''The Ambulance'' is a 1990 American

comedy thriller Comedy thrillers are a hybrid genre that draw subject matter generally from comedy and thrillers. Criteria They often include a darker tone, relative to other genres, of humor. List of comedy thriller films * '' The Big Fix'' (1978) * ''Chara ...

film written and directed by

Larry Cohen Lawrence George Cohen (July 15, 1936 – March 23, 2019) was an American screenwriter, producer, and director of film and television, best known as an author of horror and science fiction films — often containing police procedural and ...

. It stars

Eric Roberts Eric Anthony Roberts (born April 18, 1956) is an American actor. His career began with a leading role in '' King of the Gypsies'' (1978) for which he received his first Golden Globe Award nomination. He was nominated again at the Golden Globes ...

, Megan Gallagher,

James Earl Jones James Earl Jones (born January 17, 1931) is an American actor. He has been described as "one of America's most distinguished and versatile" actors for his performances in film, television, and theater, and "one of the greatest actors in America ...

Janine Turner Janine Turner (born Janine Loraine Gauntt; December 6, 1962) is an American actress best known for her roles as Maggie O'Connell in the television series ''Northern Exposure'', as Jessie Deighan in the feature film ''Cliffhanger'', and as Katie ...

Red Buttons Red Buttons (born Aaron Chwatt; February 5, 1919 – July 13, 2006) was an American actor and comedian. He won an Oscar and a Golden Globe for his supporting role in the 1957 film '' Sayonara''. He was nominated for awards for his acting work ...

, and

Eric Braeden Eric Braeden (born Hans-Jörg Gudegast; April 3, 1941) is a German-born film and television actor, known for his roles as Victor Newman on the CBS soap opera ''The Young and the Restless'', as Hans Dietrich in the 1960s TV series '' The Rat Patr ...

as the Doctor.

Kevin Hagen Kevin Hagen (April 3, 1928 – July 9, 2005) was an American actor best known for his role as Dr. Hiram Baker on NBC's ''Little House on the Prairie (TV series), Little House on the Prairie.'' Early life Hagen was born in Chicago, Illinois, t ...

plays a cop. In his first film role, Stan Lee of

Marvel Comics Marvel Comics is an American comic book publishing, publisher and the flagship property of Marvel Entertainment, a divsion of The Walt Disney Company since September 1, 2009. Evolving from Timely Comics in 1939, ''Magazine Management/Atlas Co ...

has a small role as himself.

Plot

Aspiring comic book artist Josh Baker meets a young woman named Cheryl on the streets of

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...

, who proceeds to collapse and is rushed to a hospital by an ambulance. When Josh arrives at the hospital, he is shocked to find that there is no record of Cheryl ever being admitted and he soon learns another startling discovery, Cheryl's roommate also vanished after being picked up by the same ambulance. Convinced that there is some sort of conspiracy going on, Josh proceeds to investigate the disappearances, despite the overt disdain and discouragement from Lt. Spencer.

Cast

as Josh Baker *

as Lieutenant Frank Spencer * Megan Gallagher as Officer Sandra Malloy *

as Elias Zacharai *

as Cheryl Turner *

as The Doctor * Richard Bright as Detective Jerry McClosky *

James Dixon James Dixon (August 5, 1814 – March 27, 1873) was a United States representative and United States Senator, Senator from Connecticut. Biography Dixon, son of William & Mary (Field) Dixon, was born August 5, 1814 in Enfield, Connecticut, ...

as Detective John "Jughead" Ryan * Jill Gatsby as Jerilyn O'Brien * Martin Barter as Street Gang Leader * Laurene Landon as Patty *

Nick Chinlund Zareh Nicholas Chinlund (born November 18, 1961) is an American actor. Early life and education Chinlund was born in New York City. He attended the Friends Seminary in Lower Manhattan, later moving to Albany, New York in order to participate in ...

as Hugo (as Nicholas Chinlund) *

Beatrice Winde Beatrice Winde (born Beatrice Lucille Williams; January 5, 1924 – January 3, 2004) was an American actress. Her work as a character actor, and a singer, in theatrical, television, and film roles, spanned several decades. Life and career W ...

as Head Nurse *

as Cop At Stables * Matt Norklun as Ambulance Driver * Rudy Jones as Ambulance Driver * Stan Lee as Marvel Comics Editor * Deborah Hedwall as Nurse Barbera Feinstein * Susan Blommaert as Hospital Receptionist * Jordan Derwin as Hospital Official * Alexandra Jones as The Waitress *

Michael O'Hare Robert Michael O'Hare Jr. (May 6, 1952 – September 28, 2012) was an American actor who performed on stage and television. He was best known for playing the lead role of space station Commander Jeffrey Sinclair in the science fiction tele ...

as Hal

Production

Cohen later said he was inspired by "the concept of taking something that is thought of as being benign or benevolent... or anything else that has a safe and wholesome image, and turning it into an object of terror." He had done this for ''It's Alive'' (babies) and ''The Stuff'' (junk food) and wanted to do it with ambulances. "When you hear or see an ambulance on the street, it’s usually considered to be something that is going to rescue you and take care of you, a vehicle of mercy," said Cohen. "In this story, it’s actually a vehicle of murder. The whole idea of an ambulance that suddenly arrives from nowhere, picks people up, and takes them away to some dark place where they are never seen or heard of again was completely original and creepy." Cohen says at one stage the financiers wanted a "classier" title than ''The Ambulance'' so he retitled it ''In Thin Air''. They changed their mind and the film went back to being called ''The Ambulance''. In the May, 1990 edition of his column ''Stan's Soapbox'', Stan Lee mentions playing himself in a scene in "an adventure mystery called ''Into Thin Air'' and refers to the name change in a later column. Cohen wanted to cast John Travolta or Jim Carrey in the lead but his producers refused.

Donald Trump Donald John Trump (born June 14, 1946) is an American politician, media personality, and businessman who served as the 45th president of the United States from 2017 to 2021. Trump graduated from the Wharton School of the University of P ...

made a small cameo in a

deleted scene A deleted scene is footage that has been removed from the final version of a film or television show. There are various reasons why these scenes are deleted, which include time constraints, relevance, quality or a dropped story thread. A similar o ...

Jamie Lee Curtis Jamie Lee Curtis (born November 22, 1958) is an American actress, producer, children's author, and activist. She came to prominence with her portrayal of Lt. Barbara Duran on the ABC sitcom '' Operation Petticoat'' (1977–78). In 1978, she m ...

was originally considered to play Officer Sandra Malloy The role of the villain was originally played by

Wesley Addy Robert Wesley Addy (August 4, 1913 – December 31, 1996)R Wesley Addy in the U.S., Social Security Applications and Claim Index, 1936-2007, retrieved froAncestry.com/ref> was an American actor of stage, television, and film. Early years A ...

. However Cohen was unhappy with his performance and recast the role with Eric Braeden. Braeden's casting came at the suggestion of Cohen's mother who was a fan of ''

The Young and the Restless ''The Young and the Restless'' (often abbreviated as ''Y&R'') is an American television soap opera created by William J. Bell and Lee Phillip Bell for CBS. The show is set in fictional Genoa City (not the real-life similarly-named Genoa City, ...

''.

Home media

The film was released on Blu-ray on March 13, 2018 by

Scream Factory Shout! Factory is an American home video and music company founded in 2002 as Retropolis Entertainment. Its video releases include previously released feature films, classic and contemporary television series, animation, live music, and comedy ...

References

External links