There was a time when the name Larry Cohen was as it should be: a drawcard
Q: The Winged Serpent
Directed by Larry Cohen
Starring David Carradine, Michael Moriarty, Candy Clark
Review by Jordan
Underrated and largely unknown by those that don’t venture too far into 70’s and 80’s cult Americana (and by the publicist who on the back of the recently released Australian blu-ray stated that he directed Maniac Cop… sorry Bill Lustig), Larry Cohen has proved to be a highly prolific writer of thrillers (Phone Booth, Captivity) but more importantly, a hugely capable director recently recognized as a Master of Horror in Mick Garris’ fantastic series.
Black Caesar (1973), It’s Alive (1974), God Told me To (1976) and The Stuff (1985) are all genre classics, with the chilling and oft-referenced It’s Alive, the tale of a baby with a murderous angry streak, perhaps his most iconic. While It’s Alive is his most renowned though, God Told me To stoicly stands as his most ambitious and challenging, and The Stuff is easily one of the most quotable and enjoyable B-movies of the 80’s; so where does that leave Q: The Winged Serpent? a monster movie in the mold of the most shoddy aspects of the Godzilla franchise? Well, somewhere in the middle…
Michael Moriarty is weirdly excellent in Cohen’s muddled curiosity
Pitting a charming detective (the legendary David Carradine), a mousy, unintelligent petty-crook (Michael Morarty, not quite as legendary but immensely watchable) and a giant flying Aztec lizard called Quetzalcoatl (just call it Q, that’s all you’ll have time to say before it tears you apart! the tagline so subtly says), Q: The Winged Serpent was mentioned extensively in Kim Newman’s landmark horror book Nightmare Movies and earns kudos for being one of the only films of its type released at the time, but in hindsight can’t quite cover for its glaring structural deficiencies; despite Moriarty’s esteemed performance.
Any scene in which the stop-motion Q startlingly attacks unsuspecting New Yorkers is a shoddy joy to behold (we get decapitations and mutilations galore), but it’s the moments in between, in which an actual story needs to occur, where Cohen’s monster flick fails. It’s a tad hazy now, but from memory there is plot involving an ancient cult who are ritualistically killing citizens in order to resurrect our titular monster, or something like that, you can probably gather that this isn’t conveyed too cohesively. In fact, as a feature film Q makes very little narrative sense at all… but thankfully it’s authentic metropolitan locals and that almost awards worthy performance (seriously, if his character of Jimmy Quinn was in a Scorsese film he would’ve definitely earned critical praise) by Moriarty rescue it from the scrap-heap and place it in the collection of cult curiosities.
Ultimately, Q: The Winged Serpent’s plot is as hard to understand as Quetzalcoatl is to pronounce, but if you’re looking for some cheesy fun in which two great actors play off each-others strengths, then don’t let that put you off.
Jordan and Eddie (The Movie Guys) 
I hadn’t heard of this, but I love a good B movie!
Nothing like a good cheesy flick! There’s a fair bit to enjoy here.
Jordan
The title sounds like the name of a monster from a trading card game! Haha, great review Jordan. Sounds utterly bonkers.
Haha, very true that. I can’t imagine it was the easiest title to market..
Jordan
Wow its been a looong time since i saw this cheesy b movie. Love the review. Keep it up
Ha I can’t imagine it’s become too much better with time. Cheers mate.
Jordan
Im gonna check it out some time. Cheers
Hey Jordan! I haven’t heard of this one before, but it sounds fun!! I have to say, the giant omelet really got me curious?!
Speaking of that, … Wolf Creek 2 is really great!!You have to see it! 🙂
Hey! very fun indeed! Ha the omelet was actually a part that I found rather sad (there’s no omelet, but a bunch of cops fire their machine guns into Q’s giant egg killing it’s baby and refer to it as one… spoiler alert).
Ha, think it’s out here on disk soonish (really should’ve caught it at the cinema!). My problem is that I’ve always loved unearthing older films over newer ones so I really need them to grab me (or motivation such as this ha).
Jordan
Oh I see! Haha, the omelet thing sounds even funnier now!
Well, I was asked to convince you, so I’ll do my best!
It has a lot of gore, singing, driving and it offers many historical facts AND sarcastic jokes! I mean…really…
Haha, nicely done.. I’ve gotta say the historical facts have me intrigued!
Yes, see?! It’s an educational horror movie! Can’t wait to hear your thoughts!
Maria you have done well haha how can Jordan resist!
Eddie
Haha yeah it was so convincing that I think I’ll re-watch it!
You have to love this guy. “The Stuff” and “Black Caesar” are just golden, and I thoroughly enjoyed watching “Maniac Cop” recently (he wrote it, but didn’t direct as you pointed out). I still haven’t checked out “Q”, but it has been on my list for ages. I’m mostly in it for the cheesy monster, so I can forgive an inane plot here and there. We’ve all sat through showa Godzilla before, and after those any plot will do.
Maniac Cop is indeed awesome (more so for the Bruce Campbell playing it straight aspect for me), as are those others. Ha you should definitely check this out mate if only to be a Cohen completest.
Jordan
Bruce Campbell playing it straight was almost as bizarre as Robert Z’dar’s face on a good day.
I remember when it came out and there was a joke that they were trying to come up with a title for the film when the director said, “Cue the winged serpent!” and they went with that.
Ha given the nature of this film, I’d almost believe that!
Jordan