The Ambulance — The Ambulance( Blu Ray)
The Ambulance is one of the more obscure films by NYC writer/ director Larry Cohen, who is known for his more quirky/inventive genre films like The Stuff, It's Alive franchise, and God Told Me Too. The early 90s film is an entertaining/ eventful blend of thriller, dark comedy, horror and action movie, which regards an ambulance that snatches folk off the streets of NYC. Here from Eureka is a Blu-ray release of the picture, taking in an HD scan, and a selection of new/ archive extras.
The Ambulance was the seventeenth feature directed by Cohen. It was released in the year 1990, taking in locations in NYC and LA, though the film is meant to be purely set in the Big Apple. The film runs at around the one-hour-and-thirty-five-minute mark, and it manages to keep you entertained/engaged throughout.
The picture opens on the streets of NYC- as we see lengthy mulleted comic book artist Josh (Eric Roberts), trying to chat-up/ chase down bobbed brunette Cherly- played by Janine Turner- who is probably most known for her lead role in the quirky 90’s sitcom Northern Exposure.
She suddenly feels ill, collapsing on the pavement- then, suspiciously fast, an ambulance pulls in, Josh gets her first name, but not her last, then she is whisked away. He starts trying to look for her in every hospital in the city, but gets no luck. He gets in contact with brash/ talks his mind police officer Lt. Spencer (James Earl Jones) to help.
As things unfold, Josh has more than a few encounters with The Ambulance, which, inside, emits a chilling green light. It tries to kidnap various people- including Josh himself- several times. We get careening chases through city streets, a hospital trolley out of control and sparking as it races down roads, and even a vehicle crashing 'n’ smashing inside a club scene. Along the way, we get a few tense punch-ups and some gunplay.
Appearing later in the film are the initially rather mysterious curly blond-haired Sandra (Megan Gallagher), ageing/quirky newspaper reporter Elias (Red Buttons), and even a brief cameo from none other than Stan Lee, as the Josh character works at Marvel.
Roberts makes for a punchy/ upfront lead- who just will not give up. The rest of the cast is fine, too. With the blending of thriller, dark comedy, light horror, and action tropes being done well, all in all, making The Ambulance is well worth a look.
This recent region B Blu-ray features a new HD scan- this looks wonderful in the green and red lit moments, as well as having a generally good and clear clarity to the whole scan. We get a decent selection of new extras and one or two archive things.
First up on the new side, we have a commentary track from Steve Mitchell- he directed the 2017 documentary regarding Larry Cohen King Cohen, and also worked in the comic book business for a while. He starts by saying that NYC is the biggest backlot in the world, and discusses how Larry managed to steal shots using the public as extras. We find out the opening shot is actually on one of the busy crossroads in American, and he marvels at how the director captured it without permits. He talks about the comic book studio in the film, saying it wasn’t really what they were like, and when he was employed as an inker on Marvel, he only saw Stan Lee a few times. We find out that the idea for the film came to Cohen after he ate some dodgy Cajun food, and he thought he was having a heart attack, so he called an ambulance. We find out the original name for the film was Into Thin Air, also that John Travolta was going to play the lead at one point. He discusses some of the real stunts in the film, and how they look so much better than the blue screen ones of today. Later on, he talks about the use of red light in one of the more suspenseful/ tense scenes. He discusses how Cohen was ultimately a thriller director, and how this genre is very sparse these days. And much more- it’s a well-observed and researched track, which adds even more interest as Mitchell worked in the comic book business.
Next on the new side, we have Hell On Wheels (22.09) this is an interview with film writer Michael Doyle, author of Larry Cohen: The Stuff of Gods and Monsters. He talks about the other projects Cohen was trying to get off the ground during the early 90’s like So Help Me God, which was going to be directed by John Carpenter. He discusses the film to hand, detailing how Larry disliked/ distrusted the medical profession. He talks about how the film has a Kafkaesque feel, and that Cohen saw it as his version of Hitchcock's North By Northwest. We find out sadly that the film only got theatrical releases in Japan and France, and in the UK/ stateside, it went straight to VHS. There’s Sickness and Health (16.28), a video essay by film scholar Murray Leeder. This looks at the history of medical horror films, and where The Ambulance sits in the genre. Both of these featurettes are excellent and well worth a play.
On the archive side we have archive side we have: Catch Your Death (25.22), a newly edited, previously unseen interview with Larry Cohen on The Ambulance originally shot for King Cohen. A commentary track with Larry Cohen and Steve Mitchell. And an original trailer.
The finished release comes with an inlay booklet featuring new cover art by John Dunn and an essay on The Ambulance by genre film expert Liam Hathaway. And an O-card slipcase featuring new artwork by John Dunn. The release is Ltd to 2000 copies.
I’ve been a Larry Cohen since I saw The Stuff in the mid-80s on VHS. But I was not aware of The Ambulance, and it’s great to see this wonderful new release from Eurkea- with a classy scan, and a nice selection of worthy extras. For fans of Mr Cohen's work, clever and suspenseful genre blending, or medical horror- it’s a must!