Horror Movie Review: Zombie Cop (1991)

No one, certainly not me at least, will realistically expect anything special with a film called Zombie Cop. Especially one that comes from the director (and co-writer) of such low budget efforts like The Dead Next Door, Robot Ninja, Kingdom of the Vampire, and Galaxy of the Dinosaurs.

What most, including me, will expect is something that has some entertainment value either by being absurdly silly and over the top, or gory and bloody, even if the effects aren’t on par.

Alas, while Zombie Cop has some very minor entertainment value, is kept short and sweet, doesn’t take itself seriously, and ticks all the low-budget boxes when it comes to visuals, sound, and acting, it’s a really bad film. Least of all because it really lacks in the horror department.

The story focuses on two men, one a police officer named Gill (Michael Kemper) and the other, a Voodoo priest named Dr. Death (James Black). The latter is a notorious kidnapper and murderer and has been hunted by the police for some time. Gill, and his partner Stevens (Ken Jarosz) find him and corner him in a cheap apartment.

It’s a shootout that kills both Gill and Dr. Death, but not before the latter completes a chant that, later, brings them both back to life, but as zombies. Not knowing where else to go, he turns to his partner and together, they set out to stop Dr. Death once and for all, who now has world domination on his mind. Should Gill put Dr. Death in the ground permanently, the curse will be broken, but it will also mean the undead copper will return to the grave too.

Will Gill be able finish off Dr. Death at the cost of his own undead life? Will he be able to escape the Maniac Cop ripoff vibes with his bandaged-up face and police officer costume? Did Bill Morrison’s Buddy Van De Car inspire the voice of Morty of Rick & Morty fame (oh jeez)? Is the character of Wade Jabul Kareem Ali-Baba Hafez Lamer Jabba Mohammed Lapsa De Quaylar one of the most racist portrayals of a white person playing a brown person since Fisher Stevens’ as Ben in Short Circuit?

Woke, right? Maybe you think the towelhead joke is a right knee slapper. I’m not offended by the character; I just think the joke is really shit. But so is the film as a whole.

The story is middling, the characters are non-existent, and the action can be summed up by the last 15-minutes (the only part that is worth watching). Where a lengthy, yawn-inducing car chase turns into Gill and Dr. Death tussling it out in the woods.

The latter dies. The former lives as an undead vigilante cop.

That’s the film. You’re welcome.