With the final chapter of the Maniac Cop trilogy coming to a close, director Bill Lustig and writer Larry Cohen were determined to put out all the stops to make a action packed, stunt filled picture. Unfortunately it didn’t go quite to plan.
Matt Cordell is brought back to life by a scary voodoo guy (Julius Harris) and becomes obsessed with a fallen cop Kate Sullivan (who spends the majority of the film in a coma). Detective McKinney played by Robert Davi is back to hunt down Cordell once again. With the Maniac Cop’s obsession with Sullivan you could look at the movie as a riff on the Bride of Frankenstein and considering the politics behind the camera it’s amazing the film turned out this good. Sure, it’s not a patch on parts one and two, the intention was there and it’s still entertaining.
On the blu-ray there is a documentary on the film detailing it’s troubled history and the reasons why the film is directed by a certain Alan Smithee. All the principals are interviewed and they give their versions of what happening, pretty fascinating stuff.
I’ve always liked Maniac Cop 3 even before I knew of it’s troubles. Considering the amount of fingers in the pie and two directors, it turned out not too bad at all.
- Starring Robert Z’Dar Robert Davi Caitlin Dulany Doug Savant
- Director Alan Smithee
- Distributor Blue Underground