Quite a lot of sequels intention to be greater and higher than their predecessors. “Bigger” is often no drawback, it’s the “better” half the place they usually fall brief. Few have achieved each of their objectives – however Maniac Cop 2 completely did. Director William Lustig and author Larry Cohen had established undead, homicidal former police officer Matt Cordell as a brand new pressure within the horror style with 1988’s Maniac Cop. Two years later, they introduced him again to the display screen with an elevated finances, a bigger physique depend, some mind-blowing stunt and motion sequences… and also you gained’t consider who they determined to kill off within the first half. Maintain your style icons shut, as a result of nobody is secure on this franchise. That is what occurred to Maniac Cop 2.
Made on a finances of 1 million {dollars}, the primary Maniac Cop solely managed to gross 600 and seventy-one thousand {dollars} throughout its theatrical run. It was the VHS leases that made the film successful. Medusa Footage was particularly happy with how effectively it did for them once they introduced the film to video within the UK. So that they supplied 4 hundred thousand {dollars} to pre-buy the UK rights to a sequel. The unique producers at Shapiro-Glickenhaus Entertainment had been out of the image for the follow-up, however Lustig and Cohen didn’t have hassle discovering extra financiers. Distributors and manufacturing corporations had been so keen to assist make Maniac Cop 2 occur, the filmmakers managed to lift a finances of 4 million. Lustig then got down to make that extra cash depend. With a finances 4 instances bigger, he would be certain the sequel had 4 instances the manufacturing worth.
This even supposing Lustig wasn’t even certain a sequel was a good suggestion at first. As he admitted to Fangoria journal, “I really couldn’t figure out where the hell to go with it. I really thought we had played out the concept in the first film. And then Larry Cohen delivered the script to me and it really blew me away. He really found some original concepts, original set pieces that could involve the Maniac Cop; not just the action scenes, but these really clever twists, too. … The action is also probably three, four times the level of the first film. Basically, rather than doing a rip-off of the original, the approach we’ve taken is to cultivate the potential for a series of pictures.”
Robert Z’Dar could be reprising the function of Maniac Cop Matt Cordell – and his look on this one reveals that he’s dropping the battle towards decomposition. The producers requested a half dozen make-up artists to provide you with a brand new design for the character. Dean Gates was the winner, and the brand new, extra ghoulish look he supplied for Cordell is nice; way more efficient than the character’s look within the first movie.
Bringing again the heroes of the primary movie, law enforcement officials Jack Forrest (Bruce Campbell) and Teresa Mallory (Laurene Landon), wasn’t so easy. Campbell later revealed to Selection, “I made them kill me on the second. They had been like, ‘Hey, come on back,’ and I used to be in the midst of a divorce. By no means catch an actor in the midst of a divorce as a result of they don’t care about life anymore. I mentioned, ‘Give me this number or kill me.’ And so they went, ‘Okay, we’re gonna kill ya.’“ Throughout manufacturing, he informed Fangoria that he’d often get slightly pissed off when heroes are killed in sequels, however it made sense on this case. The persevering with character is the Maniac Cop, not his adversaries. So Cohen wrote the dying of Jack Forrest into the script.
Cohen initially wished Teresa to outlive with main accidents, permitting her to return in a future sequel. However within the completed movie, she seems very lifeless — and she or he by no means returned for Maniac Cop 3.
The primary Maniac Cop was set round Saint Patrick’s Day. Half 2 picks up at Christmastime. The undead Matt Cordell continues to be stalking the streets together with his blade-concealing billy membership, terrorizing cops, residents, and criminals alike as he seeks revenge on the corrupt system that wronged him and turned him right into a monster. He knocks off our earlier heroes within the first half hour or so and a brand new pair of characters get wrapped up within the scenario. Claudia Christian was forged as police psychologist Susan Riley and Robert Davi as Sean McKinney, a hard-boiled, hat-wearing, trenchcoat-sporting detective who’s like a movie noir cop who has in some way discovered himself in a horror film. Lustig knew he wished Davi for the function so early on, he informed financiers he had forged Davi within the film earlier than the actor was even formally concerned.
Killing off Jack and Theresa was a dangerous transfer. Quite a lot of horror followers would possibly really feel like switching the film off as quickly as Bruce Campbell makes his exit, however they’re rewarded for sticking round. Susan Riley and Sean McKinney show to be worthy replacements. Davi wasn’t tasked with doing way more than standing and round and performing cool, which he dealt with completely. Susan, then again, is put by way of the wringer. Not solely does she get kidnapped by a bunch of escaped criminals, however there’s additionally a scene the place she’s handcuffed to a runaway automotive. Christian reportedly didn’t get together with Davi or Lustig. It has additionally been reported that she suffered a miscarriage after filming the runaway automotive sequence. The filmmakers hadn’t been knowledgeable that she was pregnant, in any other case she wouldn’t have been concerned with the stunt. Manufacturing needed to shut down for some time, apparently inflicting a lack of 2 hundred thousand {dollars}. However, after recuperating, Christian returned to set and completed her work on the film. Her time on Maniac Cop 2 might have been tough and tragic, however she did make Susan stand out as a wise, resilient heroine.
One other main new addition is Turkell, a serial killer who has been strangling the town’s unique dancers. Lustig thought his Maniac star Joe Spinell ought to play this character. Mainly, he would have been enjoying the Maniac over again. Sadly, Spinell handed away earlier than manufacturing may start, so Lustig turned to a different actor he had labored with earlier than: Leo Rossi. Certain, Rossi had appeared as a special character in scenes that had been shot for the TV model of the primary film, however that didn’t matter. Have him develop a bushy beard and placed on a Southern accent and he grew to become the right Turkell. Whereas making ready for the function, Rossi was even thrown out of a strip membership as a result of he unnerved one of many dancers by making sustained eye contact along with her.
Turkell sees himself as a heroic determine, “a crusader of the night,” and he believes Cordell to be a kindred spirit. When these characters cross paths, he turns into Cordell’s personal Igor or Renfield, a lackey because the maniac cop’s mission of revenge ramps up. This character was a part of an effort to shine a special mild on Cordell. As Lustig defined, “What we’re doing this time is creating more sympathy for the character. In the first film, the Maniac Cop was more like Jason, a soulless character killing people. What we’re using the Turkell character for is to open up a dimension to the Maniac Cop and give him more of a Frankenstein-like sympathy.” He described the movie as “Frankenstein meets The French Connection.” Cordell nonetheless comes off as a really unhealthy man, however it’s clear why he’s doing all of this.
The primary movie had an unbelievable forged, and Lustig wasn’t slacking when he put this one collectively. Along with the actors already talked about, you get Michael Lerner, Clarence Williams III, Charles Napier, and Marco Rodriguez in supporting roles – and Rodriguez is even form of doing a variation of his function within the Sylvester Stallone traditional Cobra. A pre-fame Danny Trejo makes a cameo, and Sam Raimi reprised his function as a newscaster, however his display screen time ended up on the chopping room flooring and within the deleted scenes part of the eventual DVD and Blu-ray launch.
The truth that Lustig had much more cash to play with on half 2 is apparent to see while you watch the film, which seems to be way more slick and polished, and accommodates some huge set items. The rampage Cordell goes on on this installment permits for a number of awe-inspiring motion sequences full of thrilling mayhem and unbelievable stuntwork. As talked about, Susan is handcuffed to a automotive that’s despatched rolling downhill by way of traffic-filled streets as she dangles off the aspect. Cordell wipes out a complete police precinct in one of many coolest assault sequences ever. There’s even a raid on Sing Sing jail and a few very spectacular hearth stunts as Cordell walks round attacking individuals whereas his physique is engulfed in flames. Burning doesn’t trouble him. Lustig mentioned that, all through manufacturing, they had been experimenting with a number of first-of-a-kind particular results. The stunt individuals didn’t know what to anticipate, however they accepted the problem.
Regardless of having an even bigger finances and superior motion, Maniac Cop 2 didn’t get theatrical play like the primary film did. It went straight to video on December 13, 1990. Simply three months later, members of the L.A.P.D. bought worldwide consideration for beating a person named Rodney King whereas arresting him. This case would boil over and result in the L.A. riots the next 12 months – and Larry Cohen thought it gave Maniac Cop 2 the right alternative for field workplace success. He informed Psychotronic Video, “It’s crazy that Maniac Cop 2 isn’t in theatrical release with all this stuff going on with the police in Los Angeles. They’d make a fortune if they had that picture in every major inner-city area.” Nevertheless it wasn’t to be. The dearth of a theatrical launch didn’t dampen Lustig’s enthusiasm for the movie: he felt that Maniac Cop 2 was not solely superior to the primary film, however to each different film he ever made. He feels it’s his greatest work as a result of “It was the film where I felt as though myself and my crew were really firing on all cylinders. And I think we made a terrific B-movie.”
They actually did. Maniac Cop 2 was one other success, paving the way in which for Maniac Cop 3. Sadly, that one was a troubled manufacturing that resulted in a compromised movie… however that’s a narrative we lined in a special episode.
The Maniac Cop trilogy is considerably obscure, a minimum of when in comparison with heavy hitters like Friday the thirteenth, A Nightmare on Elm Road, or Halloween, however the collection deserves to be talked about in the identical breath with its extra standard friends. Matt Cordell is worthy of being thought-about a horror icon, and Maniac Cop 2 was him at this peak. It’s one of many coolest sequels ever made.
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