42nd Street Cinema



Cop Killers (1973)


Walter R. Cichy's vastly entertaining exploitation picture Cop Killers (1973)

Opening with 2 lowlifes; the outright psychotic Ray (Jason Williams) and the more reserved Alex (Bill Osco) on their way to a drug deal, get stopped at a Police roadblock. A shootout ensues resulting in all the cops being killed and the two crooks on the run. Upon arriving at a small town they hijack an ice cream van along with the whiney driver. A scene which is more comical than it is shocking, purely down to the poor dialogue and overacting.
Setting off on a journey of violence, kidnappings and a delivery of drugs that takes them all over Arizona. Resulting in one hell of a joyride.

Cop Killers has all the right ingredients to make it a greatly enjoyable exploitation treat with Cichy's efficiently directed shootouts and makeup effects by Rick Baker who would later provide the award winning effects for Landis' An American Werewolf in London (1981).



Good acting from the two leads, I found that the tension between the two characters was well represented on-screen. This concocted with the corny folk theme song, protracted climactic car chase that must almost consume the entire last reel, cheesy softcore sex, gratuitous nudity and further female degradation make this a nasty nugget of trash cinema that has long been neglected.

2 comments:

Unknown said...

This is one I've been meaning to check out. Sounds like my kind of trash.

James said...

yeah i really dug this, the Shriek Show release is such a scratchy print too it. gives it a real nostalgic feeling.

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