Psycho Cop

{{Infobox film

| name = Psycho Cop

| image = PsychoCop.jpg

| alt =

| caption = VHS artwork by Southgate Entertainment

| native_name =

| director = Wallace Potts

| producer = Jessica Rains
Cassian Elwes

| writer = Wallace Potts

| screenplay =

| story =

| based_on =

| starring =

{{plainlist|

Jeff Qualle
Palmer Lee Todd
Linda West
Cindy Guyer
Dan Campbell
Robert R. Shafer
Greg Joujon-Roche

}}

| narrator =

| music = Alex Parker
Keyth Pisani

| cinematography = Mark Walton

| editing = Ian McVey

| studio = Smoking Gun

| distributor = Southgate Entertainment

| released = {{film date|1989|11|28|United States}}

| runtime = 87 minutes

| country = United States

| language = English

| budget =

| gross =

}}

Psycho Cop is a 1989 American slasher film, released direct-to-video. It was written and directed by Wallace Potts, noted for its similarities to the previous year's Maniac Cop by William Lustig and Larry Cohen.{{cite book|author = Randall Clark|title = At a Theater or Drive-In Near You: The History, Culture and Politics of the American Exploitation Film|year = 1995|publisher = Garland Science|isbn = 978-0815319511|page = 1878}} It was followed by a 1993 sequel entitled Psycho Cop 2.{{cite book|author = Scott Aaron Stine|title = The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1980s|url = http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/book-2.php?isbn=0-7864-1532-0|access-date = 2 April 2016|year = 2003|publisher = McFarland & Company|isbn = 978-0786415328|page = 239}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Plot

Two lost newlyweds named Barbra and Greg stumble onto the site of the ritualistic murder of a woman by Joe Vickers, a corrupt police officer and serial killer who is also a Devil worshiper. Vickers murders both of them. The next day, three couples travel to a secluded mansion that they have rented and are given a tour by the property's caretaker, who is later murdered by Vickers. Upon noticing the caretaker's disappearance, the couples go looking for him and encounter Vickers, who reassures them by claiming that the caretaker injured himself chopping wood and is now recovering in the hospital. That night, Zack leaves to get beer and is killed by Vickers via billy club being shoved down his throat.

Vickers proceeds to butcher Eric, Julie, and Sarah. Doug and Laura realize that Vickers is the culprit by his shoes prints and are chased into the forest where they are found by a pair of policemen, Chris and Bradley. Before being killed by Vickers, the officers reveal that he is really Gary Henley, a discharged psychiatric patient who has somehow infiltrated the California Police Department. Laura is pursued by Vickers to a clearing containing the crucified bodies of Zack, Julie, Eric, and Sarah. Laura shoots Vickers with his own sidearm, but he is unaffected. Vickers is finally defeated (and seemingly killed) when he has a "sharp" log thrown through him by Doug. Emergency services greet Laura and Doug at the mansion as Vickers recovers and a newscast announces that further evidence indicates that he is actually an escaped psychopathic serial killer named Ted Warnicky. The film ends with Vickers smiling evilly at the camera.

Cast

Robert R. Shafer as Officer Joe Vickers/Gary Henley/Ted Warnicky
Jeff Qualle as Doug
Palmer Lee Todd as Laura
Dan Campbell as Eric
Cindy Guyer as Julie
Linda West as Sarah
Greg Joujon-Roche as Zack
Bruce Melena as Officer Bradley
Glenn Steelman as Officer Chris
Julie Araskog as Dead Woman
Denise Hartman as Barbara/Cop #3
David L. Zeisler as Greg/Cop #4

Reception

Scott Aaron Stine, author of The Gorehound's Guide to Splatter Films of the 1980s, referred to Psycho Cop as "completely lifeless, homogenized fare" further hampered by the "grating" Robert R. Shafer. Conversely, Kent Byron Armstrong, writer of Slasher Films: An International Filmography, 1960 Through 2001, found Shafer to be "great" and opined that "Psycho Cop provides enough humor to be an enjoyable film".{{cite book|author = Kent Byron Armstrong|title = Slasher Films: An International Filmography, 1960 through 2001|url = http://www.mcfarlandbooks.com/book-2.php?id=978-0-7864-4231-7|access-date = 2 April 2016|year = 2009|publisher = McFarland & Company|isbn = 978-0786442317|page = 240}}{{Dead link|date=May 2024 |bot=InternetArchiveBot |fix-attempted=yes }}

Ozus' World Movie Reviews's Dennis Schwartz awarded Psycho Cop a C+, calling it "dumb" and "ridiculous"{{cite web|url = http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/psychocop.html|title = Psycho Cop|last = Schwartz|first = Dennis|publisher = Ozus' World Movie Reviews|date = 12 July 2015|website = homepages.sover.net|access-date = 29 September 2015|archive-date = 1 October 2015|archive-url = https://web.archive.org/web/20151001035534/http://homepages.sover.net/~ozus/psychocop.html|url-status = dead}} while Todd Martin of Horror News wrote, "I think that it is just a fun little movie and if you are looking for a nice brainless slasher film that doesn't make you think too hard then you should give this movie a shot".{{cite web|url = http://horrornews.net/106333/film-review-psycho-cop/|title = Film Review: Psycho Cop (1989)|last = Martin|first = Todd|publisher = Horror News|date = 3 March 2016|website = horrornews.net|access-date = 2 April 2016}} Digital Retribution condemned Psycho Cop, giving it a 1/5 while dismissing it as a "Routine slasher flick that's trying to be a riff on William Lustig's Maniac Cop but instead ends up as a poorly acted and weakly penned misfire" with terrible special effects and direction that was "some of the worst in filmic history".{{cite web|url = http://www.digital-retribution.com/reviews/dvd/0378.php|title = Psycho Cop (1988)|last = Obrero|first = Doctor|publisher = Digital Retribution|date = 24 April 2006|website = digital-retribution.com|access-date = 29 September 2015}} JA Kerswell of the Hysteria Lives! gave the film a similarly low score of 2/5, noting, "If you had to pick a perfect example of a join-the-dots slasher flick then this hopelessly generic addition to the subgenre would fit the bill perfectly".{{cite web|url = http://www.hysteria-lives.co.uk/hysterialives/Hysteria/psycho_cop.html|title = Psycho Cop|last = Kerswell|first = JA|publisher = Hysteria Lives!|date = 14 May 2002|website = hysteria-lives.co.uk|access-date = 29 September 2015}}