Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence (1993)

Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence (1993)

Third and final film in the series is without question the weakest. A female officer (Gretchen Becker) goes to a hostage situation where she is shot countless times while also shooting the crack head robber (Jackie Earle Haley). The robber, in return, decides to sue the police force, which awakens our maniac cop (Robert Z'Dar) with the help of a voodoo priest. Robert Davi is back as the detective trying to figure everything out. Third third film in the series also has a screenplay written by Larry Cohen but he has very little to offer here. Obviously the main focus of the film are those bad guys who manage to sue and get money but the screenplay does nothing smart with it and in the end everything here is pretty much by the books. The direction by Lustig and performance by Haley, Z'Dar and Davi are the main reasons to watch the film. Not only doesn't the screenplay deliver on the moral lesson but it also lacks in any reasoning for bringing the character back. The voodoo angle doesn't work nor does the relationship between Davi and the nurse. The death scenes, in their uncut form, are pretty weak and one wonders why the movie was originally given a NC-17 rating. In the end, after a couple good entries this series really goes out on a rather bland note. The movie isn't bad but one can't help but feel disappointed that this is all they could come up with to close the series. (IMDB Michael_Elliott)