King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen

I was asked to review King Cohen. The New documentary directed by Steve Mitchell. This was a labor of love. Never have I been so excited and blown away by a documentary. I grew up during the time of Mr. Cohen's reign at the box office. Larry is responsible for such classics including Bone, Black Caesar, It's Alive, Q: The Winged Serpent, and The Stuff. He was also jump started the Black exploitation films of the 1970s, and lil people know was the screenwriter for the Hollywood classic Phone Booth. He was also responsible for getting Kiether Sutherland to play the voice of the Sniper.

His Black Exploitation movies were my favorite. I would run to see the double features down on the notorious strip on 42 ND st. Were these classics played. Black Ceaser and Hell up in Harlem starring the great Fred Williamson. He has inspired me so much and after watching this and the behind the scenes see he is a lot like me. His well known style of hit and run and lil prep while filming has become a staple of mine, There are behind the scenes which will keep everyone entertained.Steven explores so much of this Hollywood Icons life from his humble start as a young kid growing up in NY loving movies. He would sell stuff on the street and when he had enough money would spend the rest of the day at the movies. Those days movies ran all the time and you can easily spend all day at the theater. Which Larry Did. He would watch any type of movie and loved them all. They would kick him out when it got dark because of his young age. He knew at an early age he wanted to get into the movies. His next stage was a stand up comedian. Larry loved comedy and was a stand up for awhile. He loved being around people and creating material to perform. That lead to a writing job for TV shows after getting hired at a studio, After doing a few successful TV scripts most notably The Invaders. He started clashing creatively. He complained Directors were destroying his scripts. So he said time for him to start directing. His first movie was called Bone. Yaphet Kotto as a thief that breaks into a wealthy families home. He pushed the envelope with this one having a interracial sex scene which was very daring in the early 70;s. But this got me aware of this young filmmaker and had everyone interested. Larry's hey day was pre 911. Were he loved filming in his hometown of NYC. He would do things that you could not do nowadays. He had car chase in Halram. Chase scenes on on sidewalks, shootings on Manhattan streets. Chases in airports. These were all done with no permits or permission and just shot the day the scene was planned. Peoples reactions were real. It was his vision and his way. Nobody else could of pulled this off wit such success. While filming Q on top of the Chrysler building he had actual shoots out with blank shells falling from the top on to street level. These crazy shoots go the attention of the police and were questioned and made the news. Larry most notable entry in the horror genre was the Its alive trilogy most notable the original. It was the scariest and most popular horror series of the days. Even more scary than a lil movie competing against it at the time called The Exorcist. I could gush on and on about this wonderful documentary but want you to see for ourselves. The makes make it like your hanging out with Larry for the day. You get to relax and hear all about his humble beginnings to the present day and the convention. Also what is on he horizon. Larry has the gift to entertain and and tell a story. This is the perfect platform. This is a film students bible on if you want to make a movie with balls follow the Larry Cohen way. Also to the film buffs out there that want to know everything about the King of B's. His story is told through live interviews just for the documentary in an around his lovely house/studio. There are interviews with past actors,producers and everyone else who helped him for-fill his dreams. Classics clips from the classic TV show Branded with Chuck Commons and the show that changed his life Invaders. Also famous stars and other Directors, Producers etc... Martin Scorsese, J.J. Abrams, John Landis, Michael Moriarty, Fred Williamson, Yaphet Kotto, Traci Lords, Eric Roberts, Eric Foster, Rick Baker, Eric Bogosian, Barbara Carrera, Joe Dante, Mick Garris, and many more. But the highlight is to hear Larry recollect the past! I was so happy to watch and when released will be adding this to my collection proudly. Thank you Larry Cohen for such a career and being such an inspiration.

King Cohen begins its theatrical run July 27 in markets including Los Angeles and New York. Special event screenings of the film will also be held throughout July and August in cities including Asheville, VA and Yonkers,NY.

Winner of the 2017 Fantasia Fest Best Documentary Feature Audience Award, King Cohen hails from Rondo Award-winning writer/director Steve Mitchell, whose film and television credits include co-writing the beloved cult horror/comedy Chopping Mall. King Cohen is a La-La Land Entertainment production, in association with Big And Tall Pictures and Off The Cliff Productions. It is directed and produced by Steve Mitchell and produced by Matt Verboys and Dan McKeon.

A lifelong (anti) Hollywood hustler, Larry Cohen relishes recounting some of the fabulous tales that make up his subversive career. And what a career!

As a prolific writer, Cohen penned scripts for numerous television (remember television?) shows in the sixties (The Fugitive!), and soon the big screen bug bit, and Larry succumbed. Perturbed at losing creative control to others, Cohen began a string of independent films with a gonzo attitude and a very tight wallet, berthing such B-movie classics like "Bone" (aka: "Dial Rat for Terror"), "Q: The Winged Serpent" and "It's Alive". Even though those movies are quite, uh, unique, there's no denying the spirit of their cinematic father.

Cohen often worked directly on location, with no permits, using the unsuspecting public during his guerilla shoots, adding a decidedly unpredictability wow factor to many of his wildly uneven films.

"King Cohen" takes a fanboyish documentary peek at one of Hollywood's true, overlooked treasures. Glowing accounts from bigwigs like Martin Scorsese and J.J. Abrams, are interspersed with fond filming recollections from actors Michael Moriarty and Fred Williamson, but most importantly is Larry himself, who remains a crackerjack trove of crazy ideas. Well worth the watch.

Greetings again from the darkness. "That's not the way it's done." Larry Cohen admits to having heard those words many times over the years, but in fact, it's an accurate description of his 6 decade career as a Producer-Director-Writer. Filmmaker Steve Mitchell serves up a biopic and career retrospective of Mr. Cohen, and kicks it off with Cohen fan director JJ Abrams telling a story about the IT'S ALIVE prop baby and crossing paths with the man himself.

Larry Cohen might be described as a schlock movie maker known only to those who are drawn to B-movie horror films. But that would be an injustice to the man who sold his first script at age 17, was the creative force behind numerous TV series, and has been a successful screenwriter for the films he directed, and many he didn't. Walking us through a mostly chronological order of his life and career are Mr. Cohen himself, as well as numerous other industry folks ... plus his current and ex-wife.

Mr. Cohen relays a story about his grandfather's wish to play the banjo, and how that story convinced young Larry that we was going to do what he wanted to do, and not be talked out of it. That turned into the mantra for his life and career. We learn that he was a talented and creative writer who only began making movies himself because he tired of other directors and producers messing up his work. Typically working with a very limited budget, Mr. Cohen mastered the art of guerilla filmmaking - "stealing scenes" when he had no authorization or permit to film. This includes a clip of Andy Kaufman joining an NYPD parade whilst dressed in full uniform. He also regularly filmed at his own house ... a beautiful home originally built by William Randolph Hearst.

Filmmaker Mitchell generates a treasure trove of inside stories from such recognizable figures as actor Yaphet Kotto, who explains how BONE and BLACK CAESER started the Blaxploitation boom; legendary make-up and effects artist Rick Baker describing the IT'S ALIVE baby; actor Michael Moriarty speaks in reverent tones about his multiple collaborations with Cohen; Fred Williamson sparks a battle of egos in recollections of events; and Traci Lords, James Dixon, both of Cohen's wives, Mick Garris, Eric Roberts, and Robert Forster all add their flavor to the lore of working with Larry Cohen. Directors Joe Dante and Martin Scorsese speak to his influence and how credible the work is viewed by other filmmakers.

Even more fascinating stories are presented as Cohen talks about working with the great film composer Bernard Hermann, and then the shock of losing his friend to an unexpected early passing. The Betty Ford story is also quite funny in how it relates to Cohen getting THE SECRET FILES OF J EDGAR HOOVER filmed at Quantico and at Hoover's home. There are also segments about Cohen's work with two cinematic legends - Sam Fuller and Bette Davis. Not many can match this diverse list throughout their career, and Larry Cohen just seems to accept it as doing what needs to be done.

He is described as "the master of the premise" as he has no shortage of fresh ideas, and his name would likely be more well-known were he more interested in self-promotion. Instead, he concentrated on projects that were entertaining and profitable, and importantly, filled with social commentary and humor. His process of writing scripts in long-hand or dictating into a handheld recorder contrasts with today's technology, but it has not been detrimental to his daily writing. It's hard to know if this film works better as a treat for fans of Cohen's work or as an education for those unfamiliar. Mr. Cohen jokes that one film is not enough time to share all of his experiences. On second thought, he's not joking.

**Note: Larry Cohen's younger sister was Ronni Chasen, the Hollywood publicist who was shot dead at a Beverly Hills traffic light in 2010.

I confess that I have never seen a Larry Cohen movie. But I really enjoyed this documentary about the maverick film maker. The extraordinary amount of archival footage, along with the commentary through interviews with a variety of people who are familiar with Larry Cohen and the way he works, made this an easy-to-watch and thoroughly entertaining documentary. Hearing the comments from industry insiders (directors, actors, cinematographers, etc.), as well as Larry Cohen himself, gives the film a contemporary feel and a sense of both the seriousness and playfulness of his approach to film making. Definitely worth watching.

King Cohen: The Wild World of Filmmaker Larry Cohen (2017)

**** (out of 4)

Excellent documentary that takes a look at the career of screenwriter and director Larry Cohen. The documentary comes in just shy of two hours and it features interviews with the man himself as well as Martin Scorsese, Rick Baker, John Landis, Joe Dante, Mick Garris, Robert Forster, James Dixon, Eric Roberts, Megan Gallagher, Michael Moriarty, Traci Lords, Daniel Pearl, Nathaniel Thompson, Yaphet Kotto and Fred Williamson.

KING COHEN is a terrific documentary for fans of Cohen and if you're not familiar with Cohen's work then there's no question that you're going to be curious about after watching this. It's really great that there are so many definitive documentaries being made about these types of filmmakers and especially since they're all getting up there in age. If you're familiar with the work of Cohen then there's no question that you're going to love the behind-the-scenes stories to his films as well as his life.

I think some of the greatest stuff presented here is the discussion about his early television work. I'm sure a lot of people have seen his credits at various sites but I doubt too many know some of the stories. What's great is that Cohen is on hand to discuss these early television programs and we get some terrific stories about them. Once the movie stuff comes along then you get even more details from Cohen as well as the other filmmakers paying their respects and discussing what made his films work and especially on their budget.

There are a lot of really great stories told here but some of the best deal with Cohen and his ability to steal scenes without getting permits. We learn about why he does this and we get some great stories including one dealing with Q THE WINGED SERPENT. The majority of the film's that he directed are covered and that includes WICKED STEPMOTHER with Bette Davis. We finally get to hear what really happened on the set of that picture that had Davis walk off and eventually badmouth Cohen. Other great stories include the production of ORIGINAL GANGSTAS as well as some dealing with Cohen's anger at what some director's did to his screenplays.

All in all, KING COHEN is a really great documentary that gives you a terrific insight into the filmmaker and his movies.