Wiseguy rookie cop Sam Dietz (Leo Rossi) arrives from New York, reports for work at the LAPD, and is paired up with grumpy Bill Malloy (Robert Loggia). The movie is worth watching for these two knuckleheads alone, but it's also worth watching for the scruffy, fearless direction of "B" movie master William Lustig (of the Maniac Cop movies). Dietz and Malloy go after serial killer Arthur "Buck" Taylor (Judd Nelson), who wanted to become a cop like his dad but couldn't make the force; he now takes out his frustrations on random innocents discovered in the phone book. Nelson gives the killer a brooding quiet, as if isolated inside his own head. Meg Foster co-stars as Sam's wife.
Alliance's Blu-ray release is packaged with a "retro-VHS" slipcover that I absolutely love. The only bonus is optional English subtitles.
