On Larry Cohen

Hell of a run, but sadly he's passed away:

https://bloody-disgusting.com/movie/3552314/r-p-stuff-alive-filmmaker-larry-cohen-died/

But this tweet from a couple of weeks ago shows he lives on (because this is a totally accurate call):

I saw Jordan Peele compared to Hitchcock but, after US, it's clear Larry Cohen (with a budget) is a better comparison.

— Miriam Bale (@mimbale) March 10, 2019

RIP. GOD TOLD ME TO and Q are my faves.

Sorry to hear. I had a somewhat baffled semi-positive reaction to God Told Me To a few years back that I posted about just upthread, but I've come to think that I may have underestimated it. Was less impressed by The Stuff when I watched it last Halloween, but I definitely need to see more of this guy's work. RIP.

I wanted to post his 2018 appearance on the Gilbert Gottfried podcast, but it looks like its gone behind a paywall. If you're interested and you know how to find ways around that--or hell, if you wanna just pay for it--its worth a listen.

Oh man when will this guy get his due

RIP

I wouldn't be surprised if the Larry Cohen GGACP ep gets taken out from behind the paywall this week anyway. They tend to do that when their guests pass, which happens more often with this podcast than most.

Boooo, RIP. Really need to watch the rest of his films, love what I've seen. Island of the Alive is so ridiculous. I always associate his work with Henenlotter's.

Anyone seen Uncle Sam? I've heard good things.

Awwww

Maniac Cop is hugely prescient Art

The Stuff as well, in its way. I cannot believe nobody has remade that one.

Uncle Sam is the Citizen Kane if direct-to-video horror, as I remember it anyway.

I just realized he is credited with the story for one of my very favourite Columbo episodes: "Any Old Port in a Storm," with Donald Pleasance as a murderous wine connoisseur. This was from 1973, the same year he wrote and directed both Black Caesar and Hell Up in Harlem. This man was a machine!

I've only seen Q and The Private Files of J Edgar Hoover...

https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/news/larry-cohen-dead-alive-hell-up-harlem-writer-director-was-77-1185759

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NCzX3_IyynM

roundup

https://www.criterion.com/current/posts/6261-the-fiercely-independent-larry-cohen

Finally got around to watching this: not particularly insightful and occasionally repetitive but worth a watch if you're into it.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SPblr7nKaYw

on shudder only i believe

Finally watched The Stuff tonight. What the fuck did Cohen (or anyone else) ever see in Michael Moriarty? I can't think of any other actor who ever sucked more life out of every frame of film he occupied. Was he somebody's coke dealer or something? Christ, but he bothers the shit out of me.

wow... he makes that movie for me! his character is so enthusiastically low-key ridiculous. have you seen Q?

yeah, I think Moriarty is great in both Q and The Stuff (and Law & Order!)

The Stuff would have been better if Moriarty and Garrett Morris had switched roles/screen time.

Currently watching In Search of Darkness which is a kinda fun 4 hour doc on Shudder about 80s horror. Larry Cohen pops up as a talking head from time to time and he’s hilarious.

God Told Me To is a favorite of mine. Such an odd, engaging flick

oh yeah, it took me forever to find God Told Me To and i was expecting a much more generic 70s gritty flick instead of the oddball genius it contains.

Caught Deadly Illusion last night, and it's a lot of fun imo. It felt like the action scenes were planned by a 12-year-old making stuff up with action figures, while the dialogue was convincing Bogart-level private-eye stuff, given this totally different vibe by Billy Dee Williams's radiant warm charisma. I gather Cohen was kicked off the picture, and a lot of the direction/editing is kinda stilted, so it doesn't exactly flow from line to line... but there are a ton of applause-worthy moments and it played great watching it with an audience.