Alright, as you know I usually don't say much when a celebrity in the
film field passes away, death for the most part is a natural occurrence
and you gotta roll with it. But I will tell two interesting Larry Cohen
stories. First, when I was in college (so we are talking '84 through 88)
one of the film professors spotted this notice on the wall of one of
the film labs we used when processing film. This guy, being a natural
born asshole, brought the notice in and hung it in the classroom. Upon
seeing it, I tore it off the wall and taped it to my note book. It's
been taped to this same note book for over 30 years now. I viewed it at
the time as a challenge. I was pissed off, I thought it was obnoxious
and I might have been one of maybe three students who knew who Cohen was
and enjoyed his work. But I was furious, where as now I see the irony
and the humor in it. Anyhow, I've made two feature films of my own, both
getting a redux re-release on DVd this Summer, so in many ways I've had
the last laugh. Remember folks, obstacles make for the best launching
pads, this piece was designed in many ways to make people work harder,
and it certainly did that for me!
Story number 2. Just a few years
back, I was offering a made for TV movie called "See China and Die"
through my site Cinefear. It was written and directed by Cohen. Anyhow, I
get a letter in my P.O. Box from Larry Cohen. I figured "Oh shit, a
cease and desist notice". No, it wasn't that at all. He was delighted I
was offering it, he didn't have a copy and wanted one. Well, I gave him
far more than one and told him whenever he needed any, just write me. He
did, a year later, requesting a few more. He couldn't have been kinder.
He would send me pictures of him on the set of his films, autographed. I
even sent him the obnoxious proclamation he wrote and told him how mad I
was about it, yet how important it was in helping me move on and do
what I do...Anyhow Larry, God's speed and thanks for the push, I needed it!
