Passes the Bechdel test
Maniac Cop
1988. Directed by William Lustig, written by Larry Cohen.
The Bechdel test
Bechdel score
3 / 3
Passes
-
Yes
1. At least two women
12 women characters. 8 of them speak. -
Yes
2. Who talk to each other
In 1 scene out of 106. -
Yes
3. About something besides a man
In that scene, our script parser found no man named. See the scene.
Second opinion
Agree bechdeltest.com readers give it 3 out of 3.
The film
Innocent people are being brutally murdered on the streets of New York City by a uniformed police officer. As the death toll rises and City Hall attempts a cover-up, Frank McCrae heads the investigation. A young cop, Jack Forrest, finds himself under arrest as the chief suspect, having been the victim of a set-up by the real killer and a mysterious woman phone-caller. Forrest, his girlfriend Theresa, and McCrae set out to solve the puzzle before the Maniac Cop can strike again.
- Released
- 13 May 1988
- Genres
- Action, Crime, Horror
- Rated
- R
- IMDb
- 6 / 10
- Metascore
- 40 / 100
- Elsewhere
- View on IMDb
Starring, by lines spoken
- Women
- Men
- Not in the cast list
- Bigger name, more lines
- Teresa 99 lines, woman
- Jack 93 lines, man
- Mccrae 71 lines, man
- Pike 28 lines, man
- Ripley 25 lines, man
- Ellen 22 lines, woman
- Sally 21 lines, woman
- Gruber 18 lines, man
- Fowler 13 lines, man
- Shepard 13 lines
Full cast, 54 people
- Tom Atkins as Frank McCrae
- Bruce Campbell as Jack Forrest
- Laurene Landon as Theresa Mallory
- Richard Roundtree as Commissioner Pike
- William Smith as Captain Ripley
- Robert Z'Dar as Matt Cordell
- Sheree North as Sally Noland
- Nina Arvesen as Regina Sheperd
- Nick Barbaro as Councilman
- Lou Bonacki as Detective Lovejoy
- Barry Brenner as Coroner
- Victoria Catlin as Ellen Forrest
- James Dixon as Clancy
- Corey Michael Eubanks as Bremmer
- Jill Gatsby as Cassie Philips
- Rocky Giordani as Fowler
- John F. Goff as Jack's Lawyer
- William J. Gorman as Desk Sergeant
- Jon Greene as Tactical Sergeant
- Teddy M. Haggarty as Prison Guard
- Dan Hicks as Squad Leader
- Erik Holland as Dr. Gruber
- Dennis Junt as Assistant Squad Leader
- Marcia Karr as Nancy
- Judy Kerr as Motel Maid
- Jake LaMotta as Detective
- Judy Levitt as Woman in Car
- Jason Lustig as Squad Commander
- William Lustig as Motel Manager
- Vic Manni as Jail Guard
- Tito Núñez as Chico
- Daniel Ortiz as Ramos
- Louis Pastore as "John"
- Frank Pesce as Watchman
- Bernie Pock as Sam
- Ed Polgardy as Man in Bar #1
- Sam Raimi as Parade Reporter
- Carla Reynolds as Police Officer
- Jefferson Richard as Witness
- Adele Sparks as Nurse
- Tom Taylor as Man in Bar #2
- Ingrid Van Dorn as Waitress
- Luke Walter as Musician
- Patrick Wright as Prison Guard
- Nicholas Yee as Patrolman
- Lee Arnone as White Woman
- Nay K. Dorsey as Young Black Man
- George Buck Flower as Old Man
- Bill Waldron as Young White Man
- Alma Washington as Black Woman
- Ron Holmstrom as Building Superintendent (uncredited)
- Ken Lerner as Mayor Jerry Killium (uncredited)
- Leo Rossi as Mayor's Chief of Staff (uncredited)
- Charles Croughwell as Prison Inmate (uncredited)
Who talks, scene by scene
Lines of dialogue in every 3 scenes, start to finish. Women above the line, men below. 11% of lines come from characters we couldn't match to the cast list and aren't shown.
Women
Men
Scene 1 Scene 106
Hover, tap or tab to a bar to see those scenes: where they happen and who's talking.
Show the numbers
| Scenes | Women's lines | Men's lines |
|---|---|---|
| 1 to 3 | 0 | 1 |
| 4 to 6 | 4 | 2 |
| 7 to 9 | 4 | 3 |
| 10 to 12 | 1 | 9 |
| 13 to 15 | 4 | 7 |
| 16 to 18 | 0 | 22 |
| 19 to 21 | 2 | 8 |
| 22 to 24 | 19 | 14 |
| 25 to 27 | 7 | 9 |
| 28 to 30 | 3 | 3 |
| 31 to 33 | 2 | 0 |
| 34 to 36 | 2 | 39 |
| 37 to 39 | 15 | 21 |
| 40 to 42 | 16 | 18 |
| 43 to 45 | 9 | 3 |
| 46 to 48 | 0 | 0 |
| 49 to 51 | 4 | 24 |
| 52 to 54 | 20 | 19 |
| 55 to 57 | 4 | 3 |
| 58 to 60 | 4 | 4 |
| 61 to 63 | 1 | 0 |
| 64 to 66 | 0 | 11 |
| 67 to 69 | 2 | 2 |
| 70 to 72 | 0 | 4 |
| 73 to 75 | 12 | 28 |
| 76 to 78 | 6 | 6 |
| 79 to 81 | 14 | 31 |
| 82 to 84 | 2 | 1 |
| 85 to 87 | 1 | 19 |
| 88 to 90 | 0 | 1 |
| 91 to 93 | 6 | 4 |
| 94 to 96 | 0 | 1 |
| 97 to 99 | 2 | 1 |
| 100 to 102 | 1 | 6 |
| 103 to 105 | 4 | 2 |
| 106 to 106 | 0 | 0 |
The evidence
- Straight from the script
- Counted from the script and the credits
Tap an exhibit to open it.
Exhibit A: the passing scene
The scene our parser counted as passing, word for word.
ELLEN: I thought ••• I was afraid that you ••• were-- TERESA: I'm sorry. I'm really so sorry this happened.
Exhibit B: every 100 lines
Out of every 100 lines with a known speaker, 34 are women's.
171 lines from women, 326 from men.
- Women
- Men
Exhibit C: who's in it
12 women and 41 men in the cast. 8 women and 19 men from it get lines.
Characters
With lines
- Women
- Men
Exhibit D: who gets heard
The first woman speaks at line 3 of 558.
The longest stretch with no woman speaking runs 49 lines.
Every line of dialogue, first to last
- First line by a woman
- Longest stretch with no woman speaking
Words spoken
Women speak 32% of the words (2,012), men 68% (4,353). Women have 34% of the lines, so their lines run shorter than men's.
Exhibit E: the test the other way
Two named men talk to each other about something besides a woman. It passes the reverse test.
Conversations between two named characters
Two women
3
Two men
30
Exhibit F: behind the camera
None of the 10 people in these jobs are women.
Across the whole crew, 12% of the people whose gender is listed are women.
- Directed by
- William Lustig (man)
- Written by
- Larry Cohen (man)
- Produced by
- Larry Cohen (man)
- Shot by
- James Lemmo (man), Vincent J. Rabe (man)
- Edited by
- David Kern (man)
- Music by
- Jay Chattaway (man)
- Production design by
- Jonathan R. Hodges (gender not listed)
- Costumes by
- Dorothy Amos (gender not listed)
- Cast by
- Geno Havens (man)
The crew, department by department
-
Other crew
2 women, 19 men
-
Costume & Make-Up
1 women, 0 men, 6 not listed
-
Production
0 women, 5 men, 1 not listed
-
Directing
1 women, 1 men, 2 not listed
-
Camera
0 women, 2 men, 1 not listed
-
Art
0 women, 0 men, 2 not listed
-
Sound
0 women, 1 men, 1 not listed
-
Editing
0 women, 1 men
- Women
- Men
- Gender not listed on TMDB
Exhibit G: how old the stars were
Women: 44 on average. Men: 44 on average.
The top-billed cast, at the film's release.
Women
Laurene Landon 31, Sheree North 56
Men
Bruce Campbell 29, Robert Z'Dar 37, Richard Roundtree 45, Lou Bonacki 45, Tom Atkins 52, William Smith 55
Exhibit H: the money
It made 61% of what it cost.
- Budget
- $1.1 million
- Box office
- $671,382
From TMDB, not adjusted for inflation.
About this analysis
Our parser read the script: 106 scenes and 558 lines of dialogue. The bechdeltest.com rating comes from that site’s readers. How the test works
