek. Never the less, the 'fuck da po-lease' attitude that was all the rage in the late 80's gave the Maniac Cop trilogy a good groundwork to showcase  its corny dialogue and overzealous use of red corn syrup. It does have an underlying critique on police corruption, the faulty criminal justice system and how we as law abiding citizens are at the mercy of the long arm of the law. The message is delivered subtly enough that even I (someone who usually wants no part of political statements in movies) enjoyed the films.
Maniac Cop
   

       When it comes to origin stories, the story of Matt Cordell becoming Maniac Cop is among the cheesiest. Playing out like the obligatory rape scene that dotted the landscape of prison dramas of the day with the added unf that could only come from a slasher movie. Horror movie fanboys also might enjoy BRuce Campbell as good guy cop character that is tormented by the Maniac Cop when he is framed for the murders that the crazed po-po commits. Definitely a creeper of a movie, it harkens to the days of media induced fears that make us city folk nervous, violent crime waves and errbody getting killt hide yo wife hide yo kids type shit. If Halloween brought the fear to the suburbs then Maniac Cop brought it to the city, and don't give me that Jason goes to New York bull shit. This definitely had better deaths and a much creepier slasher.
Maniac Cop 2
      Borrowing a page from Halloween II, Maniac Cop 2 picks up right after the end of the first movie, in fact it has the first five minutes or so of Maniac Cop just so you know that you are in fact watching the second installment. In this installment we see the murderous po-po team up with another serial killer in New York, finding his kindred spirit Maniac Cop pretty much acts as a security guard for the wouldbe serial strangler, killing amy police that are on his trail and busting him out of sticky situations if need be. This time we have Det. McKinney played by underrated actor Robert Davi hot on the heels of the strangler and Maniac Cop. Davi has an excellent look as a Detective, calling back to the rough-and-tumble noir Detectives of yester-year. Because this movie needs no back story(except the first five minutes) we are left with much more murder and gore than its predecessor, making this my favorite of the three films. Maniac Cop 2 has a very wrapped up ending leaving no loose ends that might need killing later. Unless a hand reaches out of the grave of the believed to be deceased Matt Cordell...
Maniac Cop 3;Badge of Silence
 

  Well fuck me running....a hand did reach out of the grave right before the credits rolled in the Maniac Cop 2. Having no fucks to give this time around Maniac Cop Cordell goes balls out on these mudafukas. Closer resembling the Terminator instead of a slasher.  This time around Maniac Cop has grown a heart, defending a falsely accused lady officer from attackers...definitely the out of character experience that most third installments are famous for. Also witness the return of Det. McKinney in all his noir detective goodness.Definitely recommended to fans of over the top b-movies, destroying a police station, killing countless officers, and a flaming maniac cop behind the wheel of an automobile?? YEah, you gots to watch this shit.
   I'm truly surprised that these films don't get as much attention as the major slasher franchises, the scares and gore are on par and at times much better than big names like Jason, Freddy and Chucky, with some pretty funny writing to boot. This trilogy definitely deserves a spot on the shelves of any self respecting gorehound and horror movie fan.

Maniac(1980) *VS* Maniac(2013)

      Most people who consider themselves movie buffs often utter the phrase "well, it's no ____" or "at least it was better than ____" when giving recommendations. It is much easier reviewing movies
when have two side by side, but I'm not a complete idiot, not completely, I won't compare apple to oranges, we need at least two compatible films. More often than
not we see the horror movies these days are either complete reboots of obscure titles or complete rip offs  When I first found about the remake of 1980's groundbreaking slasher movie MANIAC I didn't know how to feel, the movie was ahead of its time in its storytelling,it could benefit from a modernization of its story it has a lot of relevance in today's world but are classics better left alone?? It could be biz as usual a sub-par shot for shot  remake that does the original no justice or a complete retelling with the same  core story and plot twists that make it a  brilliant re-imagining of a classic, leaving genre purist with little to say afterwards. Either way, it is pretty fair that we compare the two movies and see which is the better film and if both are worth a watch or not.
MANIAC(1980)
 For Frank Zito it has been considerably easy to deal with traumas of childhood, simply imagine your mother is the women you brutalize on a nightly basis...well it doesn't sound easy when you say it like that. Maniac is a slasher flick that focuses on the slasher and not the victims, revealing what could push a man to go on a murderous rampage. What happens off camera in other horror movies take center stage in Maniac, you see Zito catching up to the victim, the tactics he uses to get near the scantily clad ladies and you see the murder from a first person POV. This is a little jarring to see stalking and stabbing through the eyes of the murderer, every stab, every fast paced step, making you feel Zito's struggle to try to stop himself from killing again. This leaves you pedaling water morally, yes it is wrong to kill women, no matter what kind of mommy issues you have...but those that make you an evil person or just....sick? Maniac makes you think, unlike the clear cut black and white slasher movies where the hot ladies are angelic and good and the shady characters are undoubtedly evil.
  Beside the "thinky" smart stuff, Maniac contains some pretty cool murder scenes. About as much red corn oil and spongy fake meat than can be expected from any self-respecting B-Movie, it does not disappointing on these fronts. The soundtrack is a bit lacking but using Zito's heavy breathing as his murder theme was a stroke of genius. Also any movie in which famous special FX guru Tom Savini is brutally wasted holds a very special place in my heart.
Maniac(2013)
Using the same basic story as the original, there nothing much to be said on that front. Elijah Wood as Frank was brilliant, he portrayed the disturbed role pretty well. The most notable difference between the two films is the almost exclusive first person POV used in the remake, at first this was a pretty cool gimmick but towards the end of the movie it got to be just that...way to gimmicky for my taste. There was an unrealistic amount of mirrors and reflective surfaces in these peoples homes, this took away from the experience, taking me out of the story by making me realize that I in fact was watching a movie, I'm not asking for complete submersion but if they used first person view in a handful of scenes it wouldn't have come across as forced. Although, when they did pan out of first person POV so that you could actually see Frank's face while he stabs and stabs and stabs was a sick and twisted flash of pure genius.
    Mostly using the same story as the original, the story did branch off in certain points. All of which are justified, making the story much more believable than the original, I found this ones plot easier to digest... why would a fat, greasy and obviously fucked in the head dude hang out with a very attractive model and photographer. The story just seemed a bit more hashed out in this
version.
 *VS*
Side by side both are very good slasher movies, both have crazy murdering dudes, both have creative and gory death scenes, both have sexy ladies dying all over the place...but the edge has to go to the original Maniac from 1980, only for the less gimmicky use of camera and Tom Savini's exploding head. But both films come recommended as far as slasher films go.