• PDI Press

    PDI Press

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Seven)

    PDI Press
    January 16, 2022 1

    Betty White Vs the Stupid World (Chapter Six)

    PDI Press
    January 15, 2022 3

    Featured

    BETTY WHITE VS THE STUPID WORLD: The Movie

    John E. Meredith
    PDI Press
    January 17, 2022 2
    • PDI Press Catalog
    • PDI Press Writers
      • Fiction
  • Columns A-D
    • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
    • ABCs of Horror
    • All Binge… No Purge
    • Anything Joes
    • Beautiful Creatures
    • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
    • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
    • Cahiers du Horror
    • Dispatches From the Field
    • Drive-In Saturday
    • Dungeons & D-Listers
  • Columns F-P
    • The Final Girl
    • First Looks… Second Thoughts
    • The Flesh is Weak
    • Innocence and Experience
    • Lost in Translation
    • Marvel at the Movies
    • Muppets 101
    • Page to Screen
    • Popcorn Cinema
    • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
  • Columns S-Z
    • Schlock & Awe
    • Shakespeare on Film
    • Shot for Shot
    • Sick Flix
    • Unnatural Selections
    • Versus
    • Video Word Made Flesh
    • We Got Lists
    • Women in Horror
    • The Xeno File
    • Zombies 101
  • Reviews

    Reviews

    Superman (2025)

    Movies
    July 10, 2025 25

    Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

    Movies
    June 26, 2025 8

    Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

    Movies
    June 8, 2025 13

    Featured

    Superman (2025)

    Nate Zoebl
    Movies
    July 10, 2025 25
    • Books
    • Comics
    • DVD/Blu-ray
    • Movies
    • TV
    • Series
  • Interviews

    Interviews

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397

    David Black: Carnies, Carnage, and the Creative Chaos of Darkness Visible

    Interviews
    March 7, 2017 223

    Jaiden Kaine joins the Marvel Universe as new Luke Cage baddie, Zip

    Interviews
    September 29, 2016 8

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Batman: The Killing Joke

    Interviews
    July 28, 2016 61

    SDCC 2016 Interviews: The Cast and Creators of Syfy’s Van Helsing

    Interviews
    July 27, 2016 3

    Wondercon Interview: The Cast of Damien

    Interviews
    April 16, 2016 3

    Featured

    Interview with Indie Horror Master, Chris Bickel

    The Final Girl
    Interviews
    July 13, 2018 397
  • News

    News

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    News
    February 9, 2025 20

    “PATER NOSTER AND THE MISSION OF LIGHT” UNLEASHES TERRIFYING UNDERGROUND HORROR – A PSYCHEDELIC CULT MOVIE EXPERIENCE COMING SOON!

    News
    November 15, 2023 74

    Breaking Down The Upcoming DC Studios Slate

    Shot for Shot
    February 1, 2023

    Featured

    Regular Show: The Complete Series DVD is here!

    Paul Brian McCoy
    News
    February 9, 2025 20
    • Trailers
  • Psychos
  • Shop
Breaking
  • Superman (2025)
  • Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)
  • Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)
  • From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)
  • RSS
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Twitter
  • Tumblr
  • Who We Be
  • Contact
    Home
    Movies

    EZMM 2017 Day 1: The Midnight Hour (1985) & Maniac Cop (1988)

    Paul Brian McCoy
    Zombies 101
    April 10, 2017

    2017

    It’s that time of year again! Time to celebrate the Resurrection with a weeklong plunge into all things zombie! Here’s the history: In 2008, Dr. Girlfriend and I decided to spend a week or so each year marathoning through zombie films that we’d never seen before and I would blog short reviews. And simple as that, the Easter Zombie Movie Marathon was born.

    For the curious, here are links to 2008, 2009 (a bad year), 2010, 2011, 2012 (when we left the blog behind), 2013, 2014, 2015, and 2016.


    We decided to kick off the 2017 Easter Zombie Movie Marathon with an 80s flashback double-feature: the relatively obscure The Midnight Hour – a made-for-TV Halloween comedy-horror movie involving curses, witches, werewolves, zombies, and a musical number right in the midst of it all – and the cult classic, Maniac Cop – which for some unknown reason I’d never seen before.

    midnight-hour-cover

    The Midnight Hour originally aired on Friday night, November 1, 1985, on ABC and is generally dismissed and forgotten by horror, and particularly zombie, fans. Which is unfortunate, because this is a pretty well-made family-friendly horror story, with more than a few laughs, some slightly disturbing kills, and I’ll be damned if the original song “Get Dead” (performed by Shari Belafonte) isn’t catchy as hell. Don’t expect a lot of strong character work or logic, pop some popcorn for the kiddies, and enjoy.

    Since it’s streaming on YouTube, there’s really no excuse not to work this into your Halloween festivities. If you don’t have kids, though, you might want to stay away depending on your tolerance for silliness.

    The cast is filled with 80s talent; Peter Deluise and LeVar Burton are the jocks, Shari Belafonte and Dedee Pfeiffer are the popular girls, Dick Van Patten and Kevin McCarthy are two wildly different types of parents (Van Patten is the loving and encouraging town dentist, while McCarthy is the raging alcoholic town judge), Kurtwood Smith is the crotchety police captain who doesn’t believe anything is going on until it’s too late, and Wolfman Jack is the radio DJ introducing classic rock to liven up the film’s soundtrack.

    midnight-hour-01

    The leads are played by Lee Montgomery as nerdy Phil, whose unrequited love for Mary (Pfeiffer) gets redirected toward the new girl in town, Sandy (Jonna Lee). Of course, Sandy’s not really new to town as she’s just come back from the dead after being in the ground since the 50s.

    The basic story is classic. Some teens go out to the cemetery and stupidly perform a magical ritual that they think is a big joke but turns out to be real. Then, after they’ve gone back home to get their Halloween party started, the dead return to life, along with a werewolf and their vampiric witch queen, Lucinda Cavender (Jonelle Allen).

    There are two or three kills included here that might be a little spooky for the youngsters, particularly when the werewolf attacks his first victim, who writhes and screams as the monster leaps upon him, swiping and growling. The camera lingers on the attack, helping to make it a little more intense than it has any right to be. The second nice and scary scene is when Lucinda reveals that she’s a vampire as she attacks her great-great-great-great-grandaughter, Melissa, in her wine cellar. The attack is done in slow-motion and as they struggle, wine bottles are smashed (and some just pop open) spraying the room with red in a nice workaround for network television censors.

    midnight-hour-02

    Of course, those are just two moments. We’re also treated to dancing zombies, a zombie make-out session on the party couch (ugh), a zombie little person sticking his face in the punch bowl to get a drink, and a lot of other goofy shit as Phil and Sandy figure out what’s going on (she’s got the inside scoop, having been resurrected with the rest of the monsters) and set out to save the town.

    Writer William Bleich has a long track record of cheesy TV horror, right up until the late 90s when he worked on Poltergeist: The Legacy, and director Jack Bender is a TV director who has worked consistently since 1980, having directed episodes of everything from Eight is Enough to Beverly Hills 90210 to The Sopranos, Lost, and Game of Thrones.


    And now for something completely different.

    maniac-cop-poster

    Maniac Cop was one of the last true grindhouse movies to be shot on location in New York, and as such, it has a distinct charm all its own. With a budget of 1.1 million, we get a decent car chase, a few car stunts, and a lot of NY cops. We also get Evil Dead director Sam Raimi in a cameo as a reporter covering the St. Patrick’s Day parade.

    William Lustig is known mostly for the Maniac Cop series (he directed all three films) as well as the low-budget horror classic, Maniac. For the Maniac Cop series, he teamed up with legendary schlock screenwriter Larry Cohen (Black Caesar, the It’s Alive series, Q, The Stuff) and while this film was never going to win an Oscar, it’s a solid, if underrated, piece of 80s indie filmmaking.

    The story is simple enough. A loose-cannon cop was sent to prison, murdered, returned to life somehow, and now stalks the streets violently murdering anybody who gets in his way. He’s not hunting down bad guys. He’s literally killing the innocent for no discernable reason. Which is brilliant and hints at a thematic depth that the film doesn’t really do a whole lot with, but is clearly on display during a news broadcast where ordinary citizens of New York are not surprised at all that a cop is killing people.

    It’s a small moment, but it sings.

    maniac-cop-01

    Ultimately, he wants to kill the Mayor and the Police Commissioner who sent him to prison, but that’s really almost secondary to just murdering people at random.

    The film stars Tom Atkins, Theresa Mallory, and the one and only Bruce Campbell, as the cops who are trying to get Maniac Cop Robert Z’Dar off the streets. It also boasts Richard Roundtree and warrior-poet William Smith in supporting roles. Lustig’s uncle, legendary boxer Jake LaMotta also makes an appearance as a detective.

    I’ll be honest. As the opening credits began and I saw all those names, I was stunned. How had I never seen this movie? I’m embarrassed and ashamed. It’s like this film was made just for me and I never even knew it. It’s like one of those stupid missed messages on FB that got shunted off to a secret message folder that you didn’t even know existed.

    maniac-cop-02

    Maniac Cop is basically just exactly what it says it is. Why is he back from the dead? Who knows. Is he a zombie (the reason for the film’s inclusion in this year’s marathon) or is he just brain damaged to point of invulnerability? Not explored. Why is he setting up Bruce Campbell as his fall guy? No clue. All that matters here is that he’s big, horrifying, and wants to kill. Hell, he slaughters about a dozen cops in one off-screen sequence without making a single sound. He’s a force of nature and no plot or logic will restrain him!

    In the end, Maniac Cop is a nostalgic joy – whether you’ve seen it before or not. The cast is great, the concept is great, and the grit and grime of 80s New York is great. I can’t wait to watch the rest of the series once this year’s marathon is over.

    APPIP ERROR: amazonproducts[
    AccessDeniedAwsUsers|The Access Key Id AKIAIIK4RQAHE2XK6RNA is not enabled for accessing this version of Product Advertising API. Please migrate your credentials as referred here https://webservices.amazon.com/paapi5/documentation/migrating-your-product-advertising-api-account-from-your-aws-account.html.
    ]
    (Visited 379 times, 1 visits today)

    Related

    Bruce CampbellDick Van PattenEaster Zombie Movie MarathonEZMMEZMM 2017Jack BenderJonelle AllenJonna LeeKevin McCarthyKurtwood SmithLarry CohenLee MontgomeryLeVar BurtonManiac CopPaul Brian McCoyPeter DeluiseRichard RoundtreeRobert Z'DarShari BelafonteThe Midnight HourTheresa MalloryTom AtkinsWilliam BleichWilliam LustigWilliam SmithWolfman JackzombiesZombies 101

    FacebookTwitterPinterestEmail
    Previous Mystery Science Theater 3000 Volume XXXVIII
    Next EZMM 2017 Day 2: The Mad (2007) & Flight of the Living Dead (2007)
    monsterid
    Paul Brian McCoy
    Co-Founder / Editor-in-Chief / Dreamweaver
    Paul Brian McCoy is the Editor-in-Chief of Psycho Drive-In. His first novel, The Unraveling: Damaged Inc. Book One is available at Amazon US & UK, along with his collection of short stories, Coffee, Sex, & Creation (US & UK). He recently contributed the 1989 chapter to The American Comic Book Chronicles: The 1980s (US & UK). He also kicked off Comics Bulletin Books with Mondo Marvel Volumes One (US & UK) and Two (US & UK) and PDI Press with Marvel at the Movies: 1977-1998 (US & UK), Marvel at the Movies: Marvel Studios (US & UK), and Spoiler Warning: Hannibal Season 1 - An Unauthorized Critical Guide (US & UK). Paul is also unnaturally preoccupied with zombie films and sci-fi television. He can be found babbling on Twitter at @PBMcCoy.

    Related Posts

    The Psycho Drive-In Podcast 06: 28 Years Later

    Paul Brian McCoy
    The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
    June 24, 2025 6

    Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

    Paul Brian McCoy
    Movies
    June 8, 2025 13

    Daily Top Ten

    • star-wars-headerLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1970-79 by Scott Delahunt
    • mary-shelleys-frankenstein-headerEZMM 2024 Day 4: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) by Paul Brian McCoy
    • men-in-blackLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1990-99 by Scott Delahunt
    • AvatarWizards (1977) Blu-ray Review by Paul Brian McCoy
    • BuckAngel3Gender, Transformation and Mr. Angel: A Chat with… by Nate Abernethy
    • AHSFS-04AHS: Freak Show 4:01 “Monsters Among Us” by RG Lovecraft
    • 80s-headerLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1980-89 by Scott Delahunt
    • rampo-kitanBig Eyes Smart Mouth: Rampo Kitan: Game of Laplace by Serdar Yegulalp
    • rogue-one-09Double Feature Review: Rogue One (2016) by Nate Zoebl
    • babylon-5-blu-ray-04Babylon 5 Complete Series Blu-ray Review by Paul Brian McCoy
    400x400 GI Joe Funko Banner

    Weekly Top Ten

    • i-spit-on-your-grave-09The Final Girl: I Spit on Your Grave (2010) by The Final Girl
    • AT606-visionAdventure Time 6.06 “Breezy” by Dave Hearn
    • babylon-5-blu-ray-04Babylon 5 Complete Series Blu-ray Review by Paul Brian McCoy
    • 80s-headerLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1980-89 by Scott Delahunt
    • superman-headerSuperman (2025) by Nate Zoebl
    • LastLovecraft-cthulhuThe Last Lovecraft: Relic of Cthulhu (2009) by Alex Wolfe
    • star-wars-headerLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1970-79 by Scott Delahunt
    • mary-shelleys-frankenstein-headerEZMM 2024 Day 4: Mary Shelley’s Frankenstein (1994) by Paul Brian McCoy
    • men-in-blackLost in Translation: The History of Adaptations, 1990-99 by Scott Delahunt
    • a-knights-tale-06Lost in Translation 407: A Knight’s Tale (2001) by Scott Delahunt

    psychodrivein

    We came here to chew bubblegum and write intelligent reviews and commentary on cult TV and movies! And we're all out of bubblegum!

    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 483: One More Trailer

The Fantastic Four: First Steps is a period piece set in the 60s, around the time the comic was first published.
—
Read more of Scott’s article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #FantasticFour #FantasticFourFirstSteps #MarvelStudios #MCU
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Superman (2025 Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Superman (2025)

Superman is proof that the DC film universe might actually have the perfect person in charge of charting their cross-franchise courses.
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#Superman #JamesGunn #DavidCorenswet #RachelBrosnahan #NicholasHoult #DC #DCU
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Lost in Transl Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Lost in Translation 482: Examining Recent Trailers

Two new trailers dropped that are of interest to Lost in Translation: Spaceballs 2 and The Naked Gun!
—
Read more of Scott’s article at the link in our profile!

#LostInTranslation #Spaceballs2 #TheNakedGun #Trailers
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Final Destinat Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Final Destination: Bloodlines (2025)

FINAL DESTINATION: BLOODLINES is a return to form for a franchise that never should have been on the brink of death.
—
Read more of Nate’s review at the link in our profile!

#FinalDestination #FinalDestinationBloodlines #AdamBStein #ZachLipovsky #KaitlynSantaJuana #TonyTodd
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: S02E29 - File Card Focus: Big Boa
 
Greg and Jaren return to take a hard look at Cobra’s one-man trainer: Big Boa! 
—
Watch the @AnythingJoesPod gang at the link in our profile!

#AnythingJoes #GIJoe #Cobra #BigBoa #FileCardFocus
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com The Psycho Dri Today at https://psychodrivein.com

The Psycho Drive-In Podcast: 28 Years Later

Paul and John are back with a new PSYCHO DRIVE-IN PODCAST with a brand-new review of 28 YEARS LATER plus a look back at the franchise, its themes, its innovations, and its impact on the genre!
—
Listen to the guys at the link in our profile!

#ThePsychoDriveInPodcast #28YearsLater #28WeeksLater #28DaysLater #DannyBoyle #AlexGarland #AlfieWilliams
 #AaronTaylorJohnson #JodieComer #RalphFiennes
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Anything Joes: Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Anything Joes: Backstock Blacksite - Night Specter (2008)

In Backstock Blacksite, we open the classified crates and dig deep into Greg’s personal G.I. Joe overflow closet, where extras, variants, and forgotten figures wait to be unearthed.
—
@anythingjoespod #AnythingJoes #GIJoe #GIJoeClassified #NightSpecter #BackstockBlacksite
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com Predator: Kill Today at https://psychodrivein.com

Predator: Killer of Killers (2025)

With Predator: Killer of Killers, Predator fans are feasting, baby!!
—
Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile!

#Predator #PredatorKillerOfKillers #KillerOfKillers #DanTrachtenberg #LindsayLaVanchy #DamienCHaas #LouisOzawa #RickGonzalez #MichaelBiehn #JoshuaWassung #MichoRobertRutare
    Today at https://psychodrivein.com From the World Today at https://psychodrivein.com

From the World of John Wick: Ballerina (2025)

I can’t wait to see more Ballerina films. Seriously. I want one right now.

—

Read more of Paul’s review at the link in our profile 

#Ballerina #JohnWick #FromTheWorldOfJohnWickBallerina #AnaDeArmis #KeanuReeves #IanMcShane #AngelicaHuston #GabrielByrne #DavidCataneda #LenWiseman #ShayHatten #ChadStahelski #NormanReedus #LanceReddick
    Follow on Instagram

    Look Who's Talking

    Shawn EH
    Shawn EH - 5/4/2025
    Thunderbolts* (2025)
    Yep, very well done; avoiding the big flashy battle that these heroes (can any of you fly?)...
    Ideonova
    Ideonova - 12/26/2024
    Page to Screen: F. Paul Wilson’s The Keep
    Not living up to the source material? What source material? The book is a predictable, at times...
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr.
    Fred L. Taulbee Jr. - 8/17/2024
    Cahiers du Horror 03: Frank Henenlotter and The Brain that Wouldn’t Die
    I need to see that again. Maybe make it a double feature with All of Me. Steve Martin is someone you...
    RSSTwitterFacebookinstagramtumblr

    Archives

    Large_rectangle_336X280
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    • PDI Press
      • PDI Press Catalog
      • PDI Press Writers
        • Fiction
    • Columns A-D
      • A Fistful of Dollar Comics
      • ABCs of Horror
      • All Binge… No Purge
      • Anything Joes
      • Beautiful Creatures
      • Big Eyes Smart Mouth
      • Big Sleeps and Long Goodbyes
      • Cahiers du Horror
      • Dispatches From the Field
      • Drive-In Saturday
      • Dungeons & D-Listers
    • Columns F-P
      • The Final Girl
      • First Looks… Second Thoughts
      • The Flesh is Weak
      • Innocence and Experience
      • Lost in Translation
      • Marvel at the Movies
      • Muppets 101
      • Page to Screen
      • Popcorn Cinema
      • The Psycho Drive-In Podcast
      • Psycho Essentials: The ’80s!
    • Columns S-Z
      • Schlock & Awe
      • Shakespeare on Film
      • Shot for Shot
      • Sick Flix
      • Unnatural Selections
      • Versus
      • Video Word Made Flesh
      • We Got Lists
      • Women in Horror
      • The Xeno File
      • Zombies 101
    • Reviews
      • Books
      • Comics
      • DVD/Blu-ray
      • Movies
      • TV
      • Series
    • Interviews
    • News
      • Trailers
    • Psychos
    • Shop
    Type to search or hit ESC to close
    See all results
    Username
    Password
    Remember Me
    Lost password?
    Create an account
    Username
    Email
    Cancel
    Enter username or email
    Cancel