lawrence g. cohen (july 15, 1941 – march 23, 2019) was an american movie producer, director and screenwriter. he is best known as a b-movie auteur of horror and science fiction movies. he directed the movies "hell up in harlem" (1973), "it's alive" (1974) and "the stuff" (1985). he also wrote the screenplays of the movies "phone booth" (2002), "cellular" (2004) and "captivity" (2007). cohen was born in washington heights in the new york city borough of manhattan.