Q: The Winged Serpent [Blu-ray]

It's name is Quetzalcoatl...
Q is a fun, low budget thriller from B-movie auteur Larry Cohen. The premise is that an ancient Mexican God Quetzalcoatl has taken the form of a giant flying serpent and is living somewhere in New York, feasting on unsuspecting residents. Sunbathers, window washers, high-rise construction workers are all fair game for this gigantic beast.

Michael Moriarity stars as Jimmy Quinn, an out of work piano man/small time criminal. It's so weird seeing him in a role like this, as I am used to seeing him on the TV show Law & Order as an ADA. In this movie, his character stumbles on the secret location of the beast's nest, and he tries to use that information to get money and the respect he thinks he deserves. While a criminal, I did feel a certain amount of sympathy for this character in the beginning, which evaporated rather slowly as the intoxication of power sets in, along with its' illusions. In the beginning, he was just some poor schlub who couldn't catch a break, but later on his...

BEWARE! This version DOESNT have the original ending!
ANCHOR BAY DOES IT AGAIN! THEY GOOFED! With Anchor Bay famous for restoring cut scenes, for giving you bonuses like alternate ending or deleted scene, I was HORRIFIED to see that despite the new widescreen transfer, they failed to restore the original theatrical ending! When i saw this at the theatres, the film ended with a message telling you what happened to Michael Moriarity's character. BUT when it came out on MCA videos and on Showtime, the message scene was cut out.

But when it played on HBO and CINEMAX, and syndicated TV, it was in. So I figured Anchor Bay will restore it, but they didnt! So if you still hvae the old cable, or even the syndicated TV print, DONT ERASE IT!

Its Name Is Quetzalcoatl, but Just Call It Q
No matter how preposterous or cliche a film's bare premise may sound, if Larry Cohen's name is attached to it, you can be certain that it's an interesting and entertaining piece of cinema. Cohen's scripts and films are always filled with lots of wild imagery (both literal and figurative), often complex themes, and lots of sophisticated satirical subtext. And his 1982 opus Q: THE WINGED SERPENT is no exception, despite whatever the goofy-sounding title may seem to imply. As usual, writer/director Cohen's tongue-in-cheek film sidesteps the usual horror cliches and instead delivers a fairly tight story, interesting characters, clever dialog, and a ton of subtle yet witty social metaphor. And yes, there is also a little nudity and gore.

The titular Q is Quetzalcoatl, a flying serpentine god of the ancient Aztecs who has been summoned to modern-day Manhattan via bizarre sacrificial rituals performed by a contemporary Aztec priest. Since its arrival in The Big Apple borough, the...

Click to Editorial Reviews