A large lunatic in a policeman’s uniform is murdering innocent New Yorkers and causing panic. The higher-ups seem content to coverup the nasty business but seasoned detective Frank McCrae (Hell yeah, it’s Tom Atkins) is investigating and is a thorn in the side of his commissioner (cool as fuck Richard Rountree) and captain (forever badass William Smith) as they are not all that keen on his belief that the killer is or was once an officer of the law. Police officer Jack Forrest (his humble fabulous Bruce Campbell) gets dragged into things when he refuses to give an alibi for his paranoid wife’s murder (he’s having an affair with another cop and he doesn’t want to sully her name) and becomes the chief suspect. It’s all a set up on the part of the actual murderer’s old flame (Sheree fuckin’ North) to allow her former lover to carry on with his nasty business. Said lover (proving this movie just keeps on giving, our hulking monster is Robert Z’Dar) was once a cop who got himself made an example of for his trigger-happy stance and murdered when they put him in Sing Sing, basically signing his death warrant. McCrae believes Jack’s innocent and attempts to fish out the actual killer with the help of the young officer and his vice-cop girlfriend Theresa Mallory (she of impressive hair, Laurene Landon). The strong opening has a woman fleeing from two muggers into the hands of a back-lit cop and getting her neck broken by the supposed beacon of law and order, disgusting even her muggers. It’s the perfect way to show your cards from the start and William Lustig is more than capable of keeping everything interesting. This dream cast adds so damn much to the proceedings that even a weak script couldn’t have sunk it. Luckily, the writing by Larry fuckin’ Cohen is solid and Lustig has an eye for the un-romanticized side of New York as he already showed in the excellently scuzzy Maniac. Dark comedy blends with gritty thrills smoothly and the likable protagonists help through some slight underdevelopment but it’s not much to complain about. Sam Raimi and George “Buck” Flower get cameos and that’s just groovy.
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