Q (1982)

User Rating:

6.1/10   

Director:

Larry Cohen

Writer:

Larry Cohen (writer)

Release Date:

29 October 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Horror | Drama | Thriller

Tagline:

You'll just have time to scream... before it tears you apart!

Plot:

New York police are bemused by a spate of reports of a giant flying lizard that has been spotted around the rooftops of New York...

Plot Keywords:

New York | Nest | Monster | Police | Empire State Building New York

Cast

Michael Moriarty	...	Jimmy Quinn
Candy Clark	...	Joan
David Carradine	...	Shepard
Richard Roundtree	...	Powell
James Dixon	...	Lt. Murray
Malachy McCourt	...	Commissioner
Fred J. Scollay	...	Capt. Fletcher
Peter Hock	...	Det. Clifford
Ron Cey	...	Det. Hoberman
Mary Louise Weller	...	Mrs. Pauley
Bruce Carradine	...	The Victim
John Capodice	...	Doyle
Tony Page	...	Webb
Larkin Ford	...	Curator
Larry Pine	...	The Professor
Eddie Jones	...	The Watchman
Shelly Desai	...	Kahea
Lee Louis	...	Officer Banyon
Fred Morsell	...	First Robber
Ed Kovens	...	Second Robber
Richard Duggan	...	Construction Worker
Jennifer Howard	...	Newscaster
David Snell	...	Attorney
Larry Silvestri	...	Policeman
Perry Genovese	...	Policeman
Gabriel Wohl	...	Policeman
Nancy Stafford	...	Eyewitness
Bobbi Burns	...	Sunbather

Directed by
Larry Cohen

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Larry Cohen		writer

Produced by
Samuel Z. Arkoff	....	executive producer
Larry Cohen	....	producer
Dick Di Bona	....	executive producer
Salah M. Hassanein	....	line producer
Paul Kurta	....	associate producer
Peter Sabiston	....	executive producer
Don Sandburg	....	executive producer

Original Music by
Robert O. Ragland

Cinematography by
Robert Levi
Fred Murphy

Film Editing by
Armond Lebowitz

Makeup Department
Dennis Eger	....	special makeup
Steve Neill	....	special makeup effects
Rick Stratton	....	special makeup effects

Production Management
Peter Sabiston	....	executive in charge of production
Michelle Solotar	....	unit manager

Sound Department
Sandy Berman	....	sound designer
Jane Landis	....	boom operator
T.A. Moore Jr.	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Dave Allen	....	special visual effects supervisor
Peter Kuran	....	special visual effects artist

Stunts
Peter Hock	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Yuri Denysenko	....	assistant camera: second unit
Frederick Iannone	....	first assistant camera
Daniel Pearl	....	additional photographer

Editorial Department
Jim Finn	....	negative cutter

Music Department
Arlon Ober	....	music editor

Other crew
Anthony Baldasare	....	production assistant
Randall William Cook	....	creature designer (as Randy Cook)
Nancy Juliber	....	production coordinator
Dennis Murphy	....	production coordinator

Production Companies

• Arkoff International
• Larco Productions
• Universal Pictures

Distributors

• United Film Distribution Company (UFDC) (1982) (USA) (theatrical)
• Citadel Films (1983) (Canada) (theatrical)
• Columbia Broadcasting System (CBS) (1988) (USA) (TV) (broadcast premiere)
• MCA/Universal Home Video (199?) (USA) (VHS)
• Anchor Bay Entertainment (video)
• Blue Underground (2003) (USA) (DVD)
• Koch Media (2004) (Germany) (DVD)
• Roadshow Home Video

Also Known As:

Q: The Winged Serpent
Serpent
The Winged Serpent

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Iceland:16 | Australia:M | France:-12 | Norway:18 | UK:15 (re-rating) (1982) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R

Filming Locations:

Chrysler Building - 405 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Arkoff International

Trivia:

Final film of Tony Page.

Quotes:

Jimmy Quinn: Stick it in your brain. Your tiny little brain!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Godzilla (1998)

Soundtrack:

Dancing Too Close to the Flame

Excellent Movie

Writer/Director Larry Cohen is the genius that brought the world such classics as Hell Up in Harlem, Original Gangstas, Special Effects, and the It's Alive series. Nearly all of his movies are examples of low budget filmmaking at its best. Q (standing for Quetzecoatl, the flying Aztec god) is his giant monster movie in the tradition of King Kong and Godzilla. It's an excellent movie and succeeds best because of it's quirky qualities.

An excellent B-movie cast combined with Cohen's wonderfully realistic dialogue makes for some excellent characters. Micheal Moriarty (from "Law and Order" and Cohen's The Stuff) plays a loser who finds the nest of the beast, and Richard Roundtree (Shaft) and David Carradine (Death Race 2000 and Kung Fu: The Legend Continues) have excellent roles as two detectives trying to locate it before it devours more construction workers.

The plot has some great twists and turns and there's some great obligatory B -movie gore in this one, too. The monster plucks heads off of window washers and snatches sunbathers off of rooftops. Blood and body parts rain down on the unsuspecting citizens beneath. Meanwhile, some lunatic is busy skinning people alive. Is there a connection? The special effects are limited and not too spectacular, but effects don't make a movie (as is apparent in the 1998 remake of Godzilla), and everything else about this movie makes it a winner. The uneven effects actually add to the fun of this movie if you can appreciate low budget horror. Q constantly amazes me with its quirky attitude, great sense of humor (maybe the window washer's head "just fell off" says one of the detectives), creative characters, camp value, and energetic cast. This 1982 cult classic is further proof that Larry Cohen is nothing less than a god.

Final Review 98/100 (A+)