Horror fans know and love the films of Larry Cohen. Bring up the name and they are likely to bring up the famous It's Alive trilogy. Or maybe The Stuff. Perhaps Q: The Winged Serpent. If you are speaking to a real connoisseur, you might even get God Told Me To. Action fans might cite Cohen's influential blaxploitation pictures.
One that I never hear discussed is The Ambulance. It's a nifty little thriller with a premise as ridiculous as the other Cohen movies, but Larry's eccentric storytelling and inspired casting pulls us through his plots.
The Ambulance stars direct-to-video God Eric Roberts, sporting an appalling mullet. He is trying to make time with attractive Janine Turner on the streets of NYC. She collapses, and is taken by an ambulance. Robert doesn't know much about her, but he is compelled to look the woman up. But Turner hasn't been taken to any hospital.
Eric wisecracks his way through a labyrinth of streets and clues, chasing a rogue ambulance that picks up diabetics and whisks them away for some nefarious purpose.
The Ambulance moves quickly, with rapid-fire dialogue, substantial humor, and overall good performances. Cohen obviously had strong ties with the Hollywood community, because he always got great casts for his pictures. This time there's James Earl Jones, Megan Gallagher, and legendary Borsch Belt comedian Red Buttons. They're all excellent, especially Buttons as a salty, over-the-hill reporter.
In a neat turn, Roberts' character is an illustrator for Marvel Comics, and Stan Lee appears as himself.
There are some cool chase sequences, violent street punkers who look like Village People surrogates, and in a big highlight, the ambulance runs rampant inside a trendy New York nightspot.
Only Larry Cohen. I love that guy.
Written by Mark Sieber
One that I never hear discussed is The Ambulance. It's a nifty little thriller with a premise as ridiculous as the other Cohen movies, but Larry's eccentric storytelling and inspired casting pulls us through his plots.
The Ambulance stars direct-to-video God Eric Roberts, sporting an appalling mullet. He is trying to make time with attractive Janine Turner on the streets of NYC. She collapses, and is taken by an ambulance. Robert doesn't know much about her, but he is compelled to look the woman up. But Turner hasn't been taken to any hospital.Eric wisecracks his way through a labyrinth of streets and clues, chasing a rogue ambulance that picks up diabetics and whisks them away for some nefarious purpose.
The Ambulance moves quickly, with rapid-fire dialogue, substantial humor, and overall good performances. Cohen obviously had strong ties with the Hollywood community, because he always got great casts for his pictures. This time there's James Earl Jones, Megan Gallagher, and legendary Borsch Belt comedian Red Buttons. They're all excellent, especially Buttons as a salty, over-the-hill reporter.
In a neat turn, Roberts' character is an illustrator for Marvel Comics, and Stan Lee appears as himself.
There are some cool chase sequences, violent street punkers who look like Village People surrogates, and in a big highlight, the ambulance runs rampant inside a trendy New York nightspot.
Only Larry Cohen. I love that guy.
Written by Mark Sieber
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