Maniac Cop

Larry Cohen wrote this late slasher about a hulking, undead police officer murdering citizens on the streets of New York, so that the uniform itself, the thing people run to for safety, becomes the threat. Robert Z'Dar's enormous jaw makes the killer unforgettable, and Bruce Campbell and Tom Atkins chase him.

Cohen's script gives it a paranoid edge about authority that the slasher usually lacks, and William Lustig directs the New York carnage with real grit. It spawned sequels and remains a cut above the era's body-count product.