It seems that writer-director Larry Cohen got some inspiration for this movie from the obscure 1979 German movie "Spare Parts", though to his credit he made a lot of changes so he can't really be accused of plagiarism. For one thing, he adds a considerable amount of humor in this telling when the original movie was dead serious. But ultimately, the humor doesn't really fit this movie, mainly because there is also a serious side to this movie as well. While it may have been possible to be equally humorous and serious, the actual execution here doesn't work, and as the result the movie often has a strange feeling where you don't know whether to laugh or be thrilled. This uneven tone may also explain why most of the cast gives really strange performances, seemingly unsure what tone they should be acting in. The production values are good for what had to be a low budget, and I will freely admit that I wasn't BORED at any moment while watching the movie. But as the end credits started rolling, I felt unsatisfied with what I had just watched. Things probably would have worked better had Cohen stuck with one tone throughout.
Review of The Ambulance
