Maniac Cop 2 (1990)

User Rating:

5.3/10   

Director:

William Lustig

Writers:

Larry Cohen (characters)
Larry Cohen (written by)

Release Date:

18 July 1990 (France)

Genre:

Crime | Horror | Action | Thriller

Tagline:

You Have The Right To Remain Silent...Forever!

Plot:

A supernatural, maniac killer cop teams up with a Times Square serial killer.

Plot Keywords:

Serial Killer | Woman In Uniform | Uniform | Police Station | New York City

Cast

Robert Davi	...	Det. Sean McKinney
Claudia Christian	...	Susan Riley
Michael Lerner	...	Edward Doyle
Bruce Campbell	...	Jack Forrest
Laurene Landon	...	Teresa Mallory
Robert Z'Dar	...	Matt Cordell
Clarence Williams III	...	Blum
Leo Rossi	...	Turkell
Lou Bonacki	...	Detective Lovejoy
Paula Trickey	...	Cheryl
Charles Napier	...	Lew Brady
Santos Morales	...	Store Clerk
Robert Earl Jones	...	Harry
Andrew Hill Newman	...	Citizen
Ángel Salazar	...	Traffic Officer
Vincent Russo	...	Cab Driver
Hank Garrett	...	Tom O'Henton
Bo Dietl	...	Detective
Charlie Alfano	...	Color Guard
Kurek Ashley	...	Police Officer #1
Nick Barbaro	...	Captain of the Guards
John Barnes	...	Prison Guard
Barry Brenner	...	Medical Examiner
Joe Cirillo	...	Police Officer #2
Marc Chamlin	...	Pedestrian
Charles Croughwell	...	Trustee #2 (as Charlie Croughwell)
Shelly Desai	...	Convict
James Dixon	...	Range Officer
Jude Farese	...	Sergeant
Henry Fehren	...	Priest
David M. Graves	...	Trustee #1 (as David Graves)
Lisa Kramer	...	Ambulance Attendant
Lennon	...	Club Host
Frank Pesce	...	Strip Club M.C.
Sam Raimi	...	Newscaster
Debra Sarrategui	...	Bartender
Linda Silver	...	Woman Cop (as Linda Stockwell)
Danny Trejo	...	Prisoner
Audrey Marlyn	...	Interviewee #1
Patrick S. Harrigan	...	Interviewee #2
Glen Lloyd Hahn	...	Interviewee #3
Maria D'Alessio	...	Interviewee #4
Cynthia Banks	...	Strip Club Girls
Heather Dalberg	...	Strip Club Girls
Nancy Dregan	...	Strip Club Girls
Robin Hansen	...	Strip Club Girls
Manuella Mora	...	Strip Club Girls
Krystal Sather	...	Strip Club Girls
Mildred Smedley	...	Strip Club Girls
Ysobel Villanera	...	Strip Club Girls
Catherine Battistone	...	(voice)
Roger Aaron Brown	...	(voice)
Bert Rosario	...	(voice)
Burton Sharp	...	(voice)
Jason Lustig	...	(voice)
Lee Arnone	...	(voice)
Rod Gist		(as Rod L. Gist)
Enrique Castillo	...	(voice) (as E.J. Castillo)
Jack Linden	...	(voice)
Paul Pape	...	(voice)
rest of cast listed alphabetically:
Thomas Paul Croce	...	Prisoner (uncredited)
Marco Rodríguez	...	Convenience Store Robber (uncredited)

Directed by
William Lustig

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Larry Cohen		characters
Larry Cohen		written by

Produced by
Larry Cohen	....	producer
Frank D'Alessio	....	executive producer
Anthony De Felice	....	associate producer
John Engel	....	co-producer (as John S. Engel)
David Hodgins	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Jay Chattaway

Cinematography by
James Lemmo

Film Editing by
David Kern

Casting by
Ira Belgrade

Production Design by
Gene Abel
Charles M. Lagola

Set Decoration by
Ann Job

Makeup Department
Cidele Curo	....	makeup artist: New York City unit
Dean Gates	....	special makeup effects artist
Theo Mayes	....	hair stylist: New York City unit
Bill Miller-Jones	....	key makeup artist
Gladys Riera	....	key hair stylist
Carolyn Taye-Loren	....	assistant makeup artist

Production Management
Nicholas A. Barbaro	....	executive in charge of production
Steven Brown	....	unit production manager (as Steven P. Brown)
Mark Rhodes	....	unit manager: New York
Louis Tancredi	....	unit production manager

Second Unit Director or Assistant Director
Sarah Addington	....	second second assistant director
Alan Breton	....	additional second assistant director: New York
John Cameron	....	first assistant director
Lauren Cloud	....	second second assistant director: New York
Carl Goldstein	....	second assistant director
Dolly Hall	....	second assistant director
Robert Loeser	....	assistant director: second unit
Spiro Razatos	....	second unit director

Art Department
Tony Bonaventura	....	property master (as Tony 'Vito' Bonaventura)
Chris Brewster	....	leadman
Ariane Burgess	....	second props
D. Don Clark	....	carpenter
Daniel Durning	....	lead carpenter
Gregg Edler	....	set dresser (as Greg Edler)
Richard Greenberg	....	art department assistant
Todd W. Greenwald	....	leadman
Todd W. Greenwald	....	property master
Mark Harrington	....	property master
Joe Jesuit	....	painter: picture car
Ann Job	....	assistant art director
Susan Kirr	....	props: second unit
Richard Krekian	....	art department assistant
Peter Larssen	....	construction coordinator
Mary Latvis	....	art department assistant
Gilbert Martinez	....	props: Turkell's knife
Richard N. McGuire	....	construction supervisor
Michael Roddy	....	art department assistant
Lance Simco	....	scenic artist (as C.L. Simco)
Robert A. Sturtevant	....	carpenter
Henry Wolyniec	....	set dresser

Sound Department
Gregg Barbanell	....	foley artist
G.W. Brown	....	adr editor
Stuart Copely	....	dialogue editor
Dane A. Davis	....	supervising sound editor
Craig Felburg	....	sound mixer
Melinda Garey	....	assistant sound editor
Marita Goldsmith	....	sound transfer
Rich Gooch	....	recordist
Tom Hammond	....	foley editor
Wayne Heitman	....	dubbing mixer
Jon Hussein	....	adr
Stanley Kastner	....	sound re-recording mixer
Kini Kay	....	sound effects editor
John Kwiatkowski	....	sound effects editor
Mark Larry	....	foley editor
Lisa J. Levine	....	adr editor
Trillby Kim Lowe	....	dialogue editor (as Kimberly Lowe Voigt)
Walt Martin	....	sound mixer
Stewart Nelson	....	sound effects editor
Nancy Parker	....	foley artist
Steven J. Rogers	....	production sound mixer
Steve Smith	....	sound stereo consultant (as Steve FB Smith)
Greg Steele	....	dubbing mixer
Christopher M. Taylor	....	boom operator
Todd Toon	....	sound effects editor
Tracy Toon	....	assistant sound editor
Nancy Tracy	....	assistant sound editor
Rick Waddell	....	boom operator
Steve 'Woody' Wood	....	recordist (as Stephen 'Woody' Wood)

Special Effects by
Wayne Beauchamp	....	pyrotechnician
John Carter	....	special effects supervisor
John Eggett	....	special effects supervisor
David McGregor	....	special effects assistant
Jeff Naparstek	....	assistant special effects
Bob Tiller	....	additional special effects
Matt Vogel	....	special effects coordinator
Jack Walsh	....	special effects assistant

Visual Effects by
Larry Arpin	....	optical effects

Stunts
Gregory J. Barnett	....	stunts (as Greg Barnett)
Kenny Bates	....	stunts
Brad Bovee	....	stunts
Steve Boyum	....	stunts
Nick Brett	....	stunts
Kurt Bryant	....	stunts
Buzz Bundy	....	stunts
Richard E. Butler	....	stunts
John Cade	....	stunts
Alan Carter	....	stunts
Doc D. Charbonneau	....	stunts
Erik Cord	....	stunts (as Eric Cord)
Charles Croughwell	....	stunts (as Charlie Croughwell)
Lori Crowder	....	stunts
Wally Crowder	....	stunts
Phil Culotta	....	stunts
Shane Dixon	....	stunts
Christopher Doyle	....	stunts (as Chris Doyle)
Chris Durand	....	stunts
John Edward	....	stunts (as John E. Edward)
John Escobar	....	stunts
Corey Michael Eubanks	....	stunts (as Corey Eubanks)
Dane Farwell	....	stunts
Glory Fioramonti	....	stunts (as Gloria Firoamonti)
Andy Gill	....	stunts
Jack Gill	....	stunts
David M. Graves	....	stunts (as David Graves)
Larry Holt	....	stunts
Gary Hymes	....	stunts
Terry Jackson	....	stunts
Steve Kelso	....	stunts
Jon Kinney	....	stunt performer
Jason Lustig	....	stunts
Zoe Mauries	....	stunts
John Meier	....	stunts (as Johnny C. Meier)
Motesjc	....	stunts
Steve Picerni	....	stunts
Bernie Pock	....	stunts
Spiro Razatos	....	stunt coordinator
Ronnie Rondell Jr.	....	stunts (as Ronnie Rondell)
Michael Russo	....	stunts (as Michael C. Russo)
Tom Sarmento	....	stunts
Gregg Smrz	....	stunts
Cris Thomas-Palomino	....	stunts (as Chris Thomas-Palomino)
Tim Trella	....	stunts
Cheryl Wheeler-Dixon	....	stunts
Merritt Yohnka	....	stunts (as Merrit Yohnka)
Bob Minor	....	stunts (uncredited)

Camera and Electrical Department
Jeff Alessi	....	best boy grip
Steve Alessi	....	electrician (as Steve 'The Griptemizer' Alessi)
David Arata	....	electrician
David Ariniello	....	grip
Kurek Ashley	....	dolly grip (as Kurek 'The Rock' Ashley)
Steve Austin	....	video technician
Ron Bahara	....	additional camera assistant
Ron Bahara	....	first assistant camera: second camera
Bruce Bellamy	....	grip
Corwin A. Bibb	....	grip (as Cory Bibb)
John Billeci	....	electrician
Bart Blaise	....	additional camera assistant: New York
Paul Bolles	....	electrician
Alan Brownstein	....	additional camera operator
Rick Bruck	....	crane operator
Jess V. Carpenter	....	second assistant camera: New York
Melissa Cohen	....	still photographer
Jeff DeLucia	....	electrician
Louis DiCesare	....	gaffer
Kenneth Dixon	....	swing
Kimo Easterwood	....	grip (as Kimo 'The Meister' Easterwood)
Greg Fausak	....	grip
Scott Fleischer	....	camera equipment
Mark Garafalo	....	additional camera assistant: New York
Sal Giarratano	....	camera equipment
Bob Gorelick	....	panaglide operator
Keith Gorman	....	electrician (as Keith A.F. Gorman)
Mark Gutterud	....	additional camera assistant
Bob Harley	....	camera equipment
Jeff Hirschorn	....	panaglide assistant (as Jeffrey Hirschorn)
Zoran Hochstätter	....	additional camera
Jonathan Kealey	....	best boy electric
James A. Lebovitz	....	additional camera
David Lena	....	additional camera assistant
Damon Marcellino	....	set lighting technician
John Marx	....	grip
Richard Mauro	....	gaffer
Igor Meglic	....	additional camera operator: second unit
Igor Meglic	....	additional camera
Melissa Moseley	....	still photographer
Evan A. Nesbitt	....	first assistant camera
David Omedes	....	additional camera assistant: New York
Todd Parker	....	best boy electric
Brendon Perreault	....	louma crane operator
Paul Plannette	....	electrician
Marcia Reed	....	still photographer
Joe Ritter	....	additional camera assistant
Caesar Rivera	....	crane operator
Bill H. Roberts Jr.	....	second assistant camera (as Bill Roberts)
Dave Samuel	....	electrician
Peter Spera	....	first assistant camera: New York
Igor Sunara	....	additional camera operator: second unit
Igor Sunara	....	camera operator: New York City second unit
Bobby Thomas	....	grip
Wayne Trimble	....	first assistant camera
Jill Updyke	....	additional camera assistant (as Jill R. Updyke)
Lou Weinert	....	assistant camera
Derek Wells	....	key grip
Alan Wolfe	....	additional camera assistant: New York
Bruce Woolen	....	grip
Joey Wrubleski	....	grip

Casting Department
Ann Ross	....	extras casting

Costume and Wardrobe Department
Beth Baronian	....	costumer
Paul Girard	....	costumer
Jennifer L. Soulages	....	wardrobe supervisor

Editorial Department
Arthur J. Codron	....	first assistant editor
Ray Morfino	....	color timer
James Sealskin	....	post-production assistant
Brenton Telford	....	post-production assistant (as Brenton Lane Telford)
Max Weissman	....	assistant editor

Music Department
Pete Levin	....	electronic music engineer
Joseph Smith	....	orchestrator
Jack K. Tillar	....	music editor
Joseph Smith	....	composer: additional music (uncredited)

Transportation Department
William Baker	....	driver
Jim Buckman	....	driver
Lyle Christensen	....	camera car driver
Lyle Christensen	....	shotmaker driver
Francis Connolly Jr.	....	driver
Nathaniel Dawson	....	driver
Ken Day	....	camera car driver
Joseph Dianda	....	camera car driver
Peter Helm	....	transportation captain (as Peter J. Helm)
Ron Holmstrom	....	transportation coordinator
Mark La Joie	....	transportation coordinator
Rob Lajoie	....	driver
Mike Painter	....	transportation
Todd Painter	....	driver (1990)
James Patrick Whalen Jr.	....	transportation captain
Gregg Willis	....	driver: honeywagon (as Gregory P. Willis)

Other crew
Stacy J. Abrams	....	assistant to director
Matthew R. Altman	....	production assistant
Royal Alvis	....	location assistant
Eva Banhidi	....	script supervisor
John W. Barbee	....	assistant location manager
Jesse R. Baumler	....	production assistant
William C. Beckett	....	coordinator: picture car
Richard Bliss	....	production assistant
Debbie Braham	....	financial services
Christopher Brewster	....	production assistant
M. Ginanne Carpenter	....	production coordinator
Mark Chamlin	....	legal services (as Marc Chamlin)
Bundy Chanock	....	set medic
Linda Contract	....	travel
Thomas Paul Croce	....	craft service
Michelle Edmonds	....	production assistant (as Michelle Pappas)
Madeline Farris	....	production assistant (as Medeleine Farris)
Robert A. Ferretti	....	creative consultant
Pablo Ferro	....	title designer
Christy Fiero	....	accounting assistant (as Christy Susskind)
Linda Fox	....	production assistant
Mary E. Fox	....	post-production accountant
Lucy E. Fraser	....	location assistant
Julie Genser	....	production assistant
Jon Greene	....	police services
Alexandra Guzman	....	production assistant
Don Hahn	....	engineer
Anna Harper	....	assistant production auditor
Scott A. Hartman	....	production assistant
Gary Hertz	....	unit publicist
Jeff Hinman	....	production assistant
Scott Hornbacher	....	location assistant
Peggy Hughes	....	production assistant
Staci Huntington	....	extras payroll
Tom Ingersoll	....	production assistant (as Tom 'Chauncy' Ingersol)
Hillary Jackson	....	production assistant
April A. Janow	....	production accountant
Kat Javier	....	payroll
Janice Kambara	....	accounting assistant
Risa Koren	....	key production assistant
Brenton L. Lane	....	production assistant (as Brenton Littlefield Lane)
Jon Leonoudakis	....	location manager: second unit
Craig Markey	....	additional script supervisor: second unit
Craig Markey	....	script supervisor: New York
Gene Martin	....	mechanic: picture car
Lisa Matsukawa	....	production coordinator
Paul D. McCarthy	....	production assistant
Hank McGill	....	paramedic
Heather Mills	....	pre-production coordinator
Robert Mintz	....	completion guarantor
Keith Mitchell	....	production assistant
Linda Moline	....	technical advisor: Strip Club Girls
Margaux Murray	....	production assistant
Elisabeth Myles	....	script supervisor
Buckley Norris	....	insurance
Quelou Parente	....	production assistant
Catherine Petroff	....	production assistant
Vance Pierik	....	production assistant
Gary Qualles	....	production assistant
Carlos Rodriguez	....	security
Ingrid Rudefors	....	assistant production coordinator
Debra Sarrategui	....	production assistant
Gregory Sidjakov	....	production assistant
Bonnie Sills	....	location manager
Roberto Silvi	....	creative consultant
Edwin Stalter	....	production assistant
Rina Sternfeld-Allon	....	script supervisor
Brian Strickland	....	production assistant
Sabrina S. Sutherland	....	assistant production coordinator (as Sabrina Nathanson)
Robert Wayne Vaupel	....	assistant production coordinator
Kimberly Weeks	....	caterer
George Wilkerson	....	police services
Chao L. Wu	....	production assistant

Thanks
Alan M. Solomon	....	special thanks
Joe Spinell	....	dedicatee (as Joe 'Maniac' Spinell)

Production Companies

• Medusa Pictures

Distributors

• Alpha Media (2007) (China) (video) (VOD/IPTV)
• Beam Entertainment (Japan) (DVD producer)
• CBS/Fox Home Video (Australia) (VHS)
• Creative Axa Co. Ltd. (Japan) (DVD)
• Delta Vidéo Diffusion (1990) (France) (VHS)
• Fox Home Video
• Image Entertainment (laserdisc)
• International Video Entertainment (IVE) (video)
• Live Video (video)
• Top Tape (Brazil) (VHS)
• Vestron Video (video)

Special Effects

• Court Wizard Special Effects

Other Companies

• Twilight Hour Productions  extras casting

Runtime:

90 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Dolby SR

Certification:

Germany:Not Rated | West Germany:18 (cut) (video premiere) | Iceland:16 | Finland:K-16 (cut) (VHS version) (1990) | Finland:K-18 (cut) (VHS version) (1990) | Australia:M | France:-12 | Norway:18 (video premiere) | UK:18 | USA:R | Germany:BPjM Restricted

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Company:

Medusa Pictures

Trivia:

Matt Cordell (Robert Z'Dar) speaks only once, giving his surname.

Goofs:

Crew or equipment visible: At the Police Station, as Cordell walks through the walls made of glass, the second one clearly shatters before he walks through it. Also, in the same scene a minute later, you can clearly see the wire used to drag the officer through the wall frames.

Quotes:

Turkell: You're the prettiest one in my collection so far.

Movie Connections:

References Back to the Future Part II (1989)

Maniac Cop is back on the beat!

The film starts off with a recap of what happened at the end of the original Maniac Cop and this leads to the police force believing that Matt Cordell drowned and his body got washed away. Well, they are wrong as he is back on the streets of New York doing what he does best, by seeking revenge on his fellow officers, unexpected citizens and on those crooked authorities who framed him. But his not alone on this crusade, as he's joined by a jolly serial killer. So, it's up to detective Sean McKinney and police psychologist Susan Riley to put a stop to this macabre madness.

"Maniac Cop 2" is a pearler of a trashy sequel that's just as dark and entertaining like its predecessor… maybe more so. Although, I probably like the original a tad more. But what makes this one a little more exciting is that it goes for more expansive and quite highly energetic action set-pieces. They seem to up the ante and nihilistic violence within each scene that follows in such a rapid pace. We can thank this winning formula to the pairing up again of director William Lustig and writer / producer Larry Cohen who did a really fine job on "Maniac Cop". The story by Cohen treads the same path as the original, but gladly along the way it adds in some refreshing developments to make it stick out from a usual carbon-copy sequel. He puts forward a lot of the focus on the mysterious back-story and the motive behind all of this chaos that leads Cordell doing bad deeds and taking the criminals' side. Also evident in the script is plenty of black humour and sardonic wit that mixes well with the grungy and dry dialogues. Just like the first there is also a social commentary lurking about on how corrupt and weak the decaying justice system is and the foolishness of these higher superiors, but all of that is overshadowed by its exuberant and quite meaty stunts. And of course it seems to play the terror of this novel idea more for fun and it works out for that reason alone.

Obviously that's the reason for Cordell getting himself a partner. Quite an eccentric and clingy, non-stop chatterer was this serial killer who was played superbly by Leo Rossi. Compared with the silent, brute sized zombie figure of Matt Cordell that emitted such an eerie tone played by the dominating presence of Robert Z'Dar. They were definitely the odd couple! Robert Davi paints an convincing performance as the hard-ass detective Sean McKinney who's on the trail of Cordell and Claudia Christian is equally good as police psychologist Susan Riley. Bruce Campbell and Laurene Landon feature again from the first flick to come up with rather small roles on this outing. Michael Lerner is excellent as the slimy Commissioner Edward Doyle and there's some quick scenes with Charles Napier, Sam Raimi and Danny Trejo.

Director Lustig manages to grab you with some well set-up explosive thrills (like the terminator style slaughter of a police station) and he makes the most out of the very grimy and atmospheric backdrop of New York. The seedy night scenes really creep up on you with what's lurking in the shadows and the lighting composition is handled very well. When the film what's to be creepy the score ranges from a chillingly, whisper with the odd chant and whistling tune, but when it kicks into gear so does the score with an thumping and quite jarring arrangement. It's not a particularly gory film, but there's a big body count and the deaths are extremely violent. The makeup effects are quite superior with Cordell's face looking horrendously, hideous and that's a good thing as he looks dead. In all it mostly delivers on the very important staples that's makes this trash enjoyable.

This is one amusing sequel that's nearly as good as the original and benefits from keeping the same tone if only going one step bigger in the energy levels.