Q, THE WINGED SERPENT

[countchocula]

Is this film worth picking up on DVD (unfortunately, no extras)? I'll have the opportunity to buy it this weekend, and was curious as to whether or not that would be a wise purchasing decision. I'm intrigued by it, especially since it's directed by Larry Cohen, creator of a favorite of mine, It's Alive.

[Requiem-for-a-Dream]

Yes, this is a classic flick. There's some nice gory effects, a gratuitous nude scene, and tons of zany characters. The stop motion was pretty sweet and all the characters were dead on. If you have a Widescreen TV be warned that the DVD isn't enhanced.

Matt

[This message has been edited by Requiem-for-a-Dream (edited 06-17-2002).]

[Harold Shand]

Q - THE WINGED SERPENT is a fantastic monster film, done in the old fashioned tradition of giving the monster a personality all of it's own. The effects maybe quaint by today's souless CGI standards but are easily overlooked as the film moves along at such a fast and immensely entertaining pace that throws in everything put the proverbial kitchen sink into the narrative...

And Michael Moriarty's performance is a show stopper!

[countchocula]

Cool, it sounds like I'll be investing in that flick. Thanks for the feedback.

[SykkBoy]

Micheal Moriarty makes that flick...he's unaware that he's in a b-flick with a big cheesy monster....a great little fun flick that is entertaining as hell and even has a few chuckles and as mentioned before, doesn't have the cgi wizardry of today, but that's it's charm.....

[Alan Idol]

Yeah, a great flick. A must see! I especially liked the sun-bathing part.

[countchocula]

I'm glad I picked this creature feature up. It successfully blended mild drama with highly entertaining sequences of campy carnage that brought back fond memories of cheese dishes such as Reptilicus and The Giant Behemoth. The stop-motion effects are to die for!

[Donnie Darko]

Already have it. And what made me buy this DVD, when I had only seen it once, when I was much younger, in the 5-6 range... I think you all know the answer to that.

[TheKingOfMasks]

It's funny, when I saw this movie nearly 20 years ago, I was enthralled and thought it was one of the most scariest and exciting movies I had ever seen.

For years I kept having flashbacks to the scene where that woman gets plucked from the rooftop while suntanning, while people on the streets below get rained on by blood dripping from her corpse. I also remembered that eerie scene where they discover the dragon's lair at the top of the Chrysler Building and there are skeletons and remains entangled in its nest.

So I finally found this movie on video a year ago and rented it. I was really excited to finally see this again. Unfortunately, I was very disappointed at how easily dazzled I was back then.

The movie takes a while to get going, and the 'action/horror' sequences are few and far between. The special effects are quite laughable (like when the dragon/serpent is flying through the sky) and I couldn't wait until the end credits rolled so I could go off and do something else.

However, the most amazing thing I discovered was Michael Moriarty pre-"Law & Order" and unemployed boozehound. I could actually understand what he was saying in this movie.

[blacksnake]

Q: The Winged Serpent, is about Detective Shepard, who is investigating all the murders in New York, recently. Most of them have been killed off of tall buildings and apartments. Detective Shepard, also finds people dead on the ground with their hearts cut out. He then finds out some information about an ancient god named Quetzalcoatl, who is a flying winged serpent who has come here to New York, after many human sacrifices. Nobody knows where the serpent stays except for an ex con small time crook named Jimmy Quinn, who had stumbled upon where it is after being indebt with the mob and will only tell the city if he can get one million dollars in cash and which would make him a hero to the public. The title Q, of course is short for Quetzalcoatl. An extremely fun movie. A great script that has humour, wit and suspense a great performance by Michael Moriarty, as Jimmy Quinn, and is ultimately just a big fun movie. If you liked films like Aliens and Gremlins and Gremlins 2: The New Batch, then this film will probably be for you too. I look forward to writer/director Larry Cohen's next film where he is the writer and the film is called The Phone Booth, and comes out this November. If it's written by Larry Cohen, the man behind It's Alive! (which he wrote and directed), Q: The Winged Serpent (which he wrote and directed) and Body Snatchers (which he wrote) then I'm sure to be in line buying tickets for this new film that he wrote.

[ParileseMonster]

You know this movie just does not hold up to me. I am not the kind of person who goes out of their way to notice bloopers or flaws. I try to enjoy every movie how it was intended. If I do happen to see a flaw or blooper I will just comment and go back to the flick but with Q, I was constantly noticing bloopers and flaws and I swear to you I was not trying to and I noticed them so much it just ruined it for me. I saw it several times when I was younger and enjoyed it. But now that I am older and have it on DVD my conclusion is that is just does not hold up with time or advanced methods of film in it's path. It just looks cheesy and poorly made to me now.:confused:

[JurassicMik]

Flick was decent, Moriarty steals the show.

[Countess]

This was a great monster flick and Michael Moriarty stole the show with his performance. The monster effects were decent and the window washer and sunbather scenes are not to be missed. All in all it was a classic B-monster movie. I loved it.

If you're thinking of getting this, I would recommend you get the Blue Underground disc. This is the one I have. It is widescreen and has theatrical trailers, audio commentary with writer/director Larry Cohen, and a Poster & Still Gallery.

[blacksnake]

To my knowledge there are two Q: The Winged Serpent DVDs. One is from Anchor Bay Entertainment and the other is from Blue Underground. I think the Anchor Bay Entertainment version is no longer available but the Blue Underground version is.

[Gluttony]

I have both, Anchor Bay's DVD has a solid transfer and no extras, but the Blue-Underground DVD has commentary, better transfer, better menues, better everything.

[blacksnake]

Thanks for the info on the DVDs. I hope to buy Q: The Winged Serpent soon.

[Gluttony]

Just curious Count, how does Q compare to other Larry Cohen outings? Truth be told, I haven't seen very many (and since our tastes seem to parrallel at some points), I was hoping you could give me some contrast.

[countchocula]

You've probably seen more of Cohen's body of work than I have. Q is certainly on the top tier, although I prefer It's Alive (nevermind the sequels). The Stuff also kicks a considerable amount of ass.

[spacemonkey]

OOoooh! The Stuff! Are you eating it, or is it eating you?

Very, very enjoyable little flick, with some gross out moments!

Hey this Q movie sounds kick ass, kinda like a throw back to movies like King kong eh?

[countchocula]

The Harryhausen-esque creature carnage isn't in the foreground, but yeah, it's essentially a drive-in throwback.

[blacksnake]

Out of the film's Larry Cohen has directed I've seen It's Alive!, It Lives Again and Q: The Winged Serpent. As for films he wrote, other than the ones I've mentioned I've seen Body Snatchers and Phone Booth. Unfortunately not many of his films are available in my city. I have heard of The Stuff before and think it sounds really good. I also look forward to the film Cellular (which he wrote) which comes out later this year.