Forgotten Film Friday - Cop (1988)

James Woods hunts a serial killer as only he can. With lots of sex and cigarette smoking.

What is Forgotten Film Friday? Well, I'm taking a look at a film that seems to have been forgotten by film watchers. Does this mean it’s hard to find or unavailable? No, but most movie fans seem to have lost track of it. Here, I’ll point them in the direction of what I thought about them when I did end up finding them.

Plot: A cop whose life is falling apart finds himself on the trail of a serial killer. Will he fall into their trap?

Review: In the 80s if we needed someone who was kind of an asshole but somehow likable, there was only one person to call. James Woods! Unfortunately, we have found that in real life he very much fits the asshole part without the likable aspect. If you look at pretty much any role he had during the decade of decadence, you would find someone who wasn’t someone you would want to spend a lot of time with, but by the end, you root for.

Here, Detective Hopkins (Woods) is given what seems like a bogus tip on the location of a murder. He hits the address, and when he sees small signs that the front door had been kicked in at one point, he pulls his gun and enters the house. We see him sweep the house.

This scene is pretty tense as there is no score or music under it. It’s dead quiet as he slowly goes through the house. He finally finds himself by a door with blood coming from under it. After he kneels down, he slowly turns the door knob and pushes it open. Inside, we see a woman hanging upside down with blood all over the room. It’s pretty vicious and reminds me of the bodies from Predator 2 without the decapitated heads. All of this is within the first five minutes.

Hopkins requests that he get to take the case even though it’s technically out of his jurisdiction. There is some back and forth, but in the end, he ends up on it whether anyone wants him to be or not. Quickly, we learn that one of the reasons he seems to be drowning himself in this case is that things at home are not going well for him. His wife thinks he brings home too much of his work mentally to their child.

While working on the case, we find that his wife has taken their daughter and left. This just leads him deeper into investigating the murder. His bosses even try to take him off the case, but he ignores their wishes and keeps looking into it anyway. As the clues come together, he begins to think there is a serial killer at work. He meets up with various other women who are tangentially involved with the case and sleeps with one of them. Why not just crash that marriage and job at the same time?

Of course, James Woods plays his character perfectly because he is pretty much every character he plays. That’s not a complaint. When I come to a James Woods movie, I expect certain character aspects, and you end up with that in spades. If he’s not being smarmy and breaking the law a little, then why even watch a Woods movie?

My only real complaint about the film is that it gets a little slow in the middle. When Woods discovers a serial killer is at work, most of the deaths he connects him to happened years before the start of the movie. Not a lot of deaths happen once the movie starts. Then the usual part of the higher-ups at the PD don’t want to acknowledge there is a serial killer because they don’t want a panic.

The connection between the serial killer and some of the victims, along with a potential victim, is a little convoluted. It’s not anything that ruins the movie, but at some point, you have to sit and think about how he is connected to the victims and whether it makes much sense. Then, a subplot about a corrupt police officer and drugs enters the picture as well, and it can be hard to keep track of why everyone knows each other.

Overall, though, I still enjoyed it for exactly what it was. That, of course, was 80s James Woods hunting down a serial killer, being a cop who does stuff by his own rules, and cheating on his wife. Surprisingly, there is little nudity considering that last part. If you enjoy Woods' scenery chewing, then this is the movie for you.

WATCH IT FORGET IT

But don’t take my word for it. It’s currently streaming on Prime, where I watched it, and for rent just about everywhere else. The film is worth your time, and you should seek it out. Just don’t expect Silence Of The Lambs.