Zombie Cop (1991) User Reviews

A film so bad, the director disowned it

[Leofwine_draca · 2/10 · 11 April 2017]

ZOMBIE COP is a cheap and scuzzy shot-on-video horror flick, made by director J.R. Bookwalter (of THE DEAD NEXT DOOR 'fame') under a pseudonym, which means it must be bad, and bad it turns out to be. The problem with it isn't just the lack of money, although that plays a big part; it's the fact that this is an unoriginal rip-off of MANIAC COP, ROBOCOP, and DARKMAN, with the latter's look replicated in this protagonist's bandaged face appearance.

The plot sees a regular cop cursed by a Jamaican priest and forced to return from the dead as a zombie. He then goes gunning for revenge. What follows is extremely lo fi, with barely any plot and cheesy one-liners stolen from better movies. The one halfway decent bit of action is a fight on the roof of a speeding car, but the rest is all rather aimless.

"Your rights are hereby waived!"

[Beast-5 · 12 April 2002]

It's amazing,the things you can find in the Cleveland Public Library's audiovisual department. For one thing,I keep finding interesting shot-on-video movies like this in the Horror section. They deserve to be seen because the people who make them honestly love film and their

ideas are worth experiencing. ZOMBIE COP is cheesy fun from start to finish,with one of the best catchphrases ever(see the summary.)

tripe

[gob_bot · 1/10 · 1 April 2000]

this film, shot on a video camcorder of some sort, is a testament to the prowess of stupidity. you'll be lucky to find it in your local store, and i believe it received extremely limited distribution. that it got produced in the first place is a small miracle. though i consider myself a fan of the psychotronic b-movie genre, this film goes wrong in the wrong places. sure, the acting is bad, the plot confounded, the editing nonexistent. but if i wanted to see a film this bad, i'd go watch all the stupid videos i recorded with my friends in high school. zombie cop is about 90 straight minutes of just that.

Bookwalter's best...?

[poe426 · 6/10 · 10 December 2012]

ZOMBIE COP is one of those ambitious, no budget home movies that one can't help but appreciate: working with little more than pocket change and some eager wannabes, Bookwalter makes the best of what he has- and in so doing gives us another hour-long fun-fest. Anyone who's tried to crank out one of these things will sympathize with Bookwalter; anyone who hasn't just won't understand- it's that simple. It would be interesting to see what Bookwalter could do with a Budget: he's done stuff with NO money that outshines movies made for tens- and in some cases, hundreds- of millions of dollars. Give credit where credit is due: Bookwalter may not have the means, but he sure as **** has the GUTS to go out and get 'em done.

Very Funny

[zombiemaniac4537 · 8/10 · 22 October 2000]

The guy before me who wrote a review didn't like this movie he took the movie seriously at some parts. it is supposed to be funny.

I love this movie other Tempe movies

Skinned alive, bloodletting, dead next door, Robot Ninja, and Ozone

A highly enjoyable shot-on-video effort

[kannibalcorpsegrinder · 7/10 · 21 August 2022]

While responding to a house call, a police officer and a voodoo priest are both killed, but when they are resurrected as zombies and he sets out on a path to reclaim his old black magic powers to take control of the streets he teams up with his old partner to stop his plans.

Overall, this was quite the fun and enjoyable low-budget genre effort. Among the better features here is the exciting and rather thrilling setup that brings together voodoo and black magic with a Buddy/Cop Action film. The idea of the cop being killed at the same time as the voodoo master who cursed the both of them to come back from the dead and continue their war with each other is a fine enough setup here with just enough sideplots to get an idea of how the voodoo curse works. The scenes with his resurrection coming back to his partner and heading off to fight the resurrected voodoo kingpin as a demented kind of action film involving the two hunting down and stopping the mafia boss give this one a great setup to work with. Those scenes involving the two hunting the reanimated voodoo kingpin offers more of a highly enjoyable low-budget Action film featuring the officers trying to stop him. From the shootout at the hideout to the foot-chase through the community offering them shooting at or beating on each other in front of others and the fantastic car chase through the woods offers a fantastic series of energetic encounters which give this a lot to like. The fact that its budgetary limitations are obvious here, offering scenes of the pair fighting in backyards, along the small-town streets or mainly showing off tactics that focus on the low-budget displayed here. Very little of this is detrimental to being part of the film, but it does stand out as the flaws present.

Rated Unrated/R: Graphic Language and Violence.

Interesting concept...poor execution

[ManBehindTheMask63 · 20 June 2012]

"Zombie Cop" is an obscure shot on video action horror film directed by the infamous J.R. Bookwalter (The dead next door).

A cop gets turned into a zombie by a Jamaican baddie (who keeps his ancient voodoo transcripts next to his playboys) and returns from the dead to serve justice.

The film is Ed Wood Jr. esque bad in terms of production values and special effects. In the opening scene there are no squibs, no muzzle gunfire, and the zombie makeup consists of the leads face being painted brown. The zombie cop eventually ends up looking more like the invisible man due to the fact that he covers his face with bandages. The acting is atrocious and the special effects are laughable. It's a rare flick to find and a painful film to sit through. If you enjoy Bookwalter's other stuff you might enjoy this one. Other wise, go watch Maniac Cop 2 instead.

Until next time horror hounds and fright fanatics, beware the darkness...