“Many of the A-movies are long forgotten. They’re boring, slow, and tedious. The B-movies are fast-moving, exciting, and energetic.” – Larry Cohen
If you were a fan of horror movies from the 80’s Larry Cohen was one of the
Cohen was a real character. A brash New Yorker, who was a huge proponent of the independent B-movie. He started his directing career with blaxploitation films Bone (With Yaphet Kotto), Black Caesar (with Fred Williamson), and Hell up in Harlem (Williamson again). These films proved to be much better than their exploitation film peers, and he branched out into
Though his movies tended to capitalize on the cheap and sleazy style of Grindhouse, his films were always filled with a bit more nuance and wit than your standard fare for the time. He was also a risk-taking director and writer. Martin Scorcese applauded Cohen’s wild Maverick sense in the tradition of a hand made picture. Fred Williamson calls Cohen the best guerilla filmmaker in the business. He would push the boundaries of what you could show in your movies, and how you would execute the film production. It was old-school rebel film making at its craziest.
If you want to get a good sense of what he was like, there is a documentary that came out last year, entitled
Rest in peace, Larry. The genre community owes a debt of gratitude to you for elevating the spirit of Grindhouse. Thank you for giving us