The Cohen Case Files: It Lives Again [aka It’s Alive 2: It Lives Again] (1978)

Based on Characters Created for the Screen, Written, Produced, and Directed by Larry Cohen NOTE: This review will contain spoilers for It’s Alive, the film to which It Lives Again is a sequel. Please watch It’s Alive before reading this review. Given that It’s Alive is not only Larry Cohen’s masterpiece, but arguably also one […]

The Cohen Case Files: See China and Die (1981)

Written, produced, and directed by Larry Cohen Like a lot of Larry Cohen’s films, it’s tempting to simply look at See China and Die as a time capsule of the era it was produced. While the themes of his best films are timeless, many of Cohen’s productions are also rooted in the mundane everyday routines […]

The Cohen Case Files: The Private Files of J. Edgar Hoover (1977)

Written, Produced, and Directed by Larry Cohen In an attempt to change the course of his directorial career away from being known only as a genre specialist, Larry Cohen tried his hand at a sweeping biopic. The choice of the late FBI director gave him plenty of sensationalistic material to work with. After watching the […]

The Cohen Case Files: A Return to Salem’s Lot (1987)

Executive Produced, Written (Also Story By), and Directed by Larry Cohen Any discussion of A Return to Salem’s Lot has to begin and end with Sam Fuller (yes, I am aware he is credited in most of his films as Samuel Fuller, but it seems wrong not to refer to him as Sam). A journalist, […]

The Cohen Case Files: Bone (1972)

Written, Produced, and Directed by Larry Cohen Bone holds several distinctions in Larry Cohen’s filmography.  It’s his first feature film as a director.  It’s a straight social satire, eschewing many of the genre trappings on which Cohen often likes to hang his social commentaries.  It’s also one of his few films where the female lead […]