Review of Q (1982) by Bryan G — 10 Jan 2007

[font=Courier New]Larry Cohen isn?t one of my favorite directors. I?ve seen a couple of his films, and for the most part I have disliked all of them so far. But the one thing that all of his films seem to have is a level of ludicrousness that makes them hard to hate. While I will say that [i]Q - The Winged Serpent[/i] isn?t that great of a movie, the strange story and the modern day time setting make for an interesting watch. Even if you are rolling your eyes throughout most of the film.

A series of disappearances have occurred from the rooftops of buildings in New York. Reports given by eye witnesses claim that there is a giant bird of some sort that is flying in and picking these people up. Detective Shepard (David Carradine) and Sergeant Powell (Richard Roundtree) are investigating these cases of missing persons. While this is going on, a botched jewelry heist results in Jimmy Quinn (Michael Moriarty) going on the run. Trying to find a good place to hide, he accidentally discovers the lair of the giant beast wreaking havoc on New York.

What made [i]Q - The Winged Serpent[/i] a viewable film was the odd performance given by Michael Moriarty. Just to watch the way he carries himself in each scene, you?d swear that he actually lived like this daily. His body moves with such peculiar jerks, and his nervous speaking pattern make his character of Jimmy Quinn a believable guy. Not a likeable one, just convincing.

It was neat to see Carradine and Roundtree, or as most people know them Caine and Shaft, on screen together. I loved that their characters weren?t the typical hard boiled cop, with no room for any funny business. There are a lot of great moments shared between these two that had me laughing. Especially their investigation of a window cleaner whose head has been torn off.

But ultimately the film tries too hard to be too much. There is an underlying story about a cult who are responsible for Q?s appearance in the city. Sure this storyline offers some nice moments of gore, but it doesn?t really add much to the overall experience. Honestly, if the film would have just focused on Q, and not so much on how he got to New York and why, then the film could have been a fun monster flick.

The ending of the film should be commended though. It was like watching the final scene in [i]King Kong[/i], just in reverse. Instead of the monster stuck on top of a building battling planes, [i]Q[/i] has our heroes on the building battling the monster as it circles them. But that wasn?t enough to win me over. I love monster flicks, but [i]Q - The Winged Serpent[/i] wasn?t menacing enough for me to care.[/font].