Actors: Michael Moriarty, Candy Clark, David Carradine
Directors: Larry Cohen
Rated: R (Restricted)
Studio: Shout! Factory
Release Date: August 27, 2013
Run Time: 92 minutes
Film: 3 out of 5 stars
Extras: 1.5 out of 5 stars
“Q: The Winged Serpent” is one of those little cult classics that came out of the 80’s, specifically 1982. Larry Cohen (“Maniac Copy”, “The Stuff”) was the director and really delivered a fun – cheesy – yet fun time here. It starred a decent cast as well including Michael Moriarty, David Carradine, Candy Clark and Richard Roundtree. I mean who couldn’t love a giant monster movie…that is what it all comes down to. It also packs some impressive stop-motion animation and a fun original story. I would recommend for any fan of genre for sure. Shout! Factory scores again!
Official Premise: It’s another monstrous day in New York City where window washers have their heads bitten off, topless sunbathers are plucked from rooftops, bloody body parts rain onto the streets and small-time crook Jimmy Quinn (Moriarty) discovers a humongous nest in the spire of The Chrysler Building. Meanwhile, an NYPD detective (Carradine) investigates a series of ritual sacrifice murders that may have unleashed a giant flying Aztec Serpent God into the skies of Manhattan. Its name is Quetzalcoatl, but just call it Q… that’s all you’ll have time to say before it tears you apart.
For a low-budget film that is over 30 years old, it looks pretty good on Blu-ray. Shout! Factory isn’t really know for delivering a guaranteed perfect 1080p transfer with each release but this one looks not bad. Plus it also works with the gritty 1980 New York, where it was shot. There is a DTS-HD Master Audio track, which sounds decent for the most part. The dialogue is low in certain scenes and too loud in other parts. They only special features included besides a theatrical trailer is a commentary track with Larry Cohen. I would have loved to see some creature featurettes as well.