The Ambulance (1990)

A comic-book artist meets a woman on the NY streets, but after a quick flirtation, she suddenly collapses, and is picked-up by an old ambulance. He checks all the hospitals in the area, but the woman seems to have disappeared.

Director:

Larry Cohen

Writer:

Larry Cohen

Stars:

Eric Roberts, James Earl Jones, Megan Gallagher

1 nomination.

Cast

Cast overview, first billed only:
Eric Roberts	...	Josh Baker
James Earl Jones	...	Lt. Spencer
Megan Gallagher	...	Officer Sandra Malloy
Red Buttons	...	Elias Zacharai
Janine Turner	...	Cheryl
Eric Braeden	...	The Doctor
Richard Bright	...	McClosky
James Dixon	...	Detective 'Jughead' Ryan
Jill Gatsby	...	Jerilyn
Martin Barter	...	Street Gang Leader
Laurene Landon	...	Patty
Nick Chinlund	...	Hugo (as Nicholas Chinlund)
Matt Norklun	...	Ambulance Driver
Rudy Jones	...	Ambulance Driver
Stan Lee	...	Marvel Comics Editor

Storyline

Josh Baker meets a very special woman, Cheryl, in the streets of New York. Suddenly she collapses, and she's picked up by an ambulance. When Josh wants to visit her in the hospital, it appears that she hasn't been admitted in the hospital. Josh follows the roommate of Cheryl, and she disappears after a ride in the same ambulance. It's up to Josh to solve the secret behind this strange vehicle.

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Plot Keywords:

disappearance | conspiracy | investigation | amateur detective | abduction | 

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Taglines:

You'll be in perfect health before you die.

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Genres:

Action | Comedy | Horror | Romance | Thriller

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Certificate:

R

Details

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Release Date:

31 March 1990 (USA)

Also Known As:

Ambulance

Filming Locations:

Los Angeles, California, USA

Box Office

Budget:

$4,000,000 (estimated)

Company Credits

Production Co:

Epic Productions, Esparza / Katz Productions

Technical Specs

Runtime:

96 min

Sound Mix:

Ultra Stereo

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Did You Know?

Trivia

Stan Lee stars in his first film role, playing himself.

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Quotes

Elias Zacharai: How many patients have you killed today, Nurse Feinstein?

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Connections

Featured in Movie Nights: The Ambulance (2015)

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Soundtracks

Found Another Lover
Written by Gary McLaughlin & Gavin Christopher
Performed by Buddy Miles
Produced by Gary McLaughlin

User Reviews

Not Cohen's best, but still a good fun flick!

You can always count on at least one thing going into a Larry Cohen movie - and that's a good time. Cohen had already tackled rogue police officers before it came to this film with Maniac Cop, and thus he decided to make a film about a rogue ambulance. The Ambulance may not be Cohen's finest achievement; but its great lightweight entertainment, and I'm sure very few people that watch this film will regret doing so. Naturally, there's not a great deal of point to the proceedings, and Cohen seems keen to focus as much on entertainment value as possible, which is no problem if you ask me. The plot focuses on Josh Baker; a humble cartoonist who, one day, decides to try and charm a woman on the street. Tragedy strikes when she passes out, but everyone is reassured when an ambulance turns up. However, upon going to check on her at the local hospital, Josh finds that she isn't there - and further investigation makes him realise that there has been several people going missing, and it turns out that a fake ambulance with fake doctors and nurses is abducting people!

The idea behind this movie is actually quite frightening; ambulances are a service that we rely on and so having one going rogue and abducting people is a frightening idea. Cohen doesn't capitalise on this, however, which is rather odd; and despite a few scenes with the maniacal doctor, there really isn't all that much horror on display. Others ideas that aren't capitalised on include the moral perspective of whether sacrificing a few people to cure millions is a righteous exorcise. But really, none of this is particularly important as I didn't want an Ingmar Bergman film anyway. Cohen has rounded up a good cast of cult actors to populate his film with. Eric Roberts is entertaining in the lead, and receives good feedback from the likes of James Earl Jones, Megan Gallagher, the amusingly named Red Buttons and the sadly underused Eric Braeden. The plot is a little choppy at times, but it generally flows well and I don't remember being bored at any time during the film. The ironic ending is a blast, and although I don't doubt that this film could have been better; it's still fun enough and I won't hesitate to recommend The Ambulance to anyone!