Notes from the Last Drive-In: S3E6 – Maniac Cop and Maniac Cop 2
Welcome to Notes from the Last Drive-In where this week we go sequel-mode to Maniac Cop and Maniac Cop 2. We’ve not had a double feature of two films in the same franchise since the Halloween Hootenanny, so tonight is a rare treat. So, how do Maniac Cop and its sequel fair? Did Shudder dig too deep?
Maniac Cop (1988)
Opening: Psychics in our midst.
Ah, Maniac Cop. This 1988 crime horror film probably could not be made today given the level of tension surrounding law enforcement, and that is probably for the best because the existing film is already perfectly suited for its time. Maniac Cop is the result of the incredible team-up of the late Larry Cohen and director William Lustig. The film also features a remarkably stacked cast including Tom Atkins, Bruce Campbell, Laurene Landon, and Richard Roundtree. The movie belongs, however, to Robert Z’Dar as the titular crazy cop. The movie itself isn’t overly complicated with a ton of plot to get in the way – a vaguely undead cop, wronged by the system, returns to life and exacts violent vengeance on the city. Not a lot here, but the film does well with this stripped-down concept.
The film uses its setting very well, building off the scary New York City of the 1970s and 1980s that worked its way into so many crime films of the time. It is a perfect backdrop for a story about the corruption of justice framed around a hulking cop bashing heads in. And boy, do people get messed up in this movie. Z’Dar’s Officer Cordell is a monster. He offers up an incredible silhouette against the backdrop of night, perhaps looking even bulkier than Jason Voorhees. Z’Dar’s role is mostly mute, but there is an undeniable presence to the character, so it isn’t hard to see why three films were made, with him returning for all three. Tom Atkins and Bruce Campbell, two leading men, play a form of a relay in the film with the role of lead protagonist switching from one to the other about two-thirds of the way through the film. It’s novel, at least, but between the two of them, Atkins should have carried the movie through to the end. Campbell is fairly flat, here, playing it straight. Atkins gets most of the actual development, Campbell gets a couple of action scenes.
The story is simple but perhaps overly so. The film also has a number of contrivances that allow it to move from set piece to set piece, including a particularly fun chase scene, but again, the plot is a secondary concern here, though perhaps maybe that shouldn’t have been the case. Still, elements of the film have a certain, and unfortunate, timeless quality. Issues of police violence against citizens and corruption of the legal system still persist to this day and were not necessarily new things when Maniac Cop was released. This is a grindhouse film, through and through, and one of the last of them.
The big bit of the first half of the night was the interview with “the chin” himself, Bruce Campbell. The remote-format interviews this season, given their necessity, have been fine. Would it be better to have Bruce Campbell at the cabin, sitting on the porch have been better? Undoubtedly. But these scripted interactions are still very much fun and generally showcase the guest in such a way as to remind us why we like them. Bruce was every bit as charming as he has been known to be across the convention scene and on movie sets. It’s almost like popping in on an old friend. His stories and recollections were welcome – and will surely be welcome again once Joe Bob and company return to the trailer. The night was also a reminder of the wonders of Larry Cohen, one of the finest writers in film, who left us in 2019. It seems to me that there are two kings of the drive-in movie, and Cohen is one of them, the other being Roger Corman.
Joe Bob Briggs gave Maniac Cop four stars, which seems fair to me. I have been poking fun at his generosity a bit this season, but a movie like Maniac Cop just hits all those marks for the type of movie we love at The Last Drive-In. It’s a grindhouse movie that plays fast and loose with storytelling in order to get to the next fun part? But you know what? That’s perfectly fine. Plus, it has Robert Z’Dar casting one of the most imposing silhouettes in film history, so that is a bonus. As for me, I do have my concerns with it, but Maniac Cop is a solid four out of five Cthulhus.
(4 / 5)
Best Line: “Look at the size of those hematomas!” – Frank (Joe Bob was totally right about this one)
Maniac Cop 2 (1990)
Opening: Renaissance Faires, emphasis on the “e” in faires.
The back half of the evening revolved around 1990’s Maniac Cop 2. A solid sequel with an even greater make-up job on Robert Z’Dar as the titular maniac cop. The film again reunites writer Larry Cohen and director William Lustig, the second out of four times working together, and builds on the insanity of the first film, wiping out the remaining cast of the first movie. The film also does some interesting things with officer Cordell as well – he is still ill-defined as living or dead, but he does have some surprisingly new depth as well. Maniac Cop 2 stars Robert Davi, Claudia Christian, Robert Earl Jones, and Leo Rossi, with Z’Dar returning as Cordell. The film also has two blink-and-you-miss-it cameos with Danny Trejo and Sam Raimi.
Maniac Cop 2 is the better of the films, a rare example of the sequel being better than the original. Yes, I am comparing Maniac Cop 2 to The Godfather: Part II or Toy Story 2. It offers a stronger story than its predecessor, a more interesting, arguably richer take on the antagonist, and a better overall protagonist. It also blows past the first film regarding spectacle, with the last 30 minutes being a non-stop unfurling of chaos. Everything seems bigger and better. Z’Dar is at his best here as Cordell, and the make-up work on him this time around is even stronger. The addition of Leo Rossi as serial killer Steven Turkell is genius. He chews the scenery, and his unlikely team up with Cordell creates some fantastic complications for Robert Davi’s Lieutenant McKinney. It builds on everything established in the first Maniac Cop and makes for a fuller experience overall.
It is still a grindhouse type of film, though, so logical leaps, inconsistent characterizations, and going for what would be most “cool” come fast and frequent in the movie. Does Cordell being able to throw a man through a cinderblock wall make sense? Not really. It is just something you accept in a movie like Maniac Cop 2. The film also makes it very, very clear you don’t need to see the original to enjoy this one, given the amount of reused footage from the first film. It makes it charmingly accessible, if not a bit redundant.
The second guest of the evening was William Lustig. His enthusiasm was fantastic and his stories about old grindhouse theaters, bouncing back and forth with Joe Bob about New York and LA in the 1970s and 1980s were immensely entertaining. The remote format worked well enough here, but with any luck Lustig will be back on the show, in-person. His personality is too enthusiasm not to have on set and the collective film knowledge between him and Joe Bob Briggs in these segments was dizzying. Overall, an excellent guest who took his segment and ran with it.
Joe Bob Briggs gave Maniac Cop 2, unsurprisingly, four stars. I won’t poke fun of him here; the film is every bit a refinement of what made the original Maniac Cop so special. It has just about everything you’d want in an NYC-set horror film involving an undead cop – even more so than the original. Maniac Cop 2 is a four-and-a-half Cthulhu film.
(4.5 / 5)
Best Line: “I can’t let someone out on the street with a gun that has emotional problems.” – Susan (if only this was true)
Haunted MTL Drive-In Totals
As always, Shudder has those drive-in totals straight from the show.
As for our own totals we have:
- 2 remote guests
- 5 drive-in legends
- 2 thugs 1 cop
- 80s worship
- 90s rap theme
- Stripperama
- Attempted Muggery
- Patrol Beats
- “thee-ater”
- “debutt”
- Let’s learn about Cherubism!
- Chainsaw ranting
- Irish joking
- Frog joking
- Yuki Count: 3
- Silver Bolo Award: Cadavercast
- Darcy Cosplay: 2, Tom Atkins and the Maniac Cop.
Episode Score
A fine night at the drive-in, frankly. The crew is doing the best they can with the remotes and has adapted rather well to the challenges of the Coronavirus. Hopefully, by season four, we’ll be out of the woods and back in the desert. There were some other fun bits in the episode worth mentioning as well. A nice tribute to Joe Spinell closed out the Maniac Cop 2 credits, which was a touching tribute to the original Maniac. Joe Bob got a gift in the form of a 1990-91 Mark Jackson basketball card, infamous for the Menendez Bros. sitting in the background. And there was another brief chapter in Joe Bob’s ranting about chainsaws being a terrible weapon – the second in as many weeks.
But hey, no dead dogs this week.
(4.5 / 5)
See you next week, folks. We continue to live-tweet the fun at the Haunted MTL Twitter account, so why not give us a follow there?
Episode two of Wheel of Time felt like the beginning of a long journey. Stories are unfolding, lives are changing, and blood is spilling.
Let’s discuss.
The story
We begin this episode in the past with Elayne’s mother, Queen Morgase. It turns out her rise to the throne was a bit, shall we say, cutthroat. So when she shows up at the White Tower, Siuan is concerned.
She might have reason to be, too.
Meanwhile, Rand, Egwene, Moiraine, Lan and Aviendha are in the Spine of The World. As they travel through some of the most breathtaking lands I have ever seen on a TV show, Egwene is plagued with nightmares. We think at first that’s just her trauma working itself through her system. But we soon find out that it might not be that straightforward.
Finally, Perrin returns home to heal after his hand is almost cut in half. But when he gets there he finds the town has been infested by Children of The Light. And they’re looking for him.
What worked
There was something heartwarming in this episode about political espionage and choking religious persecution. And that is Elayne’s relationship with her family.
I have consumed a lot of fantasy content with royal families. And I have never once heard a princess call her mother ‘Mum’. I’ve never seen royal siblings get along. And I have sure as hell never seen a princess have a good relationship with her step-parent.
This was refreshing. Even though Queen Morgase is kind of a horrible person she seems like a good mother. And that’s an unexpected delight.
Of course, this is just one storyline among many. And while this can sometimes be overwhelming, in this case it wasn’t.
I’ll be honest, some of these storylines are going to drag for me. I know this because I’ve read some of the Wheel of Time books and I have an idea that not all the characters exactly pique my interest.
No one likes all the characters. No one likes all the storylines. While I am here for the political espionage between Queen Morgase and Siuan, not everyone likes it. While others might be fascinated with Selene trying to win Rand back, I couldn’t care less.
Having multiple storylines keeps everyone’s attention better. So long as things don’t get out of hand. Things can easily get out of hand. But this seems to be managed well.
So far.
What didn’t work
As I mentioned above, I’m not thrilled with Rand’s story at this point. And while it’s fine to not like a storyline when there are this many to choose from, it’s not fantastic that the one I like the least is the one involving our two main characters. And anytime we were with the team at the Spine of The World, the only thing that brought me joy was Moirain’s hat. It reminded me of Stockard Channing’s hat in Practical Magic.
The problem is that Rand is Charlie Brown with controversial magical powers. He is boring, serious, and pessimistic.
And yes, I understand that he has a heavy emotional burden and he’s the Dragon Reborn and that’s quite taxing and all. But let’s be fair, there isn’t a single person in this show that doesn’t have a heavy burden. And most of them manage to be fun occasionally.
All that being said, this episode of Wheel of Time did exactly what it needed to do. It set up conflicts at each of the three locations. It established emotional ties between the characters and the events. And it established goals for everyone.
This was, in short, a solid episode. Not groundbreaking, not mind-blowing or life changing. It was simply good. It was entertaining and moved the plot forward.
Well done.
(3.5 / 5)
Wheel of Time is back for season three. There are mixed feelings regarding this. Last season, there were some serious pacing issues. And some serious sticking to the book’s storyline issues. But we’re two seasons in, and we don’t give up so easily. So let’s dive into episode one, To Race the Shadow.
By the way, I highly recommend watching this episode with the subtitles on. You’ll see why.
The story
We begin this episode with Liandrin facing a trial of sorts for her rampant betrayal. She does her best to gaslight her Aes Sedai sisters into thinking that Siuan Sanche is the real traitor.
When that doesn’t work, she reveals how many Black Aes Sedai have actually infiltrated the tower.
Spoiler, it’s a lot.
In the aftermath, our whole team gathers to drink and enjoy one night of relaxation before they head out to the Tear to form an army for Rand. All is going well until they’re attacked by myriad creatures and a sentient axe.
What worked
This episode was long. It had a run time of an hour and eleven minutes. And a lot of that run time was spent in heavy dialog scenes.
Fortunately, these were well-done scenes.
If you’re going to have a lot of talking scenes, there are good ways and bad ways to do it. Last season, we saw lots of examples of the bad way to do it. But this episode did it well. For one thing, other things were going on while conversations were taking place. The characters are drinking, playing games, walking through an interesting city. And the scenes themselves didn’t stretch out. They weren’t repetitive. We heard what the character had to say, then we moved on.
It was also nice that the point of these scenes wasn’t just info dumps. We had character development. We had romantic interactions. We had plot development and foreshadowing.
Overall, this episode felt like what it was. A moment of calm before a storm.
Taking a step back, I’d be remiss if I didn’t address the fight scene at the start of the episode. Because it was epic.
The magic looked amazing. The martial arts that went along with it looked fantastic. The costumes were beautiful. It was just incredibly fun to watch.
More than that, it was emotional. We lost some characters in that fight that were important. And it was clearly emotionally shattering for many of our characters, who found themselves betrayed by people they trusted.
So many of them.
It was a great way to open the season.
What didn’t work
Despite that, this episode wasn’t without its flaws.
First off, there were a lot of dialog scenes. And they were good scenes, as I’ve already discussed. But it was one after another after another. And when your episode is, again, an hour and eleven minutes, it’s maybe a little much to have so much chit-chat. Couldn’t some of these conversations, important as they were, have been moved to maybe another episode?
Finally, I want to talk about Egwene’s travel through the arches.
I feel like maybe there were some deleted scenes here. Because there must have been more to that visit than what we saw, right?
We could have seen Egwene battle Rand. That would have been badass and emotionally devastating. We could have seen her with a quiet life with Rand back home at the Two Rivers. We could have seen anything except for the quick clip of Rand in a bloody river, followed by Egwene being shoved back out in a bloody shift.
No products found.
Bad job. But at least it wasn’t an extended scene of Moiraine collecting bathwater, and then taking a bath while looking sad. If we’d started this season with another scene like that, it might have broken my brain.
Amazon dropped the first three episodes at once. So we’ll be back soon to talk about episode two. See you then.
(4 / 5)
Early 2000s is a special era for the industry. It accepts the cheesiness and corniness of movie making, in turn producing some gems in their own right. Eight Legged Freaks starring David Arquette and young Scarlet Johanson is a horror comedy about giant spiders who overtake a small town. As crazy as that premise sounds, the movie surprisingly has a ton of heart and is super entertaining. Let’s review, shall we?
Plot
We start Eight Legged Freaks with a shot of toxic waste spilling into the water supply of Joshua, a spider farm owner. He is friends with Mike, one of our protagonists, who is a science geek and a spider enthusiast. Mike notices something quite right upon visiting Joshua, but no one takes him seriously. We are then introduced to the rest of the crew. Mike’s mother Samantha, the town sheriff, is too busy chasing Ashley, his sister, who is dating the town mayor’s son Bret (something Samantha does not approve of). We also have Chris, who returns to the town to save his father’s legacy in the town mines. He has opposition from Wade, Bret’s father, who wants to use the mines for his business ventures. Lots of drama going on that will only get juicier once the spiders get loose.
The creepy crawlies quickly dispose of Joshua and make their grand appearance after Ashley rejects Bret’s advances, abandoning him in the middle of a desert. A glorious chase sequence ensues as the spiders make their way towards the town, wreaking havoc on its residents. In a true horror fashion (which the movie acknowledges), it takes some convincing from Mike and then from Samantha for the town to take the threat seriously. The tongue-in-cheek style of narrative adds the comedy aspect to a movie that would otherwise burn out fairly quickly.
The remaining characters hide out in a shopping mall as it’s the only somewhat sturdy building in the area. This doesn’t last long as the spiders break in, forcing them to run through the mines. Their resources to fight the creepy crawlies off are limited as the methane gas doesn’t allow them to use firearms. Such conditions require resourceful thinking from Chris, who uses perfume to fend off the leader of the spider group and save himself during the climax of the movie.
Character dynamics are not forgotten once the action kicks in. We have Chris confessing his long-term feelings for Samantha which she knew all along, which provided some comedic relief. Bret also reunites with Ashley and apologises for being an asshole. Mike finally gets the appreciation he deserves as his knowledge saves the townsfolk more than once during the whole ordeal.
We end the movie with the town’s radio show person telling the story as an urban legend during his segment. This brings it into question – how much of it happened the way he said it did? We can only guess…
Overall thoughts
Eight Legged Freaks is a fun creature feature with some self-aware commentary on genre tropes that doesn’t take itself too seriously. The acting is good, the pacing fitting and the characters are likeable enough for you to want them to make it through. Definitely a must watch, if you don’t suffer from arachnophobia, that is.
(5 / 5)
![Eight Legged Freaks [Blu-ray] [DVD]](https://hauntedmtl.com/wp-content/plugins/aawp/public/image.php?url=YUhSMGNITTZMeTl0TG0xbFpHbGhMV0Z0WVhwdmJpNWpiMjB2YVcxaFoyVnpMMGt2T0RFNGFuZ3lUMUpJYzB3dVgxTk1NVFV3TUY4dVgxTk1NVFl3WHk1cWNHYz18MTc0ODA1ODg5Mg=)
- What do you get when you cross toxic waste with a bunch of exotic spiders? Eaten! The townies of Prosperity, Arizona will all become a screaming smorgasbord if mutated arachnids as big as SUVs have their way in this comedy/horror crowd pleaser whose creators include the producers of Independence Day and Godzilla
- Spiders that leap like gazelles, web-spitting spiders, spiders that suck your insides out as if through a straw—they’re all among the behemoths conjured up by an inventive effects team
- David Arquette (Scream) leads the two-legged stars, mobilizing the citizenry in a last-ditch fight to survive
Last update on 2025-03-10 / Affiliate links / Images from Amazon Product Advertising API