Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence
Short description
A voodoo priest brings the undead officer Matt Cordell back once more in Maniac Cop 3: Badge of Silence. This time the revived killer fixates on Kate Sullivan, a police officer left in a coma after a hostage shooting. A news crew's edited footage turns her into a public villain, painting her as a killer rather than a rescuer, and Cordell sets out to punish those responsible for her ruin. Detective Sean McKinney, her colleague, works to clear her name while the Maniac Cop carves his own brutal path through the city. The film continues the series' premise of a wronged lawman who returns from the grave, and it is the third entry centered on the character.
William Lustig directed, following Maniac Cop 2 in his filmography and preceding Uncle Sam. The screenplay is by Larry Cohen, with Joel Soisson and Michael Leahy producing. Robert Davi plays McKinney, Caitlin Dulany appears as Dr. Susan Fowler, Gretchen Becker is Kate Sullivan, and Paul Gleason, Jackie Earle Haley and Julius Harris are among the credited cast, which numbers thirty-six. Alan Smithee is also listed as a director; the two credited directors share this film's place in their respective filmographies.
Released in December 1992, the 85-minute action horror mystery was produced by Overseas FilmGroup, NEO Motion Pictures and First Look Pictures. On TMDB it holds a rating of 5.3 out of 10 from 172 votes, indicating a modest response from those who have logged it.
What's left behind the scenes
- The second and third films were shot almost simultaneously.
- Due to some technical issues and the insufficient length of William Lustig's director's cut, the experienced Michael Eliot was brought in to edit the film. It is noticeable that some scenes in the resulting version produced through his efforts are overtly borrowed from the movie 'Maniac Cop 2' (William Lustig, 1990).
- The original script featured an African-American detective investigating a series of murders in a Harlem hospital. During pre-production, William Lustig began scouting filming locations and casting actors, intending to later use a Japanese distributor. According to Lustig, the Japanese began to stall because they did not want a film with an African-American lead. They wanted Robert Davi to play the lead, as he had in the second film of the franchise. Lustig opposed this but was eventually forced to give in, and Davi was cast. Larry Cohen refused to rewrite the script for free, and additional payment was denied. As a result, Lustig had to improvise and cut certain scenes from the plot. Consequently, in his own words, the film ended up being only an hour long. Some scenes had to be filmed urgently just to lengthen the movie. It was then that Lustig decided to leave the project.
Auditions in India
Casting calls in USA
Castingi w Polsce
Кастинги в Україні
