Q (1982)

Like Jaws, you barely see the monster. Unlike Jaws, the characters are uninteresting. There are boobs in the beginning, then the entertainment value drops sharply. Skip to the last 20 minutes, when you actually see the monster in a King Kong-esque skyscraper showdown.

Q the Winged Serpent is basically a cheesy low-budget '50s monster movie updated to the blood & nudity era, still low on budget and high on cheese. The story has the Aztec flying serpent god Quetzalcoatl coming to modern-day New York and biting off heads and such. It's a pretty creative film, effectively written and directed by Cohen, with a good cast and shot on location in New York City. Michael Moriarty shines as a petty thief who stumbles upon the monster's nest and tries to use it to his advantage. His eccentric performance is a delight to watch as he never sits still and seems to be making his lines up as he goes along. David Carradine and Richard Roundtree are also good, albeit in more traditional ways, as the two detectives investigating the killings. Candy Clark has a small role as Moriarty's girlfriend but she makes the most of it. Everyone who shares scenes with Moriarty seems to be either amused or frustrated by his acting. We don't see the monster much but, when we do, the special effects used are solid if not overly impressive. The King Kong climax is great fun. It's my favorite Larry Cohen movie, a solid horror flick but with quirky humor that sets it apart from being just another monster movie.

I mean, Q the winged serpent has an okay story and cast, but it somehow lacks on a few things.I found the story good and not good at some parts. There were some very strange or even inconsistent elements in this movie.The effects are okay, but not really outstanding. The gore in the movie is also okay, but not outstanding.It's as if this movie tried to not become something amazing or something awful. It really hangs somewhere in-between.Q the winged serpent is one of those movies you'll either like or loath.7 out of 10 stars, because I thought it was rather creative.

A monster movie that is like those of the 1950's, but so different as to make it interesting too. This monster movie has more cops trying to find things out and uncover the truth of the Aztec cult than it has monster flying through city moments. Still, it has the unexpected in it and an interesting enough story to off set the fact the title character really is not in this film much. The final scene though is more of the type found in your typical monster movie as the creature must be brought down. Michael Moriearty is in this film as he was in a few other horror movies during the 1980's. The rest of the cast is good as well. The monster is okay, but really not all that memorable, which may explain why they felt the need to make it appear as little as possible. Some good bloody scenes in this one, but nothing to gory, most of the kills had more to do with sacrifice than the monster itself. Still, for a different type of monster movie that has more mystery but an actual monster too this is the movie for you. What I mean by that, usually when a movie features this much detecting and stuff the monster ends up being staged, fake, or a hoax.