People seem to be very confused about this movie!
Maniac Cop is not undead or back from the dead. He never died, the prison doctor let him escape, after he was jumped in the shower and survived!
shareThis is really debatable. There are subtle hints that Cordell could be a zombie, like after Theresa's encounter with him she said his hands were ice-cold, even through his gloves (like a corpse), and she also said that "he wasn't breathing."
But on the other hand, the prision doctor did indeed confirm that Cordell was still alive after the shower attack, even though he did say that he had severe brain damage and could no longer function like a human being. Even so, where did he get his super-strength and the ability to survive both being shot in the head and impaled in the chest by a large pipe?
There's really not much logic to Maniac Cop, but it's still a fun little horror flick just the same. Just a matter of checking your brain at the door.
He is alive because the jail house doc says he is, why would they tell they audience this if he was really un-dead. His hands being ice cold just shows that he has become a new person, a cold blooded killer, with no sense of caring anymore. As for the not breathing part, I dunno, maybe the people making this movie were retarded and just through all these stupid idea's together without thinking first. I mean it is just a stupid 80's horror movie and most of them make no sense at all, so this ones no different. His super human strength makes no sense at all no matter how you look at it. I personally thought he didn't have super human strength but rather his actual strength was being over exaggerated.
So yeah I will admit since there is no logic anyone can debate whatever they want!
In the first one they down play the whole zombie bit. However in the second one he gets shot, and burned alive, and he still keeps on coming. So going by the sequels, part 2 in particular, taking place a few days after the first, its safe to assume Maniac Cop is undead. The only question is when did this happen? Maybe he became resurrected as a zombie at the very moment that the doc thought that he sprung to life.
Thank God for abortion!
yeah he is a Zombie!!! Otherwise how boring lol
shareMy theory is that he died after Sally brought him home, but his sense of honor and vengeance on clearing his name was so strong that it reanimated him. That's why he has so much more damage in the sequels: his body has continued to rot.
Sock: Float like a butterfly; sting like an angry, sarcastic bee. (Reaper)
I think hes undead how could he take so many shots otherwise. really fun movie though.
shareProbably in the same way that Michael Myers can taek six bullets and keep on truckin'. He doesn't really look that undead in the first one. He's scarred, has decaying teeth, but otherwise looks very much alive. I think he is alive if somehow superhuman in the first one, in that he embodies the principle of justice (though perverted). In the second one, he looks like he's in an advanced state of decomposition. The impalement probably killed him, after which he continues to exist as an undead being.
As for Teresa's account, it is probably colored by her state of mind at the moment.
That's my take on it, at least. :)
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There's no way he could just have been "not dead", 'cause that doesn't explain the super-human strenght, and that he lives through everything.
shareNo, it REALLY isn't debatable--because they said "he didn't die" IN THE FILM! There is no debate, except by dummies who watched the film and couldn't accept it for what it is, with all of the weak writing/low budget, so they come onto message boards and argue about their horrible theories that THEY think would have answered their questions or would have put into the film if they were directing it.
Here are some explanations for those of you that couldn't follow along with the silly plot OR those that have the imagination of a child that would IMMEDIATELY assume the supernatural, before coming up with anything even slightly possible.
His hands could have been cold, due to poor circulation, a result of being stitched up poorly--which, coupled with the fact that he was regularly raising people up higher than his heart, could account for "cold hands". Then maybe, she was just feeling warmer than usual, since she WAS almost killed by the guy!
He wasn't breathing--well, he was probably breathing slowly, cuz the doc also didn't notice he was alive till he started the autopsy. In fact, if he was such a badass, like they were making him out to be, perhaps he just managed to keep his heart rate low during stress (which would help explain him not bleeding out). I think the line was written to show, that he was just a calm deliberate killer, because he wasn't breathing heavily or breaking a sweat while committing these brutal acts.
The brain damage is meant to explain A LOT more of why this guy is the way he is--because if he was brain damaged enough, he very well might not feel pain and it also explains why he doesn't talk at all. If someone was loaded up with kevlar AND didn't feel pain, and had plenty of time (that hasn't been accounted for) to work out and build up muscle. It's also possible those shots to the head, were only grazing him, but they never said whether or not he could have had a few steel plates put in after his injuries.
Also, if you look at the giant metal thing after they pull it out--it doesn't even go thru the seat, it's off to the side, so if he moved it might have just smashed his ribcage really good as it went past him. If he had the kevlar on, it might have been reinforced with something that had a little more mass, like steel and that could have made the injury more survivable.
Superhuman strength? He's not bending steel with his hands, or tossing cars around--he's just picking up smallish women by the neck and man-handling a few cops, which is not easy mind you, but I'm sure a few body builder types could lift a couple hundred pounds like that.
___________________Sillier *beep* below this line__________________
I'd go so far as to say, his strength is less super and more sub-human--as in "Retard Strength", from that "brain damage" he suffered. Now, he's just a mute/bitter Frankenstein-Cop, with a Pete Rose haircut, and a determination to ruin family photos and the lives of those that wronged him! :-P
Also, does anybody else find it absolutely ridiculous that Jake LaMotta was in this film?!? Which was why I actually looked this film up--I spotted the name in the credits and wanted to know if it was really him or just somebody with the same name. Now, here I am, explaining my retard strength theory, and helping people make sense of this film, which is pretty ludicrous to begin with!
It was poorly written people, GET OVER IT, sometimes *beep* just doesn't make sense, because YOU are putting more thought into it than the people who made it! STOP TRYING TO MAKE IT A ZOMBIE MOVIE, there are PLENTY of those! Enough that it has it's own genre. The whole idea, that if the people we depend on to protect us, are actually homicidal maniacs, is a pretty scary concept--it doesn't need to be another *beep* "zombie flick".
(as far as bad writing goes, this is a perfect example of how NOT to write a story with any sort of "investigation" cuz EVERY LINE McCrae has is unnecessarily beating you over the head with OBVIOUS *beep* Maybe in the 80's they didn't have the number of cop shows we have today, but I'm still going to guess that even by 1988 standards, it was still just hack writing.)
kernelpickle - I don't get it, are you criticizing this film or just defending it for the obviously flawd but very fun and harmless horror/action romp that it is? Please explain...
Henry isn't home, I'm Edward!
That the film tells us he didn't die proves nothing other than that the film is inconsistent. It's a plot hole. First we get to know that he is shot several times without being phased, including twice in the head. Add to that that he was deathly cold and wasn't breathing (this information is not relayed to the audience for no reason), and the only conclusion is that he is not alive, or magically/supernaturally kept alive.
Later we hear that he never really died, except kinda sorta: the pathologist said he didn't lie when he filled out the death certificate. Simple brain damage won't explain how he can have perfect motor skills, as well as the mental capability to dress himself and operate vehicles.
In other words, the film tells us two different things, which cannot be reconciled with one another, and just opens up for a whole lot of questions with no rational explanation.