Mark Turner There is a large group of movies made that are considered so bad they're good. I know, it doesn't make sense when you read that does it? But the fact is they are enjoyable on some level even though there are mistakes, bad acting, bad lighting, bad cinematography and more wrong with them. Some are intentional, others are not. In the case of PSYCHO COP RETURNS I'm not quite sure which that is.Having not seen PSCHO COP I had no idea what to expect here. It doesn't matter as far as I can see. The movie kicks off with a group of office workers planning a bachelor party after hours in their workplace. As two of them walk down the street discussing plans they make the mistake of doing so in front of Officer Joe Vickers. Hearing them discussing drugs he gives them the once over and lets them go. But the truth is he only let them go to get a better idea of where they were heading and with plans on making sure they paid for breaking the law.Night falls, the office closes and the party begins. Strippers are brought in and quickly disrobe while the guys hoot and holler. Drugs are off the menu as the guy carrying them dumped them before Vickers approached them but alcohol is pouring freely. As all of this goes on there are more people left in the office building. One is a female exec working on a project, the other is a couple working on each other. Yes, believe it or not, they're fooling around in the office. Vickers enters the building and confronts the security guard and then kills him. Doors locked, elevators in his control, he heads upstairs to take care of the lawbreakers he overheard earlier. What they didn't realize in their fear of a law enforcement officer is that he isn't a standard issue policeman. The truth he is an undead Satanist with psychotic tendencies. In other words, he's evil and like to kill people. This is what he does for the next hour or so. The movie is a flashback to the films of the time with the body count rising and the gruesome methods of their demise being as creative as the ratings code would allow at the time. The gore is there, the screams are there and the chase sequences are there. And so is what was probably intended to be another franchise in the form of Office Vickers. Poor puns and bright red blood flow freely here but weren't enough to make movie fans embrace the two films. At least at the time.Instead the films developed a cult type following with fans running VHS copies of the movie until they wore out. A DVD release of the film in 2005 came out but had much of the violence and sexual content removed. Now Vinegar Syndrome has brought out a fantastic version of the film with a blu-ray print that is as clean as you're going to get. Their version contains plenty of extras as well, something movies like this rarely receive. Included are: A commentary track with Director Adam Rifkin; "Habeas Corpus" - a 43 minute documentary on the making of PSYCHO COP RETURNS, featuring brand new interviews with: Adam Rifkin (Director), Robert R. Shafer (Lead Actor), Dan Povenmire (Screenwriter), Peter Schink (Editor), Miles Dougal (Co-Star), Rod Sweitzer (Co-Star), Nick Vallelonga (Co-Star), Barbara Niven (Co-Star) and Melanie Good (Co-Star); "The Victims of Vickers" - featurette with SFX Artist Mike Tristano; cover artwork by Chris Garofalo; and reversible cover artwork. Not bad for a 20 some year old movie.One interesting thing to note is that the director is a pseudonym for Adam Rifkin, the director of such films as THE DARK BACKWARD, THE CHASE and DETROIT ROCK CITY as well as having written SMALL SOLDIERS, MOUSEHUNT and ZOOM. He made the film as a learning process and to have fun while making the film. The end result is one that while not a fantastic movie is one of those fun slasher pics from the 80s/90s that is a must see for fans of the genre as well as a great drinking film for those who imbibe. Cheers to Vinegar Syndrome for keeping this one from doing little more than collecting dust.

Woodyanders Deranged Satan-worshipping police officer Joe Vickers (robustly played with lip-smacking unhinged brio by Robert J. Schafer) stalks and kills a bunch of annoying and unlikable white collar yuppies who are holding a wild after hours party in the office building they all work in.Director Adam Rifkin, working from a blithely inane script by Don Povenmire, relates the enjoyably asinine story at a zippy pace, maintains a cheerfully broad'n'brazen tongue-in-cheek tone throughout (there's even an especially audacious parody of the infamous Rodney King beating towards the end!), and delivers oodles of outrageous over-the-top gore as well as a generous serving of tasty T&A. Moreover, it's a real twisted treat to see the obnoxious yuppie jerk victims being bumped off by Vickers in assorted gruesome and sadistic ways (the pencil in the eye gag rates as the definite nasty splatter highlight). Schafer has an absolute eye-rolling hambone ball as the titular loony flatfoot who's always cracking hilariously cheesy one-liners every time he kills someone. As a yummy plus, statuesque brunette stunner Julie Strain struts her sizzling stuff as a cowgirl stripper and runs around in revealing chaps. A total trashy blast.

Scarecrow-88 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.

rutt13-1 OK, I'm the guy who counts "Rock N' Roll Nightmare" amongst my fave films of all time. I laughed my a$$ off at "The Coroner," and "New Year's Evil." I've seen just about everything there is in the bad-horror genre. This is a horrible, completely unfunny movie. It's gory, I guess, but aside from the gorgeous Barbara Niven (I'm amazed-she's been in other stuff!)and some sleazy stuff, it's a total waste--however it's a heck of a lot better than "Psycho Cop 1!"