The Ambulance (1990)

Simple and well acted, it has tension enough to knot the stomach.

There is, somehow, an interesting story here, as well as some good acting. There are also some good scenes

There's no way I can possibly love it entirely but I just think its ridiculously bad, but enjoyable at the same time.

The movie turns out to be a little better than the average. Starting from a romantic formula often seen in the cinema, it ends in the most predictable (and somewhat bland) way.

The Ambulance (1990) *** (out of 4)Josh Baker (Eric Roberts) works for Marvel comics and one day on his way to work he introduces himself to a young woman who eventually falls sick. An ambulance is called but later that evening when checking on her Josh realizes that she didn't go to any hospital. Pretty soon he's wrapped up in a mystery involving an old-fashioned ambulance that seems to be doing some bad business.Larry Cohen's THE AMBULANCE is pretty much what you'd expect from the cult director and that's a rather offbeat picture that doesn't fit into any one genre. The film is a rather entertaining one thanks in large part to its wonderful cast but there are also enough strange moments that make it worth watching. With that said, there's no question that it eventually runs out of fuel but more on that in a bit.What I enjoyed most about the picture was the cast all of whom are in fine form. This includes Roberts in his role as early on he gets to show off his charm but as the film moves along he also gets to show off his comic timing. James Earl Jones and Megan Gallagher are both good playing cops with Jones really shining in his role. Then you've got Red Buttons thrown in for comic relief and he really gets some fine moments here. Stan Lee also gets an extended cameo here.Cohen's screenplay makes perfect use of the New York City locations and I also thought it had a good mixture of humor and mystery. I really wouldn't call this a horror film but at the same time some of those elements are scattered around as well. THE AMBULANCE eventually runs out of steam towards the end and I think in the end it could have lost five or ten-minutes worth of running time. Still, fans of Cohen should enjoy the film for what it is.

Pearl of the not-so-sold movies of 20th Century Fox. The name, opening synopsis, and cover are details of the film's historical context. Name and cover to get attention and a classic plot of a thriller movie. It's a really cool movie. The feature film talks about organ trafficking, private hospitals and research groups advancing in medicine. In a very thriller / suspenseful environment. And the protagonist is not the classic hero. A comic book designer, working for Stan Lee (who plays a special part in the film). For those who like classic films from the 80's / 90's, you'll love the movie. A different and cool movie. At the same time just another simple film of the 80s and 90s. But it is one of those movies that today would be impossible to do. For the simplicity of the adventures that these films approached. Simplicity that on canvas became a great adventure. In this more classic case, "one night, an adventure of life and death".

The one thing that struck me while watching this was; what in Gods name is going on?Eric Roberts spots this random woman on the street that he's seen a few times and he suddenly decides to pluck up enough courage to approach her and dazzle her with his non existent charm. When that fails he then tries to buy her affection with a cheap bracelet and a bright yellow Walkman from a street vendor. When that fails she inexplicably collapses on the street. All this is being watched by some guy in a car who makes a phone call resulting in an ambulance from the 1960s coming from nowhere and taking her away. Eric Roberts only manages to catch the woman's first name and the hospital she's being taken to, however when he goes to pay her a visit, no one's ever heard of her and no one matches her description. It's the same story from all the nearby hospitals. He then decides to go to the police. As Eric works as an artist for Marvel Comics he decides to take his own sketch of the woman to the police in the hope of identifying her. James Earl Jones plays a police lieutenant who is more than a little disinterested in wanting to know anything about it and generally seems angry about everything. When he decides to draw the outdated ambulance that took her, lieutenant Jones is even less impressed and orders him out. It turns out that the woman who collapsed is a diabetic. Her room mate who briefly teams up with Eric Roberts trying to track her down is also a diabetic. She tries to call home to see if her room mate has turned up and gets a recorded message to come alone to a city horse stable for the Hansom cabs. She then gets captured and taken away in the same ambulance. For some reason there appears to be some kind of illegal experimentation going on involving diabetics and some radical new treatment for the disease which even if it's somehow successful, will still result in the imprisoned patient being sold and killed and while watching this I couldn't work out why or what the ultimate goal was in all these captured diabetics. After some bumbling vaudeville like police work, the ambulance is tracked down to an invitation only nightclub where a rather pathetic shoot-out occurs. It would seem that with 20 or so cops all shooting at an ambulance, not one of them bothers to aim at the tyres. The captured patients are located in a mock hospital on the floors above the nightclub. And even though he's not a police officer, and was actually even considered a suspect, Eric Roberts tags along and finds his missing love interest who reveals to him that she has a boyfriend. If only she said that in the first place, but for me it opened up a big plot hole; why wasn't this alleged boyfriend ever looking for her? Where's he been in all this and why isn't he a suspect?So despite all Eric's been through he doesn't get the girl. He immediately turns his attention to the female constable who's been assisting with the investigation and who was the obvious backup or optional love interest. After a last ditch run in with the crazed head doctor who got away in the ambulance because movie police can't shoot straight, it ends up as a fireball at the bottom of a building site, Eric and his new lover find themselves together in the back of an actual ambulance and the rest of their lives writes itself. I just never got this movie at all. Nothing in this made any real sense to me and while some reviews are commending the black comedy, I simply didn't see it. This was far too stupid to be funny in any sense and what story there was seemed all over the place. The whole business of capturing diabetics for radical experiments was never fully explored. The idea of using an ambulance that went out of service 30 or 40 years ago and unbelievably going unnoticed by everybody is one of the most ridiculous ideas ever put to film. It's tantamount to using a steam locomotive for the same thing, eventually people are going to notice and begin to ask questions. For me, the best thing in this was Stan Lee, co-creator of some of the best Marvel comic heroes of all time, and even he was visibly unimpressed with the lameness of Eric Roberts. So if you love watching movies with no sense of purpose then I guess you'll go orgasmic over The Ambulance.

**SPOILERS** From the mind of Larry Cohen comes another off-the-wall cult-like classic about a runaway ambulance who's in the hunt on the streets of New York City for people suffering from insulin shock.This crazed doctor,Eric Braeden,having his hospital hidden inside a building housing a disco dance hall has come up with this operation that, he thinks, can cure diabetes and plans to make a mint on it. Braeden has his goons driving in an ambulance picking up unsuspecting diabetic New Yorkers off the streets and sent to his place for further study which ends up with most of them in the local morgue. Cartoonist Josh Baker, Eric Roberts, trying to hit on and pick up Cheryl, Janine Turner, has her fall into a coma, due to a diabetic attack. Cheryl is quickly picked up by Dr. Braeden's killer ambulance never to be seen again. Josh going to all the local hospitals finds that Ceryl wasn't admitted in any of them and when he starts snooping around. The crazy Doc has his goons out looking from him and having Josh put under the knife even though he's not a diabetic as well as being in perfect health, physically but not all that mentally.Josh ending up in the hospital, after he's attacked by a gang of muggers, has Braeden's goons slip into the hospital disguised as police in order to kidnap him. In the hospital Josh together with his hospital room-mate NY Post reporter Elias Zacharia, Red Buttons, break out and make a run for it to the NY Post headquarters where Elias ends up getting kidnapped.Totally outrageous movie with more holes in it then the Normandy Beaches on D-Day but still holds your attention. There's loads of fun watching the wacky acting of Roberts as well as that of NYPD Let. Spencer, James Earl Jones, who's suffering from burn-out and a string of nerves breakdowns that has his superiors wondering if he can still handle his job. With Let. Spencer run down and run over by the homicidal ambulance, after trying to rescue the kidnapped Zacharia, Eric gets together with police officer Malloy (Magan Gallagher), who's Spencer's police secretary at the 33rd Precinct, as they track down where the ambulance is secretly parked in the disco where it's is used a a prop on the dance floor. The disco is also where Dr. Braeden's office and laboratory are hidden upstairs.Hard to follow but still has it's moments with both Eric Roberts and Red Buttons together with Magan Gallagher putting an end to Dr. Braeden's mad plans to make the people of the city of New York guinea pigs in his insane plan to cure diabetes; by killing those who are afflicted with it.