Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence (1992) Reviews

• One of the all time top trilogies.

  moz-12001-05-25

  In a word, wow! Maniac Cop one was awesome: great subject matter, assured direction, true excitement and Bruce Campbell. I thought I'd watch the sequel for a laugh and ... it too was awesome. Enter Robert Davi and some more great action and laughs. What's that I hear you say? A cheap eighties action/horror with an equal sequel? Well you won't believe this, but I watched number three last night and I was blown away. Once again this film is equal to the original, and also enjoys a new cynical humour which was great fun. In this movie the cops and reporters and doctors all have a really crass way of talking about death when Robert Davi ask's how his partner is doing he gets the reply "Put her in a rock garden", with her parents well in earshot! This kind of sick humour punctuates the impressive action and actually adds to the realism of the movie. I highly recommend this to anyone who likes to enjoy themself(which has to be everyone). Go watch!

• Very good second sequel

  Rautus2007-04-19

  I'm a fan of the Maniac Cop films since they was a slasher film but with some action as well. Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence is a pretty good sequel to Maniac Cop and Maniac Cop 2. Written by Larry Cohen who wrote the previous two Maniac Cops and directed by William Lustig who directed the previous two Maniac Cops also some scenes was directed by Joel Soisson, Robert Devi returns as Sean McKinney and Robert Z'Dar returns as Matt Cordell. The film sees Matt Cordell returning from where Maniac Cop 2 finished off, this time he's after a female cop named Kate that was gunned down and is framed for killing a civilian. The Maniac Cop shows up in the hospital killing people getting in his way and the staff that are not trying to help Kate Properly. Matt wants Kate for his wife since Houngan, a man that used magic to bring him to life again can return her soul into her body making her live again then she can be Matt's bride. But Sean McKinney is out to stop Matt again and save Kate's soul from Matt Cordell. Maniac Cop III: Badge of Silence is an excellent follow up to the Maniac Cop Trilogy. 10/10

• Yet Another Solid Sequel.

  Zorin-21999-03-31

  "Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence" is yet another solid sequel that is just as good as the previous two movies in the series. As weird as it may seem, the maniac cop (played again by Robert Z'Dar) seems to have a heart in this one when he starts protecting a female cop who was wounded in a shootout and was said to be too hard on criminals. Now the crazed cop goes on another killing spree and it is up to Robert Davi (repraising his role from "Maniac Cop 2" to stop him. If you're a fan of the first two, be sure not to miss this entry with the exciting climax with the crazed cop a flame behind the wheel of a car. *** out of ***** Stars.

• Okay sequel that though pretty mediocre isn't without it's moments.

  Zombified_6602005-07-19

  Badge of Silence is undoubtedly the worst of the Maniac Cop series. The title is cool, and some of the movie is pretty good, but overall, it feels quite dull and lacking in comparison to the tense, suspenseful first movie and it's balls-to-the-wall horror action sequel. I suppose it's best viewed as a mix of the two, but it's unfortunately not quite as good as that sounds. For instance, the movie pulls in some good suspense moments, like a chase through an underground pipe system, and a fantastic closing chase segment, but generally these are quite tame and uneventful in comparison to the similar moments in the first two, and won't wring genuine scares out of you. Again, some cool action segments are present, but they're few and far between, and most leave you wanting for a little more than they provide. For instance, an early sequence in which Cordell (the titular Maniac Cop) throws a man up in the air then shoots him several times on the way down was very exciting, but then nothing like that happens for the rest of the movie. From the script and direction point of view, this movie is pretty interesting, involving a blacklisted cop in a coma that Cordell is trying to clear by killing everyone involved in her framing, and a lot of similar cop-thriller style direction from Lustig, but the movie just lacks any real spark. Don't get me wrong, Badge of Silence is still a reasonably fun watch. The dialogue is as snappy, well delivered and sarky as we've come to expect from the series, and Cordell is still quite an impressive presence thanks to the excellent Robert Z'Dar, but it just lacks oomph this time round. I can kind of see why it trailed off and they never made a fourth outing despite this movie's open ending.

• Cordell rises once more.....

  HaemovoreRex2006-07-12

  Officer Matt Cordell (Robert D'Zar) returns yet again in this, the apparent final sequel to William Lustwigs 1988 original movie. Far from being laid to everlasting rest after having his name cleared in the previous entry, our undead psycho slayer is resurrected here once more, this time by a voodoo priest (for reasons that are never actually explained) However it seems that beneath all that rotting flesh is a lonely heart as evidenced when he takes an amorous interest in a female police officer after she is gunned down during a drug store robbery. It seems that our misunderstood anti-hero wants her to join him in his un-death, again to be achieved by voodoo machinations. Before this, he resolves to bring about the violent dissolution of all those people who contributed to her comatose state and in addition those who would aggravate it (including in the later category the always excellent Robert Forster!) Returning once more is the welcome face of Robert Davi who ironically shares a similar agenda to Cordell i.e. to punish those responsible, but who is none too compliant with the undead marriage plans. It has to be said straight out that the film in question is not a patch on its two predecessors in terms of either story, script, action scenes or gore content. However, having said this and despite the hokey plot, the film does contain a few great set pieces including a cool scene where Davi rolls down a hospital corridor on a bed towards the bad guys and jumps out from under the covers with guns blazing. Overall then, for fans of the series this is well worth a watch. Maybe with some luck we'll yet see Matt Cordell rise from the grave once more hopefully sometime soon for a fourth entry in the series….