The Ambulance
At the time the film was made Stan Lee was desperately trying to get some of his Marvel characters made into movies. He was not having any luck at all. It was very frustrating for him. He had this deal with a producer to do a movie of Doctor Strange and Larry Cohen was hired to write the script. He wrote the script for the movie, which never got made, but in the process he became friends with Stan Lee. They started socializing and going out for dinner and going to each other's homes. Sometimes we would go out with Bob Kane, the creator of Batman. He had a great time with these guys. When Cohen made this film he said to Stan: "I think I'm going to make this character a cartoonist who works for Marvel. I asked him to play himself. He was really anxious to do it. It was the only time Stan has had some real scenes to play in a movie and some real dialogue. In the Marvel pictures he's mostly a walk-on or an extra. With me he had a real character to play, even if it was the part of Stan Lee. We maintained our friendship over the years.",All entries contain spoilers,Cheryl: You're gonna kill me, aren't you?
The Doctor: Why, yes, I eventually I will. But I promise you... you're gonna be in perfect health before you die.,Featured in Movie Nights: The Ambulance (2015),Perpetual Emotion
Written by Gary McLaughlin & Ophie Shur (as Ophir Shur)
Performed by Wendy Smith
Produced by Gary McLaughlin,Larry Cohen has not been known for coherence in his pictures. As a writer, he is often excellent with creative twists and turns for every story. As a director, he is often sloppy and mostly leaves you disappointed, thinking that a great opportunity has been lost. In his movies major characters disappear without explaination and whole chunks of plot often seem to be missing. All the while you are thinking "what a shame on such a good story!". To my surprise, I found that "Ambulance" actually is held together quite neatly. No chop-chop editing this time. The plot runs amok here and there, but not damagingly so. It is amusing and suspenseful with spunky performances by Gallagher and Roberts and a really good one by Red Buttons. Some effort have been put into the action sequences and interiors. This movie, unlike many other Cohen-directed, actually looks like it had a budget. The pace never flags and even if the ending is no great shakes, it's satisfying. Nice score too.,