Plenty to Like, Plenty to Dislike

I cannot think of one single thing that I would change about this film. The acting is incomparable, the directing deft, and the writing poignantly brilliant.

Let me be very fair here, this is not the best movie in my opinion. But, this movie is fun, it has purpose and is very enjoyable to watch.

There are moments in this movie where the great movie it could've been peek out... They're fleeting, here, but they're worth savoring, and they happen often enough to make it worth your while.

Psycho Cop Returns (1993) ** (out of 4) Some guys decide to have a bachelor party at their office after hours. The strippers show up. The liquor is flowing. Everyone is having a blast but they don't realize that Officer Joe Vickers (Bobby Ray Shafer) doesn't like people who break the law.PSYCHO COP was an extremely low-budget attempt at a slasher movie. This sequel certainly looks a lot more professional and it features a lot more nudity and some bloodier death scenes but on the whole there's really nothing overly special about it. PSYCHO COP RETURNS is a fairly silly little picture that is mildly entertaining thanks to the R-rated stuff but there's no question that neither film is all that good.With that said, this sequel was certainly a bit better than the original because of the extra money that allowed for better special effects. The film has some pretty bloody moments throughout but the highlight are a couple gunshot wounds that allow a lot of blood to go flying. Some of the death scenes were rather lazy but for the most part they helped keep the film moving. The non-stop nudity from the strippers (one played by Julie Strain) was a plus.PSYCHO COP RETURNS isn't the worst movie ever made but at the same time it's certainly not all that good. Once again it's Shafer who steals the film as the nutty cop.

I watched this immediately after the original Psycho Cop and, wow, what a difference a little self-awareness makes! The original incompetently plodded through horrible writing, acting (with the exception of Shafer)and pretty much anything else you could screw up in a movie. For the sequel, they watched the original, expanded on the strengths and actively ridiculed the weaknesses. I almost hate to call Shafer's performance "brilliant" but there it is. Another actor would play the role just for laughs, but Shafer, after delivering a punchline, keeps the character's cheerful psychotic complexity. Did I really write that? This is just a fun, fun film that does a great job treading the line between the "THIS IS A COMEDY HORROR MOVIE ABOUT BAD COMEDY HORROR MOVIES" and just an enjoyable slasher film.

Squares in suits, working in cubicles in some city high rise company, are having a secret bachelor party in the building and will be the unfortunate victims of Bobby Ray Shafer's lunatic, devil-worshiping cop who seems impervious to pain (an ax to the stomach is merely a flesh wound and a fall down an elevator shaft several floors barely makes him limp while chasing the "final heroine"). That's it in a nutshell. While dropping lame endless kill and cop quips, Shafer has his fun decimating practically all characters he comes in contact with. A pencil to the eye, a spear that skewers two adulterous lovers to a wall, a toss of a bimbo off the balcony into a garbage bin below, gun shots that spread the back of skulls to the wall, and even a snapped neck, Shafer has plenty of victims to murder in various ways. I think "Psycho Cop Returns" (I'm not sure any sequel to the wretched original was ever begged for) was an example of the tired slasher genre DOA at the beginning of the 90s. It seems nobody told these guys that people had become numb to these movies by 1992.The murders are, at some points, somewhat well orchestrated, but the flat, often very obtrusive score (it even tells us when we are supposed to laugh at Shafer's dull jokes which are as obvious and old hat as his comedy killer routine) even ruins what could have been (and still somewhat is) a sizzling softcore sex scene between the attractive, sweaty, pulsating bodies of Justin Carrol and Carol Cummings. Julie Strain is recognized in the credits as "1993's Penthouse Pet of the Year", and she shows up as one of the strippers for the bachelor party (and subsequently the one of many to be on Shafer's kill-list body count). Barbara Niven, as the super-hot accountant, is the heroine of the picture, who will try to out-maneuver the seemingly unkillable Shafer, but everything she tries fails because he just doesn't die. I mean, how can this man outlast a five-minute beat down on the outside of a beer joint as barflies lay into him with aluminum bats repeatedly?!?! He even takes a flaming hairspray via cigarette lighter to the face and seems good to go not long after as if it was merely a scratch for Petesake! I know defenders of this pile of bile will say to me, "Scarecrow, why don't you lighten up? It's not to be taken seriously. It's all in good fun." But, come on, how far can I suspend my disbelief? Really, are the jokes in this really *that* funny? I guess some will say yes, but I just wanted it over as soon as possible. When chicks with overexposed fake tits even bore me, I know the film has no reason to exist. I noticed Niven has stayed busy, she sure was sexy in this movie, but easily duped by Shafer into dropping a gun at the promise he wouldn't shoot the victim in the head is certainly one of many "head-scratching" moments in this dire misfire. Miles Dougal, as the nerdy Brian, is positively painful in his role, whether he's in hysterics or really nervous, everything is heightened to an absurd degree. Oh, vey.Shafer resurrected himself on "The Office" as Bob Vance, a wonderful supporting part that has really given his career a needed boost from junk such as the Psycho Cop films. I imagine, no matter what I say about this insipid waste of time, many will still celebrate this as bad-movie heaven—eat your hearts out. Ugh.

Eeeeh!!!!! "Psycho Cop Returns" is just a weird, but funny, movie! From looking at that video cover, I thought to myself, "Is this 'Robocop' or 'Psycho Cop'?" Well, this movie might not be as great as "Robocop" really is, but if you want a similar movie with all the laughs and good times, the "Psycho Cop" series is the choice! Especially this version; it's just absurd and weird! It definitely ranks up there with all of those other "So Bad, It's Awesome" kinds of movies! Hey, I'm not kidding when I talk this and many other movies in this category!"Psycho Cop Returns" is a ten star movie in my book, and this is the best of the series.