Director: Larry Cohen
Cast: Michael Moriarty, Candy Clark, David Carradine, Richard Roundtree
Screenplay: Larry Cohen
93 mins. Rated R.
Larry Cohen (Original Gangstas, As Good as Dead) is not talked about enough, and he’s a filmmaker that should be on the level of a Roger Corman. For decades, Cohen rocked out many low-budget horror films and genre pictures, and he unfortunately passed away this year. Today, I thought we would discuss Q: The Winged Serpent, Cohen’s response to Godzilla and kaiju films.
There’s something big killing people in New York City, and police have been receiving reports of a big flying lizard. As detectives Shepard (David Carradine, Kill Bill vol. 2, Bound for Glory) and Powell (Richard Roundtree, Shaft, TV’s Being Mary Jane) search the streets and skies for the killer, loser crook Jimmy Quinn (Michael Moriarty, The Yellow Wallpaper, TV’s Law & Order) believes he can help…for a price.
Gosh, I really wanted to love Q. I didn’t love it. I thought it was okay, very cheesy but mostly in a good way, but the film just plain isn’t that good. It’s biggest problem is that I don’t like anyone in the movie, and no one in the film is interesting enough for me as an audience member to attach myself to. Hell, I was more attached to Q, the creature, than to anyone else in the movie.
I’ve never seen Michael Moriarty play a character quite like Jimmy Quinn. His performance is great but he’s in a movie where he seemingly is the lead and I couldn’t stand him. Jimmy Quinn is so damned unlikable that most of the scenes he was in just stalled the movie out. I was more into the performances and chemistry between Carradine and Roundtree, but they didn’t get much time to shine.
The creature is pretty cheesy but it mostly works. It fits the tone that Cohen is trying to craft. I would argue it is more fun to see this type of old-school creature design than a CG monster-fest, but this is who Larry Cohen is. This is the type of film he excels at. It’s what he’s good at. It just doesn’t work as well as other Cohen films have.
Q: The Winged Serpent is a less-than-stellar monster movie. It’s too bad because the problems with the film could’ve been easily avoided if the characters were either more likable or more interesting. Quinn is not enjoyable to focus on, and we don’t get enough time with any of the other characters that could’ve been more fun to follow. There are better Cohen films, and I feel like hardcore Cohen fans could find a lot more to love than the average movie viewers.
2/5
-Kyle A. Goethe
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