Pick Me Up - 2006 - Dir. Cohen

Sure, not exactly a movie, but I think it's close enough. I mean, it's an hour long movie basically. With TV production value. I think I've ranted about Michael Moriarty before. Maybe It's Alive 3. But seriously... the man is the Shit. He knows exactly how to be in Larry Cohen movies. I'm actually realizing that I've never seen him NOT in Larry Cohen movies. Not even in Law and Order and I have watched that show. I mean, it seems that he's an actor of considerable talent and skill (see picture below). Anyway, he makes this movie. Every scene he's in, it's just... MESMERIZING. He MUTTERS so well. And SO cinematically. To a degree where he is basically incomprehensible but not like an insane person. Anyone can mutter like an insane person. He mutters like someone with a clear train of though, insanely. So, the movie isn't terribly interesting. I'm glad it wasn't longer than an hour. It's clever. Written pretty well. Walker was okay. He was more subdued than Moriarty, which made for a nice contrast. The movie was like a nice Miso soup. A fine blend and flavor but it's just Miso soup. It's not a meal. You accept it with knowledge that something else will come because it's only SO satisfying. The something else in this case... I guess, is other Larry Cohen movies with Michael Moriarty. *shrugs*

Sure, I could have a still from the movie or just this sweet picture of Michael Moriarty

Special Effects - 1984 - Dir. Cohen

FEH. A mostly forgettable film which felt like kind of a shame because Cohen and Bogosian in New York seems like it'd be a way more promising idea. Like... best Larry Cohen movie ever kind of thing. It's not that. In fact, if I had a better idea of which Larry Cohen movie I dislike the most, I might say this one is in the running. Cohen's movies sure do run the gamut of my opinions. I have no average for the man. Anyway, Bogosian does more bug-eying in the script than speaking... you know that thing that he's fucking incredible at. Well, he's incredible at bug-eying too, but it's not the same... The movie has a bit of promise making the usual neat Cohen-esqe jabs and whatnot but it never really amounts to much. The movie kind of pulls the usual punches and leading to fairly predictable climax. Bogosian's apartment is kinda neat sometimes, considering the usual dull settings, it's something worth mentioning. Or maybe there's just one hall that I liked. The "protagonist" is a real doof and boring as hell. Also the resolution is RIDICULOUS in a manner I might have bought in a sillier movie, but Special Effects was more stuffy than fun. Maybe if it had a bit more fun (and it does every now and then but it feels routine more than anything else), I might not have felt so strongly opposed to the whole mess, but it seemed a little caught up in itself.

I couldn't find a single picture from Special Effects, so here's Eric.

Maniac Cop - 1988 - Dir. Lustig

Directed by William Lustig of (Just plain) Maniac fame, Maniac Cop brings together some of my favorite elements of cheesy horror movies: Larry Cohen and Bruce Campbell. Unfortunately, Cohen is only the writer of this trash and Campbell's role is reduced to being a patsy most of the time and then being a doof the rest. None of the classy Campbell acting I've come to know and love. Although, I didn't expect much being that having been interested in campy horror for a chunk of my life, no one ever really suggested I spend my time with this film. After all, Campbell's a working man and couldn't always afford to be picky with roles. Cohen's contribution is what won me over in the end. The movie feels a lot like a Cohen picture. But it most certainly is not. It's much more straight-forward and with only minor moments of humor. It has a satisfying enough climax where we get a random impalement and are revealed Maniac Cop's ridiculously scarred face (see below). Poor Robert Z'Dar has to sneer the silliest sneer I ever did see. Even for a campy horror movie, the reasoning is a little weak. Or I suppose lack of reasoning. I would have bought Ghost Cop long before Cop who should be dead but seems to survive no matter what. I mean... Really?

Yup, it's the Maniac Cop...

It's Alive III: Island of the Alive - 1987 - Dir. Cohen

Well, I've finished the It's Alive trilogy. Perhaps the most famous trilogy of killer mutant babies every made. And you know, yesterday, I was wrong. There aren't just MORE babies in this one. There's BIGGER babies too. And perhaps the biggest baby of all is Michael Moriarty. He does kind of give me a Giant Baby vibe in this movie. He's great fun in this movie, though. Kind of cracking jokes for a healthy portion. I feel like Larry Cohen really had hit his stride in the 80's. Being that Island of the Alive was almost ten years after It Lives Again, Cohen definitely got a lot better at making silly horror movies. Island of the Alive definitely was the most entertaining of the series, although, I must say, it did drag a bit more than the second one. Especially towards the end. Although, I can't hate- There was a ridiculous series of shots of cops. MANY cops, falling off a roof. It gave me quite a chuckle. I always enjoy when Cohen takes the time to let the movie's message speak out. He always does it in a nudge-nudge fashion. Never banging you over the head, never getting pretentious. Just showing you a connection and usually making a crack about it. Like the sudden bit about the Commies. Oh man, and any movie that has a scene end with two men, new friends, parting ways say to the other "I hope you don't have to shoot your son" both with big smiles on their faces can't be bad. IT CAN'T! MAN! I dig Larry Cohen. He's just great.

OH NO! It's killer mutant MAN BABIES!

It Lives Again - 1978 - Dir. Cohen

You know you're in for a treat when a movie's sequels are released onto the same DVD. You also know you're in for a treat when the sequels are simply pile on the mutant killer babies. I'm actually not the biggest fan of It's Alive, as far as Cohen movies go, its probably lower on my list. Apart from the novelty of the premise, I couldn't find a ton to enjoy in the movie, especially since it was lit with a pen light for a good chunk. There's been a decent gap so I couldn't say if I liked It Lives Again more... It felt like more of the same, literally, there's just MORE babies. I might say it poses the argument a little more interestingly than the first one. In the original, it's kind of just John P. Ryan deciding whether or not he might kill his mutant baby. It's Frederick Forrest this time around but there's a bit more on the side of Don't Kill Your Baby. And they even think they can teach them to not be blood-thirsty killers. So it felt like a bit harder of a decision. Forrest is also a more interesting actor to watch. The movie is surprisingly devoid of gore or violence really, a slight disappointment considering the nature of the film. Also! The film stars John Marley from Faces. I was trying to place both him and Forrest throughout the whole damn movie. So, I guess, I would have to say, I did enjoy this movie. It held my attention but in the end, a bit of a forgettable B-movie and entry into the Cohen filmography.

Hello? This is the only screenshot of the movie that could be found? Okay.

Black Caesar - 1973 - Dir. Cohen

I was a big Larry Cohen fan in college. Then I ran out of movies of his to watch. I never really LOVED Larry Cohen. But I always liked the man and the movies he did. I could get behind his style. Cheap, silly, and usually with enough bite that I had to give it a pat on the back. Normally, he made horror movies or horror type movies. Black Caesar was his dip into blaxploitation which also resulted in Hell Up In Harlem the same year (which I will most certainly be watching). I had a ton of fun watching Black Caesar and Cohen certainly seemed on his game while he made it. I have to say, as soon the the first montage of Williamson taking charge happened, I was behind the movie. I feel like even for a Cohen flick, this one felt pretty polished and coherent. Fred "The Hammer" Williamson is also a ton of fun to watch, I will watch a Fred Williamson movie now. Perhaps a bit of the fun was because of JAMES BROWN'S score, which is totally awesome. Apparently Fred Wesley had a lot of do with it as well. The movie lags after the third act, about when THE HAMMER escapes an attempted assassination, which was basically the climax for me. The rest of the movie was waiting to see if/how he dies. I mean, after he gets up and starts kicking ass in that scene I was all "DAMN!" He brought the HAMMER DOWN! Although, in the third acts defense, the final fight/beating of the Crooked Cop was awesome to watch.

OH SHIT! BLACK CAESAR IS GETTING IT ON! In the only way he knows how... BLACKLY!