Here we have the Blu-ray releases of Maniac Cop parts 2 & 3 from Blue Underground which ably stand shoulder to shoulder with and, even, out do Synapse's previous release of Maniac Cop.

So first up is Maniac Cop 2
PLOT
Undead Dirty Harry, Matt Cordell (Robert Z'Dar) is back and this time he's not just killing the innocent, although he does that as well, he is taking the fight to city hall and coming after the ones who set him up and put him away. Also, he's not alone! Helped (or is that hindered?!) by serial stripper strangler Turkell (Leo Rossi), they're going from the streets to the police station to a jaw dropping finale at Sing sing prison and nothing is going to stand in their way! Not even walls and lots of fire! Hot on their trail is Det. Sean McKinney (Robert Davi) and police psychologist, Susan Riley (Claudia Christian).

MOVIE REVIEW
Maniac Cop 2, in the tradition of Evil Dead 2 and Godfather 2, is one of those sequels that doesn't disappoint and, in many ways, improves on the original. Director William Lustig and Producer/Writer Larry Cohen decide that bigger is, most definitely, better and with a slightly larger budget available, manage to pack the film with death defying, original stunts, joyously over the top, Japanese cartoon style blood squibs and some required 42nd Street style nudity. It's not just the horror, action and exploitation elements that have been expanded either.

Lustig and Cohen, both fans of film noir and the Universal monster movies, give Maniac Cop 2 the style and themes of both from the atmospheric cinematography and the, one-liner riddled, scripting to Jay Chattaway's music, which reduces the Maniac Cop whistling motif to only when Cordell is on the prowl and during the rest of the film is a fantastic horn and string filled orchestral score worthy of any of the great noirs of the 40s.

Maniac Cop 2 represents the beginning of the end of an era where films this fantastically odd, diverse and action packed could be made at all, let alone on this small of a budget in one of the most expensive cities in the world. Only in the 80s and/or early 90s and only with a creative team this talented behind it do you get a film like this that has elements of horror, action, film noir and comedy, featuring insane car chases on city streets, the demolition of a police station by an automatic pistol wielding zombie cop, a prison fight where the main protagonist is on fire for 5 minutes and even includes a bizarre and wonderful rap song over the end credits and it all actually work. The film is tight, well paced, expertly directed, features a classic Cohen script, with his endearing trait of giving even minor characters back story and impetus and a strong cast, most of whom, play their roles with exactly the right amount of B-Movie, straight faced, loopy melodrama except for a delightfully, mannered and quirky turn by, the always wonderful, Michael Lerner as the pipe smoking police commissioner.

Robert Davi and Leo Rossi are also stand outs, with Davi giving the trilby wearing, hard smoking and shrink hating McKinney an expected gruff, hard edge but also an unexpected internal soulfulness and Rossi firing on every cylinder imaginable in his role as the black toothed, whooping, insanely bearded, southern serial killer in 70s duds. The supporting cast that surrounds them, including a lot of Lustig's regular stable of actors, like Lou Bonacki and Charles Napier are also solid and a joy to watch.

Lustig and Cohen are film-makers with the old 42nd street coursing through their veins and one of the joys of The Maniac Cop series, as well as other of their works, is seeing New York in its sleazy neon drenched former days and it's incredible, by today's standards, the amount they managed to get done on the streets of the city and parts of New Jersey.

The film is a tremendously good time with so much packed into its 87 minutes that your jaw will be hanging open in amazement by the time two flaming people crash through a cinder block wall, fall several stories into a prison bus which then, promptly, explodes. They really, and sadly, don't make 'em like this anymore.

BLU-RAY REVIEW
The disc is a Blu-Ray/DVD combo pack collector's edition. The presentation of the film is incredible. Having previously only been available on a bare-bones, near 3rd generation VHS quality, budget DVD, for people looking to complete their MC collection (after Synapse's special edition Blu of the first film) or just looking for the perfect edition of a damn fun film then look no further.

Blue Underground is the Criterion Collection for lovers of B-Movies, cult and 42nd street films providing the definitive versions of these genre classics. The picture quality is superb with the disc featuring a, newly done, high definition transfer from the original film negatives and the soundtrack is superb. A rich, deep, 7.1 DTS-HD track that not only provides a great surround sound experience but also allows you to pick up on nuances in the score and the dialogue like never before.

For lovers of the 'behind the camera' experience, the extras a great too. There's an in-depth making of "Back on the Beat" which reveals both the pleasure and pain of making movies like this. The people are all refreshingly candid and have some entertaining stories to tell. Most of the main cast, William Lustig, Larry Cohen and stunt co-ordinator Spiro Razatos are present and seem to get a big kick out of the fact a film like this, only released on video and HBO originally in the US, still has such a following.

To round out the set there's a Q&A after a screening with Lustig that repeats some of the stories from the 'making of' but also adds some too. He is a warm, funny story teller and there are lots of laughs to be had watching this feature.

There's a deleted scene featuring the second Raimi cameo of the series. For people who don't know, film-maker Sam Raimi has a cameo as a reporter in Maniac Cop 1 and his brother, actor Ted Raimi, has a similar cameo in part 3. A cameo was shot for part 2, that echoes the 'people on the street comments' section from the first film, which was removed because of pacing issues, and that's what is presented here.

The disc is also region free and should be viewable on any Blu-Ray player worldwide, although this has not been tested by me.

If you're even a passing fan of the films, or this genre of film, you'll want to get your hands on this. It's a fantastic, definitive edition.

RELEASE DATE
November 19, 2013

TECHNICAL SPECS
Color
7.1 DTS-HD; 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX; Dolby Surround 2.0
English SDH, French Canadian, Espanol Latino Americano, Portugues do Brasil, Espanol Castellano, Francais Parisien, Deutsch, Italiano, Mandarin (Traditional & Simplified), Korean, Japanese, Russian, Dansk, Nederlands, Suomen, Norsk, Svenska
English
Widescreen 1.85:1
87 Mins.
1990
Rated R
Region Code: ALL

EXTRAS
Audio Commentary with Director William Lustig and Filmmaker Nicolas Winding Refn
Back On The Beat - The Making Of MANIAC COP 2
Cinefamily Q&A with Director William Lustig
Deleted Scene
Theatrical Trailers
Poster & Still Gallery
Isolated Music Track Enhanced for D-Box Motion Control Systems

Maniac Cop 3
PLOT
If part 2 was Son of Frankenstein, with Leo Rossi taking the Bela Legosi role then part 3 is definitely the Bride of Frankenstein. Hard cop Katie Sullivan, nicknamed Maniac Kate, is gunned down and put into a coma after attempting to foil a drug store robbery. Her name and actions get dragged through the mud when a rogue news crew re-edit the footage to show her killing a seemingly innocent hostage. This is too much for our favourite zombie cop, Matt Cordell and so, while her close friend Det. Sean McKinney (Robert Davi) is trying to clear her name and unconvincingly woo a doctor at the hospital, the Maniac Cop is back to make the police, the media, the doctors and, really, just about anyone pay. The bodies mount up, the hospital is wrecked but will Maniac Cop get the girl?

MOVIE REVIEW
Plagued with behind the scenes problems, lacking an agreed-upon and strong script and with last minute cast changes it is a wonder that Maniac Cop 3 is as good and as shamelessly fun as it is. Director William Lustig has since taken his name off it and so the film is presented now as an Alan Smithee feature but despite this and despite, according to the producer, Larry Cohen, never providing a finished script, there is a lot to love about this concluding part of the trilogy. In Halloween 2 style and because there was a lower budget, the main body of the film takes place in and around a hospital and so the wild car chases and grimy city streets are not so present in part 3 until you get to the insane last ten minutes of the film, but more of that later.

So, some good things about the film then. Firstly, Maniac Cop 3 looks great. The cinematographer, Jacques Haitkin (Nightmare on Elm Street), makes it look like a glossy, big budget affair. The actors are having a ball, Robert Davi steps up his action man game as McKinney and even gets into some forced, ham fisted, lip locking with Dr. Susan Fowler (Caitlin Dulany). There is a stand out scene with Robert Forster (Vigilante/Alligator/Jackie Brown) and Paul Gleason (Breakfast Club, Trading Places, Die Hard) that is hilarious and worth watching the film for! The kills have been made more elaborate in this one as well. It's not just a stalk and slash with a baton concealed blade, in this, our local, friendly maniac cop kills people in all sorts of elaborate ways. The most inventive of which is strapping someone to an X-Ray machine and pelting them with radiation continually till their face melts. It's both horrifying and hilarious in equal measure.

Now to that action packed finale! If you thought you'd seen it all when they lit Cordell on fire for 10 minutes, threw him through a wall and four stories down into a bus that explodes, at the end of the part 2, then you are in for a surprise because the end of Maniac Cop 3 takes the car chase and the burning from part 2 and ramps it up to 11. It's a really incredible sequence to have achieved.

So are there any downsides to Part 3?

Well, yes, the main one being the lack of a great Jay Chattaway score, it doesn't have the edgier, grittier vibe of the previous two films, it's clearly filmed in LA and no attempt is even made to hide it or make it look New York-like in any way and it can be a little hard to follow in places as the plot is convoluted in the extreme but, ultimately, as much as I would've loved to have seen what Lustig and Cohen could've done with a part 3 at full strength, maybe what we got is as good as you could possibly get from stretching the zombie cop angle out to a part 3.

Yes, like most 80s and 90s franchises, the films get increasingly goofy and over the top but the third one, despite some flaws, remembers to never stop being scary, action packed, comedy fuelled fun. How many films can you say that about nowadays?

BLU-RAY REVIEW
Much like the Blu-Ray for Maniac Cop 2, Part 3, the collector's edition, is a Blu-Ray/DVD Combo pack, boasts a strong transfer, a crisp image, a pretty good sound mix and a strong set of extras. It's worth pointing out that Maniac Cop 3 had a much better quality version out on the market already, compared to part 2, but the full 1080p HD image on this disc, presented in its original aspect ratio of 2.35:1, is still definitely worth the upgrade. Cop 3 only gets a 5.1 DTS-HD audio transfer but on my set up I didn't notice a huge difference.

As for the extras, you get the documentary "Wrong Arm Of The Law" which attempts to explain Maniac Cop 3's troubled production. The main draw here is William Lustig and producer (and uncredited director of some scenes) Joel Soisson talking candidly about their differences and the production problems. Larry Cohen is there too, a little, but I couldn't tell if he really wanted to be or not. The making of also talks to some of the cast and crew, all of whom, somewhat, stay either neutral or side with the producer but without ever attacking Lustig. It's fascinating and it's the closest we'll ever get to what happened but I can't say I was much the wiser when it finished. Either, politeness or memory keeps the conclusion pretty vague.

There are also a great number of deleted and extended scenes on the disc, which is always enjoyable and a fun opportunity to sort of form your own edit of the film in your head.

Rounding out the package is a trailer, a gallery and the original synopsis for the film, which is very cool and fascinating to see what might have been.

The disc is also region free and should be viewable on any Blu-Ray player worldwide, although this has not been tested by me.

All in all a worthwhile purchase and a definitive edition.

RELEASE DATE
November 19, 2013

TECHNICAL SPECS
Color
5.1 DTS-HD; 5.1 Dolby Digital Surround EX; Dolby Surround 2.0
English
English SDH, French Canadian, Espanol Latino Americano, Portugues do Brasil, Espanol Castellano, Francais Parisien, Deutsch, Italiano, Mandarin (Traditional & Simplified), Korean, Japanese, Russian
Widescreen 2.35:1
85 Mins.
1993
Not Rated
Region Code: ALL

EXTRAS
Wrong Arm Of The Law - The Making Of MANIAC COP 3
Deleted and Extended Scenes
Theatrical Trailer Poster & Still Gallery
Original Synopsis
Enhanced for D-Box Motion Control Systems

Hear our EXCLUSIVE interviews with Director Bill Lustig and star Robert Davi!