Q

Rating:
Summary: Great gory camp, and an academy-award performence.
Review: This could have been just another quirky b-monster movie. Entertainly tongue-in-cheek, but nothing all that special. What really makes this movie great is a dazzling performance by Micheal Moriarty. His depiction of a low-level hood and aspiring piano player, suddenly made important by a terrifying discovery is unbelievably absorbing and real. From start to finish, this loser will keep you enthralled. It's too bad he's been delegated to "psi factor" in recent years...

Rating:
Summary: Excellent Transfer & Sound but.........
Review: this DVD edition features a new commentary track by Larry Cohen and Bill Wastig(?) but once again Blue Underground fails to either subtitle or close caption the film. It should also be pointed out that at one point Bill states that Q looks rubbery and Larry states that the bird was always secondary to him.Since Stop-Motion Animator David Allen is now deceased I'll paraphrase his comments about his work on Q.He was originally told the creature would only be seen in shadow or at night and therefore while creating a great armature he didn't waste time or money on detailing the skin or feathers.Much to his chagrin the footage he recieved was all shot in broad daylight.So while he was always proud of the animation, he was apologetic that the audience got to "see" as much of the model as they do in the film.

Rating:
Summary: the best of Larry Cohen
Review: This is the best from director Larry Cohen.Some people believe it was the 1974 flick he directed "It's Alive." I'm not saying that wasin't a good movie but this is the best.Great story,great special effects,and good acting. translatoin-By it now!!!

Rating:
Summary: Q the Winged Serpent
Review: Well the movie's title should have been Plumed Serpent, but the few brief times we saw the creature, it didn't have any plumes. It was ho-hum suspense, David Carradine and Michael Moriarity were the saving graces in this older movie. If the directors could have connected the creature more with the cult priest, the movie would have worked more for me. I would have like to have seen the movie take place in a more plausable metro area such as Los Angeles, Dallas-Ft. Worth, or even Mexico City. Still, all in all there was something captivating about the movie, good camera work, quality editing, continuity was blase', a little different from most creature features, I bought it and will watch it again.

Rating:
Summary: An Entertaining Film From Larry Cohen.
Review: Writer and Director-Larry Cohen did a good job with the film, especially Micheal Moriathy in a Terrific Performance and David Carradine also good in this film.

Though the special effects not great, also not really good like Today`s Visual Effects. But Cohen does homage to the monsters movies in the fifties.

A thoroughly entertaining film.

Let`s hope Anchor Bay Entertainment make an Special Edition for the 20th anniversary Edition with better picture quality and sound also adding deleted scenes plus original ending, traliers and audio commentary from the director and the cast. Grade:B+.

Rating:
Summary: Definitely not Cohen's best
Review: You really gotta hand it to Larry Cohen. He's the chap responsible for some of the more ludicrous horror and exploitation films made in the last thirty or so years, in case you were wondering. You probably heard about a little film called "The Stuff" where a greedy corporation markets a mysterious organic substance as the latest low fat sensation only to discover later that the tasty snack turns people into gelatinous mounds of goo. What, you never heard about it? O.k., then you at least know a thing or two about "God Told Me To," a strange movie that takes as its starting point a string of grisly murders but ends up morphing into your run of the mill alien abduction/return of the Son of God picture. No way! You aren't familiar with this film either? Don't tell me you've spent most of your life working, taking care of your kids, or other such meaningless activities? You're starting to make me angry. Do you mean to tell me you never heard about any of these classic schlock films? Pathetic. I'm sending you to the corner with a copy of "Q: The Winged Serpent."

Released in 1982 and looking like it, Cohen's homage to 1950's cheesy monster movies boasts a high cheese quotient of its own. How else to sum up a film that throws out the line "You ever drop a cantaloupe from forty stories?" within the first five minutes to describe a body hitting the ground? And from the mouth of veteran schlock actor David Carradine, no less? The reason that body, which was once a window washer, fell to the ground centers on the reincarnated Aztec deity Quetzlcoatl. Quick history lesson here: good old Quetzlcoatl was a half reptile/half bird god that the ancient Aztecs made particularly gory sacrifices to a few years before Cortez arrived on the scene. The priests of this god would tie down an unfortunate victim and pluck their still beating heart from the bodies as an offering. Neat, huh? Well, anything goes in 1970's New York City, and that means some nut has been offering up fresh sacrifices. The result is the emergence of a really cheesy claymation type bird that builds a nest in the Chrysler building when it isn't out soaring around town plucking off people's heads. The cops are in a dither about the sudden appearance of a score of headless corpses, especially Shepard (Carradine) and partner Powell (Richard Roundtree). That's "Q: The Winged Serpent" in a nutshell.

I almost forgot: a low rent crook named Jimmy Quinn (Michael Moriarty) becomes involved after a robbery goes awry. A bunch of mafia types hired him to drive the getaway car, but then insisted he go inside to help with the stickup. Predictably, the job turns sour and Quinn runs away. Knowing he's in trouble with the cops and with the underworld types, Jimmy hides the loot in the uppermost reaches of the Chrysler building. Sure, he notices the nest and a giant egg up there, along with a picked clean human skeleton, but he's too scared to do much about it. In the meantime, Jimmy's relationship with screechy girlfriend Joan (Candy Clark) turns sour after she learns he hasn't gone legit. When his former partners come looking for him, Quinn knows the gig is up. He heads over to the cop shop to strike a deal, namely that he will tell the police the location of this monstrous bird in exchange for money and a clean slate. This explosive revelation greatly enhances Shepard's status in the department since he's been one of the few guys listening to eyewitness claims about a killer lizard bird. He even went so far as to ask a local scholar about the Aztec connection, which resulted in a less than enthusiastic response from his superiors. If the preceding summary sounds ridiculous, wait until you see the conclusion.

Forget about the hokey special effects. Forget about the effective job David Carradine does in the role of Shepard. I want you to remember one thing about "Q: The Winged Serpent": Michael Moriarty. First, I find Michael Moriarty to be one of the most grating hacks currently working in show business. I cannot think of a role I have seen him in where I appreciated what he did for even a second, and for the most part I formed this opinion as a result of seeing this film in the early 1980s. Cohen seems to like Moriarty considering he cast him in at least three of his films ("The Stuff," "Q," and "It's Alive"). The character of Jimmy Quinn is so unlikable, so offensive to every one of my five senses, that I could hardly bear to watch this film again in order to write a review. I got the feeling that Moriarty's character is supposed to be one of those down on his luck criminal types that we should all sympathize with because deep down inside he's trying to better himself. Horse hockey. His spastic movements, sweaty visage, and smarmy demeanor sent my blood pressure through the roof in the early 1980s, and it did so again in 2004. I don't remember enough of "It's Alive" to analyze his performance there, but he's just as grating--if not more so--in "The Stuff."

Extras on the disc include a trailer, a Cohen commentary, and stills. The DVD unfortunately does not contain an explanation of why some guy went around sacrificing people to bring back an ancient Aztec deity, but that's o.k. since the movie doesn't either. Horror fans will want to watch the film, and I can't say I blame them even though I don't recommend anyone willingly exposing themselves to Moriarty's histrionics. Just know going in what to expect and you might still come away entertained. Maybe.