Maniac Cop 3 ; Badge of Silence

Compared to the first two movies, this one is certainly a bit of a disappointment. It's not as fun and also not as action packed as any of the two previous movies. Perhaps the fact that director William Lustig walked off the set, for some reason, is the reason for this. You can tell that this movie had some really good ideas in it but it just doesn't work out quite well enough. It sounds strange but even Cordell just comes across as a totally pointless character in this movie, even though he is the titular maniac cop of the movie. Seems like the movie really had a hard time putting its emphasis on the right elements and persons within this movie. It was true that in the previous movie the Robert Davi got pushed to the background too much, even though he was supposed to be the main hero of the movie.

Badge of Silence would continue shortly after the events of the first movie, with the immortal and tortured Matt Cordell once again rising from the grave to cause havoc and destruction. But with both Tom Atkins and Bruce Campbell having perished in the first and second film, respectively, the filmmakers were forced to introduce new characters and storyline in an effort to take the series in a fresh direction. Cordell is accidentally resurrected from the dead by a voo doo priest. As Cordell, a lonely and angry soul, spends his time reminiscing about his horrible past, he gets wind that a female cop who has been shot almost dead on the job. Police officer Kate Sullivan was shot by a drug-crazed criminal named Frank Jessup during a pharmacy hold-up and left in a coma. Two freelance tv journalists film the scene but thanks to judicious re-editing, the piece of film is recut to suggest that Kate shot two unarmed suspects.

Meanwhile Detective Sean McKinney tries to clear her name, and Cordell develops an interest in Kate and starts killing those who seek to turn off her life support.. As Katie lies dying in hospital, he attempts to bring her back so they can be united together. Robert Davi returns to play detective McKinney and attempts to stop Matt Cordell once and for all! Cordell spends the majority of the movie hiding in the shadows and walking slowly around the streets, and in the hospital, and only kills the odd annoying nurse, doctor or street pedestrian every now and again to remind the audience that this is supposed to be a horror film. Considering that McKinney spends a lot of time investigating Katie's attempted murder, and has shoot outs with the bad guys that contributed toward Katie's death, Maniac Cop 3 is an action movie more than anything else. Davi's performance steals the film, as it did in the previous sequel, and even though this movie was a straight to video sequel, his performance does not reflect that.

The pace of Maniac Cop 3 is slow and mundane, with more dialogue than should have been required for a film of this type, and it certainly feels as if it is really going nowhere at various parts. The climax does provide a good pay off for the film but it is too late by this point. Besides that, it comes across as too comical, anyway. It is as if director, William Lustig, was playing it for laughs this time. Perhaps having another director, Joe Soisson, onboard with him reflected the comical tone. I do not believe that gore hounds would be terribly interested in this movie as the on screen kills are quite tame and unoriginal. I don't even believe that horror fans in general would be too interested in this! Do yourself a favor and watch the first two films, and move on to something else. This is a waste of time!

good edetion widescreen uncut and for the price all round bargin buy it if your fan of the series not as good as the first 2 but still pretty decent effort

This is a good film however it is the weakest of the 3 films

Robert Z'Dar and Robert Davi return in their respective roles which is always good where sequels are concerned.

The story itself is a little strange with a voodoo priest bringing Cordell back to life at the start - of which we get absolutely no reason for. Cordell then sets out to clear a female officer falsely accused of using excessive force, in the process he kills numerous doctors around the hospital in various gruesome ways. It is quite slowly paced unlike the other two films but it is stillquite enjoyable and has a pretty cool music score