Imagine - Maniac Cop

New York is haunted by a cop who”s killing people left, right and centre. The initial suspect is Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell), who has to prove his innocence and find the real maniac. Late eighties slasher has the grotesque mug of its psychopath going for it, as well as a rough, pre-gentrification New York.

“You have the right to remain silent… forever”, reads the catchy slogan on the Maniac Cop poster. With a screenplay by Larry Cohen, which turns out to be a kind of negative of Robocop (1987), director Lustig once again heads for the dark and dangerous areas of New York, although it feels a lot less realistic this time than it did with Maniac (1980) and the revenge film Vigilante (1982). The film contains an extraordinary amount of action for a slasher, but then again, the maniac cop is a supernatural figure who breaks necks like matchsticks. And Campbell in a more or less serious part? Surely no Ash fan saw that one coming!

18 April with introduction by director William Lustig