Q (1982 film)

Q – The Winged Serpent (also known as The Winged Serpent and Q) is a 1982 American monster horror film written, produced and directed by Larry Cohen and starring Michael Moriarty, Candy Clark, David Carradine, and Richard Roundtree.

For other uses, see Q (disambiguation).

Q – The Winged Serpent
Theatrical release poster by Boris Vallejo
Directed byLarry Cohen
Produced byLarry Cohen
Written byLarry Cohen
Starring
Music byRobert O. Ragland
Cinematography
Edited byArmond Lebowitz
Distributed byUnited Film Distribution Company
Release date
October 29, 1982 (United States)
Running time
93 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$1.1 million[1]
Box office$255,000[2]

Plot

The Aztec god Quetzalcoatl, a winged, dragon-like, female lizard, takes up residence in the art-deco spire of the Chrysler Building, with frequent jaunts in the midday sun to devour various helpless New Yorkers on the rooftops. The resulting bloody mess confounds detectives, Shepard and Powell, who are already occupied with a case involving a series of bizarre ritual murders linked to a secret neo-Aztec cult.

Meanwhile, Jimmy Quinn, a cheap, paranoid crook who wishes to be a jazz pianist, takes part in a botched diamond heist. Attempting to hide from police after the heist, he stumbles upon the creature's lair atop the Chrysler building. Quinn abandons his attempts to settle down and leave his life of crime, deciding to extort from the city an enormous amount of money in exchange for directions to the creature's nest, which houses a colossal egg.

Quinn makes a deal with the city--$1 million for the location of the nest. He leads Shepard and a paramilitary assault team to the top of the Chrysler Building where they shoot the egg, killing the baby inside. However, because the creature itself was not present in the nest, the city reneges on its offer to Quinn, taking back the $1 million and leaving him broke once again. Later, after killing Powell, the creature comes to the tower. After the showdown, the creature, riddled with bullets, falls onto the streets of Manhattan. Finally, Shepard shoots the Plumed Serpent's crazed priest (who had been committing the ritual murders) as he tries to kill Quinn to resurrect his "god".

Ultimately, a second large egg hatches in a different location in the city.

Cast

Production

Q – The Winged Serpent was shot on location in and around New York City's Chrysler Building and uses the interior of the building's tower crown as a primary location.[3] The special effects for the flying serpent were done using stop-motion animation by Randall William Cook and David Allen.

Release

The film was given a limited release theatrically in the United States by United Film Distribution Company in October 1982. It grossed approximately $255,000 at the box office.[2]

Critical response

On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, Q – The Winged Serpent holds a 70% approval rating based on 27 reviews, with an average rating of 6.3/10. The consensus reads: "Q – The Winged Serpent's campy charms may be lost on audiences who want their monsters frightening, but a game cast and lovingly retrograde visual effects give this kaiju romp some majesty."[4]

Roger Ebert gave the film two-and-a-half out of four stars in his original review, commending Moriarty's performance. Ebert relates the anecdote that, when movie reviewer Rex Reed met Q – The Winged Serpent's producer, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Reed told him: "What a surprise! All that dreck—and right in the middle of it, a great Method performance by Michael Moriarty!", while Arkoff replied: "The dreck was my idea."[5]

Colin Greenland reviewed Q – The Winged Serpent for Imagine magazine, and stated that "It is not often that a film is enjoyable as a monster movie, a character study and a satire, but Q – The Winged Serpent scores on every one. As well as taking a few swipes at the police, the mass media, and big city politics, Larry Cohen cannot resist poking fun at the innumerable monsters that have gone chomping and stomping among the skyscrapers over the years."[6]

Home media

The film was later released on VHS by MCA/Universal Home Video. It was released on DVD by Blue Underground in 2003.[7] Shout! Factory released the film on DVD and Blu-ray Disc August 27, 2013, through their Scream Factory sublabel.

See also

References
  1. McGilligan, Patrick (2006). Larry Cohen: Manic Energy, Backstory 4: Interviews with Hollywood Screenwriters of the 1970s and 1980s. Uni of California. p. 64.
  2. "Q (1982)". The Numbers. Nash Information Services, LLC. Archived from the original on September 22, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
  3. Hunter, Rob (March 30, 2015). "20 Things we Learned from Larry Cohen's Commentary for Q – The Winged Serpent The Winged Serpent". Film School Rejects. Reject Media, LLC. Archived from the original on September 19, 2015. Retrieved March 2, 2016.
  4. "Q (1982)". Rotten Tomatoes.com. Fandango. Retrieved November 3, 2020.
  5. Ebert, Roger (January 1, 1982). "Q Movie Review & Film Summary (1982) - Roger Ebert". rogerebert.com. suntimes.com. Retrieved March 2, 2019.
  6. Greenland, Colin (July 1983). "Film Review". Imagine (review). TSR Hobbies (UK), Ltd. (4): 37.
  7. "Q – The Winged Serpent (DVD)". DVDEmpire.com. Right Ascension, Inc. Archived from the original on November 8, 2011. Retrieved April 16, 2011.
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