Every trilogy needs an ending, and Maniac Cop 3: Badge Of Silence is quite the explosive conclusion. Matt Cordell’s undead tornado of police brutality was content to lie six feet under after the second film, until a weird old voodoos priest (Julian Harris) who lives in catacombs under the city resurrects him for more destruction, and this time he wants a girlfriend. Robert Davi also returns as gritty Detective McKinney to hunt this guy down and *he* gets a girlfriend too, girlfriends for everyone. There was always a spooky element to these films but the voodoo angle is something that blesses and accents the urban street trash vibe beautifully with a decidedly folk horror garnish. Cordell has another agenda here and goes after a tough chick cop (Gretchen Becker) who has been slandered in the media just like he was years ago. Much of the action takes place in a hospital that gets shot to shreds, and in the atmospheric tunnels beneath the city where the voodoo rituals happen. I was surprised to see Jackie Earle ‘Rorschach’ Haley as a homicidal junkie, nice touch. The great Robert Forster also briefly shows up as the hospital’s cynical head doctor, getting classic lines like “I love the smell of fresh plasma in the morning” and “I don’t like my staff treating this like some goddamn Greek restaurant!.” Amazing stuff, with a fiery car chase in the third act that might be the best set piece of the whole trilogy.
-Nate Hill
Podcasting Them Softly 