Early work During the 1950s Cohen worked for the
NBC television network as an
NBC page, where he learned how to produce
teleplays, and shortly afterward began writing his own television scripts. Cohen began his career as a writer for well-known television series, concentrating his efforts on the crime and detective genres. He penned several episodes of
The Defenders (1964) — which starred
E.G. Marshall — whilst he was serving in the US Army in Virginia. He wrote one episode of
Espionage (1964), and episodes of
The Fugitive for producer
Quinn Martin. Other writing credits during the 1950s and 1960s included the fantasy-suspense
anthologies Kraft Television Theatre (1958) and
Kraft Suspense Theatre (1965). In 1966, he wrote the screenplay to the
Western film
Return of the Seven (also known as
Return of the Magnificent Seven), a sequel to the 1960 film
The Magnificent Seven, which had the return of
Yul Brynner as
gunslinger Chris Adams. He created the
Western TV series
Branded (1965–1966) and was the co-creator with
Walter Grauman of the World War II espionage TV series
Blue Light (1966) starring
Robert Goulet. Four episodes he wrote for
Blue Light were edited together to create the theatrical film
I Deal in Danger, released in December 1966. He created
Coronet Blue (1967) starring
Frank Converse, and the science-fiction TV series,
The Invaders (1967–1968) for Quinn Martin. Dissatisfaction with the treatment of his scripts, particularly ''Daddy's Gone a Hunting'', led to him wanting to move into directing.
1970s Although Cohen continued to write TV and film scripts during the 1970s – such as
Columbo – he further turned his hand to directing. His directorial debut was the 1972 comedy film
Bone (aka
Beverly Hills Nightmare) starring
Yaphet Kotto. Cohen directed
Dial Rat for Terror (1973) and
Housewife (1973) before creating the ''It's Alive
series in 1974. He wrote, produced and directed the horror film It's Alive, about a mutant monster baby that embarks on a killing spree. The film – an initial commercial failure – was re-released with a new and sharper advertisement campaign; it went on to become a moderate success, earning over $7 million for Warner Bros. and spawning two sequels, It Lives Again (1978) and It's Alive III: Island of the Alive'' (1987). Cohen followed-up ''It's Alive
with the science-fiction serial killer film God Told Me To'' (1976), in which a New York detective investigates a spate of killings by apparently random people who say that God told them to commit the crimes. He concentrated his work predominantly within the horror genre throughout the 1970s and 1980s, often incorporating elements of crime,
police procedural, and science fiction with scathing social commentary. Cohen's ''It's Alive'' tells of a couple, Frank and Lenore Davis, who give birth to a mutated baby. The doctors and nurses at the hospital attempt to end the life of the deformed child, but it instead kills them and escapes. A police manhunt ensues as the fleeing mutation leaves dead bodies in its wake. Frank sees the child just as
Dr. Frankenstein saw his monster and assists the police. The emphasis in ''It's Alive
is on the potential effects of chemicals to the ecosystem, and experimental prescription drugs that can be harmful to unborn babies. The score for It's Alive
was composed by Bernard Herrmann, known for his contributions to many Alfred Hitchcock films, including Psycho, North by Northwest, and Vertigo''. The welling strings, horn arrangements and harp glissandos throughout the film prefigure the soundtrack to Herrmann's final film score two years later for
Taxi Driver. The cast includes
John P. Ryan,
Sharon Farrell, James Dixon, and
Andrew Duggan.
It Lives Again (1978) picks up where the first one ended. More mutated babies are appearing around the country. Frank has now joined a renegade mob who are attempting to stop the government from killing these strange mutations. The emphasis in
It Lives Again is on accepting one's child, even if it is born with deformities or disabilities. The score is again provided by
Bernard Herrmann. The cast includes
John P. Ryan,
James Dixon,
Andrew Duggan, and
Frederic Forrest.
1980s During the 1980s, Cohen directed, produced, and scripted a number of low-budget horror films, many of which featured actor
Michael Moriarty. The first was
Q – a.k.a.
Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) — about an
Aztec god known as
Quetzalcoatl (the Winged Serpent) resurrected and nesting atop the
Chrysler Building. The film is set in New York City, as was typical for Cohen, and sees two police detectives investigating a spate of killings in the city. The cast is headed by Moriarty and co-stars
David Carradine,
Candy Clark,
Richard Roundtree, and James Dixon (another Cohen regular). The Chrysler Building scenes were actually shot on location in and around the building, including the inside and outside of the cone atop the edifice. Cohen's next project with Moriarty was
The Stuff (1985), in which an
alien substance of sorts is found bubbling out of the ground. The Stuff is marketed at the general public, which rapidly becomes addicted to it. David "Mo" Rutheford, an industrial saboteur, played by Moriarty, is hired to investigate the origins of the Stuff and decides to destroy the product. The film co-stars
Danny Aiello,
Brian Bloom,
Scott Bloom,
Andrea Marcovicci,
Patrick O'Neal, and
Paul Sorvino.
Saturday Night Live regular
Garrett Morris plays Charlie W. Hobbs a.k.a. Chocolate Chip Charlie, a
junk food mogul who assists Mo with his investigation. Cohen cast Moriarty in ''It's Alive 3: Island of the Alive
(1987)—the third part of the Alive Trilogy
—and again in A Return to Salem's Lot'' (1987), the unofficial sequel of
Stephen King's novel and TV
miniseries ''
Salem's Lot. Cohen finished the 1980s with Wicked Stepmother'' (1989), in which the late
Bette Davis made her last appearance.
1990s Cohen began the 1990s with his film
The Ambulance (1990) starring
Eric Roberts. The film is set in New York City and is focused on Josh Baker (Roberts), an aspiring comic book artist, who investigates a string of disappearances: people who are picked up by a mysterious ambulance that never reaches the city hospital.
The Ambulance features
cameos by
Stan Lee,
Larry Hama and
Jim Salicrup of
Marvel Comics. He would direct only two other films during the 1990s, one being the
Blaxploitation film
Original Gangstas (1996), featuring
Jim Brown,
Pam Grier, and
Fred Williamson. For most of the decade, Cohen concentrated on writing. He penned the remainder of the
William Lustig Maniac Cop Trilogy – he had previously scripted
Maniac Cop in 1988 – that features
Robert Z'Dar as undead Maniac Cop, Matt Cordell, and
B-Movie horror actor
Bruce Campbell. He then provided the story of the third adaptation of
Jack Finney's 1955 science-fiction novel
The Body Snatchers, a tale of
alien invasion and
paranoia:
Body Snatchers was directed by
Abel Ferrara and starred
Forest Whitaker. Throughout the decade Cohen was further involved in various TV projects including
NYPD Blue and the
Ed McBain-inspired
87th Precinct: Heatwave.
2000s Cohen's output after the 1990s was less prolific and concentrated solely on scriptwriting, except for a brief return to directing with the
Masters of Horror episode "
Pick Me Up" (2006). His first project,
Phone Booth (2002), became involved in a Hollywood bidding war, the script eventually ending up in the hands of
Joel Schumacher.
Phone Booth was a commercial success with an estimated budget of $13 million and a worldwide gross of $98 million. The film starred
Colin Farrell,
Katie Holmes,
Kiefer Sutherland, and
Forest Whitaker; it was produced by
David Zucker. His next film, another action-crime
thriller titled
Cellular (2004), also featured phones and, like
Phone Booth, it was a modest commercial success with an estimated budget of $25 million and a gross worldwide return of $50 million.
Cellular starred
Kim Basinger,
Chris Evans,
William H. Macy, and
Jason Statham.
Cellular was later re-made as
Connected (2008), Cohen being credited with the story. He then scripted the horror-thriller films
Captivity (2007) and
Messages Deleted (2009); however, both films fared poorly on a critical and commercial level. Cohen nevertheless received acclaim for the above-mentioned
Pick Me Up, which he directed for the
Mick Garris TV series
Masters of Horror (2006). The episode was written by
splatterpunk-
horror author
David Schow, and starred Cohen regular
Michael Moriarty. In 2003, Cohen, together with production partner
Martin Poll, was at the center of a lawsuit against
20th Century Fox, claiming the company had intentionally
plagiarized a
script of theirs titled
Cast of Characters in order to create the
Sean Connery-starring
League of Extraordinary Gentlemen in 2003. According to the
BBC, the lawsuit alleged 'that Mr. Cohen and Mr. Poll pitched the idea to Fox several times between 1993 and 1996, under the name
Cast of Characters.'
The League of Extraordinary Gentlemen was an adaptation of the 1999 published comic book series by
Alan Moore and artist
Kevin O'Neill. In 2006, Cohen was included in the
Masters of Horror TV anthology, which also included – but was not limited to – writers and directors as diverse as
Dario Argento,
Clive Barker,
John Carpenter,
Richard Chizmar,
Don Coscarelli,
Wes Craven,
David Cronenberg,
Joe Dante,
Guillermo del Toro,
Ernest Dickerson,
Stuart Gordon,
James Gunn,
Sam Hamm,
Tom Holland,
Tobe Hooper,
Lloyd Kaufman,
Mary Lambert,
John Landis,
Joe R. Lansdale,
Bentley Little,
H.P. Lovecraft,
Joe Lynch,
William Lustig,
Peter Medak,
Lucky McKee, Kat O' Shea,
Robert Rodriguez,
Eli Roth,
David Schow, and
Tim Sullivan. It was created by
Mick Garris for the
Showtime cable network. Cohen's contribution was the segment
Pick Me Up, based on a short story by
David Schow, who also wrote the
teleplay. It stars
Fairuza Balk and Cohen regulars
Laurene Landon and
Michael Moriarty.
Pick Me Up is the story of woman traveling on a bus that has broken down along a stretch of lonely two-lane
blacktop. Enter two
serial killers: Wheeler (Moriarty), a driver who picks up
hitchhikers with the sole intent of killing them – and – Walker (Warren Kole), a
hitchhiker who accepts lifts in order to find
his victims. The two killers pair up and inventively murder all the passengers on the bus, save for Stacia (Balk), who has since gone her own way. Stacia eventually winds up in the middle of a serial killer
turf war, a war over which killer will get her first.
Pick Me Up signaled a brief return to the director's chair for Cohen. Josef Rusnak remade Cohen's ''
It's Alive'' in 2009. Still awaiting a score on
Rotten Tomatoes, the existing reviews are also very poor. Even Cohen admitted that the remake was dreadful and states: 'It's a terrible picture. It's just beyond awful'. Cohen offered his 1974 script but remarks that it was completely ignored: "I would advise anybody who likes my film to cross the street and avoid seeing the new enchilada." ==Critical response==