Back to trending
The Ambulance

The Ambulance

Action · Thriller · Comedy · 1990

One minute Josh Baker is meeting the woman of his dreams. The next, he's watching her whisked away by a mysterious ambulance that never arrives at the local hospital. Doubted by the police, Josh is forced to carry on a one-man crusade that leads to a discovery more frightening than his worst fears.

Movie details

The Ambulance

“You'll be in perfect health before you die.”

1990 Action · Thriller · Comedy 1h 36m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

5.8 / 10

Community rating

One minute Josh Baker is meeting the woman of his dreams. The next, he's watching her whisked away by a mysterious ambulance that never arrives at the local hospital. Doubted by the police, Josh is forced to carry on a one-man crusade that leads to a discovery more frightening than his worst fears.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over The Ambulance?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

Sharp Corner

Sharp Corner

Thriller · 2025

A dedicated family man becomes obsessed with saving the lives of the car accident victims on the sharp corner in front of his house – an obsession that could cost him everything.

Q & A

Q & A

Action · 1990

A young district attorney seeking to prove a case against a corrupt police detective encounters a former lover and her new protector, a crime boss who refuses to help him.

15 Minutes

15 Minutes

Action · 2001

When Eastern European criminals Oleg and Emil come to New York City to pick up their share of a heist score, Oleg steals a video camera and starts filming their activities, both legal and illegal. When they learn how the American media circus can make a remorseless killer look like the victim and make them rich, they target media-savvy NYPD Homicide Detective Eddie Flemming and media-naive FDNY Fire Marshal Jordy Warsaw, the cops investigating their murder and torching of their former criminal partner, filming everything to sell to the local tabloid TV show "Top Story."

Until Death

Until Death

Action · 2007

Anthony Stowe is a dirty cop who is hooked on heroin—and everyone hates him. After a serious accident, he is placed into an induced coma, but emerges from it a better person who wants to put things right.

God Is a Bullet

God Is a Bullet

Thriller · 2023

Vice detective Bob Hightower finds his ex-wife murdered and daughter kidnapped by a cult. Frustrated by the botched official investigations, he quits the force and infiltrates the cult to hunt down the leader with the help of the cult’s only female victim escapee, Case Hardin.

The Commuter

The Commuter

Action · 2018

A businessman, on his daily commute home, gets unwittingly caught up in a criminal conspiracy that threatens not only his life but the lives of those around him.

Canary Black

Canary Black

Action · 2024

Top level CIA agent Avery Graves is blackmailed by terrorists into betraying her own country to save her kidnapped husband. Cut off from her team, she turns to her underworld contacts to survive and help locate the coveted intelligence that the kidnappers want.

Copshop

Copshop

Thriller · 2021

On the run from a lethal assassin, a wily con artist devises a scheme to hide out inside a small-town police station. However, when the hit man turns up at the precinct, an unsuspecting rookie cop finds herself caught in the crosshairs.

The Killer

The Killer

Action · 2024

Zee is a feared contract killer known as "the Queen of the Dead," but when she refuses to murder a young blind woman, she finds herself hunted both by criminal colleagues and a determined police detective.

The Losers

The Losers

Action · 2010

On a mission deep in the Bolivian jungle, a team of elite commandos finds itself on the receiving end of a lethal betrayal. Now presumed dead, the men join forces with a mysterious operative named Aisha to hunt down their enemy and even the score.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Larry Cohen

Written by

Larry Cohen

Eric Roberts

Eric Roberts

Josh Baker

James Earl Jones

James Earl Jones

Lt. Spencer

Megan Gallagher

Megan Gallagher

Sandra Malloy

Richard Bright

Richard Bright

McClosky

Janine Turner

Janine Turner

Cheryl

Eric Braeden

Eric Braeden

The Doctor

Nick Chinlund

Nick Chinlund

Hugo

Court is in session

Put The Ambulance on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Adrenaline Seeker

“Momentum is a formal choice.”

The velocity sharpens instinct and tension, making every beat land before self-importance can settle in.

The prosecution The Auteur Devotee

“Speed as an alibi.”

The film races past its weak spots and hopes acceleration will keep the audience from inspecting the evidence.