Day 3: Maniac Cop 2

Snapped necks, burning bodies, car explosions, head shots, and just utter chaos. That's basically what you're signing up for when you slide Maniac Cop 2 into the trusty ol' VCR. This is another one I've had on the watch list for quite a while. I saw the original Maniac Cop years ago and rather enjoyed it. However, as a fan Bruce Campbell I was always skeptical about watching the sequel since I had learned that my dude gets the business about 15 minutes into the film. Maniac Cop 2 makes up for it though, by basically doubling the action of the first movie.

The plot doesn't reinvent the wheel or anything. How do you continue a story about an undead homicidal cop? I don't know, just kinda bring him back I guess. That's exactly what happens in Maniac Cop 2. Sgt. Cordell survives the events of the first film and resumes his killing spree like nothing ever happened. The protagonists of the first film are dealt with pretty quickly. That leaves us with new heroes for the sequel, a generic street smart detective and a police psychologist.

Maniac Cop 2 isn't hard to sit through by any means. There are a ton of kills to behold between all the entertainingly cheesy dialogue. There is even a Terminator style police station massacre scene which serves as the highlight of the film. The slapstick aspect of its predecessor returns in full force as there is no shortage of the Maniac Cop tossing his victims around the room like ragdolls. Bodies are flying all over the place, sometimes on fire. Seriously, this movie is nuts.

It's hard to give this a recommendation to gore hounds based on it's gore content alone. There are a few standout kill scenes. Bruce Campbell's death has a pretty good throat stab and the police station massacre has a couple of good head shots. Other than that though I don't seem to recall much that blew me away. All the gunshot wounds were pretty well done, but by the time this film came out that was the norm. I can't really tell if I liked the title character's makeup better in the first movie or this one. It looked okay, I guess.

Maniac Cop 2 is a film that at times goes from slasher to bordering on just plain out action. It's an hour and a half of non stop car chases, murder scenes, and always funny dialogue. My biggest disappointment in the movie is the weak finish. I don't dwell on endings too much if the body of a film is strong enough. However in this case this movie just keeps one upping itself until the climax, which was a big let down. All in all though, Maniac Cop 2 is a ton of fun and should be checked out by anyone who likes their movies to cut right to the chase throw all the other bullshit out the window.

Body Count: 23

Side Note: Look out for a very brief Danny Trejo cameo. Also stick around during the credits for one of the hottest Hip Hop tracks ever.