Direct Hit from a King of the Cult Directors
"Q" is one of my favorite films. Helmed by one of the great cult writer/directors, Larry Cohen, this movie is an outrageous blast! Michael Moriarty is PERFECT as the much put-upon Jimmy Quinn, a small-time hood/loser who stumbles upon the hidden nest of an ancient creature that's decapitating roof-top sun-bathers and window-washers! Awesome! Of course, being a cynical, world-weary type of fella, Quinn decides to keep the location of the murderous monster a secret until the city coughs up some serious green. Moriarty's voice inflections and mannerisms are absolutely infectious! At one point, at the end of his emotional rope, he lies down on the couch and drones out a line from a scat song he performs on the soundtrack: "Evil dream, go away!" David Carradine provides solid support, also, as the cop on the trail of the flying killer. The film's sky-scraper climax is just great and the stop-motion effects used to bring "Q" to life are a ton of fun! Watch this movie! It's fun, funny, exciting and beguilingly entertaining!

Great B movie
Why do todays film makers think they have to show almost pornographic Gore And Splater to make a good horror film. The old B movies made you imagine the monster or horror that your own mind would make up. These "R" rated Graffic movies are easily seen at home, on video, by young inpressionable minds. Some of it is so real that after a few of these movies, the viewer has to go a step higher to more gory and more graffic, until it seems this kind of movie, is acceptable especially to young viewers. Our rate of what is acceptable in society gets warped. Look at todays Youth Violence. Q Winged serpent isnt by any means the best B type movie made, but Jaws Got its idea from this movie, showing the shark proweling the ocean from the Sharks eye View, Q does the same but in the air. I think this is missed by many viewers. Yes the dialog was simple, but remember this is a B movie. An old "popcorn movie" with lots of twists and turns to intertain and make this movie fun instead of horrific. What you expose your self to constantly, becomes your norm.

Larry Cohen's best movie!
In the city of New York, a monstrous dragon creature abducts sunbathers and some workers off the rooftops of buildings leaving gory body parts and some blood on the streets. NYPD detective Shepard (David Carradine) tries to investigate what is behind these bizarre incidents and of course mysterious ritual murders while a Ex-con piano player named Jimmy (Michael Moriarty) discovers a giantic nest with dead corpses and large eggs on the Chrysler building. Only Jimmy and Spepard are the only ones that can find out where did this thing come from and who is the sick ritual sacrifice murderer.

Fantastic underrated Horror comedy from writer-producer-director Larry Cohen who brought you "It's Alive!", "The Stuff" and "God Told Me To". Co-starring Candy Clarke and Richard Roundtree, this amusing monster feature contains excellent stop-motion animation and creature effects by David Allen and terrific performances by the cast, the film does boast some humor that helps makes this a great gory cult horror comedy with some of Larry Cohen's trademark of wit and social commentary.

This special edition DVD has quality picture and sound with a stunning widescreen transfer with cool extras like audio commentary, teaser, Poster-and-still gallery, Larry Cohen bio and DVD-Rom extra of Q Memorabilia, a must have for monster movie fans.

Also recommended: "An American Werewolf in London", "Godzilla: King of the Monsters", "C.H.U.D.", "Re-Animator", "The Toxic Avenger", "Basket Case", "It's Alive!", "The Stuff", "King Kong (1933 and 2005)", "God Told me To", "The New York Ripper", "The Host", "The Descent", "It Lives Again!", "The Blob (1958 and 1988)", "The Beast from 20,000 Fantoms", "Food of the Gods", "Creepshow", "The Pit", "Demons", "Maniac (1980)", "It's Alive III: Island of the Alive", "Black Sheep (2006)", "Slugs", "Shaun of the Dead", "Mighty Joe Young (1949 and 1998 versions)", "Mimic", "Hellboy", "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Day of the Dead", "Monster in the Closet", "Hostel 1 & 2", "Baby Blood", "A Nightmare on Elm Street", "Alligator", "Rawhead Rex", "Pumpkinhead", "Mothera", and "Lair of the White Worm".

Serpent was the only good thing about this flick
Based on the reviews I've read about this film, I thought it would be better. The bird, Quetzalcoatl, was a bit on the cheesy side in terms of effect. But that's not the thing that bothered my about this little-known movie, at least little-known to me, it was how Carradine reached conclusions and suspended disbelief so easily. The flow of logic or lack thereof really annoyed the hell out of me.

Moriarty has a face that also annoys me. But I didn't give this movie two stars because of that.

But overall, an enjoyable horror film worth a rental. I bought it.

The transfer was pretty decent for the most part. There was, however, some minor artefacts which could've been cleaned up but I guess it wasn't worth the extra funds.

The killings, by the way, were gory enough to hold my interest.

B Movie Heaven
I saw this at the cinema in 1982 and enjoyed it then. Now I get the DVD to see it again after 25 years and its still good. The script is pretty good, witty and OK occasionally a bit clunky.

The cast are excellent. Carradine is cool, Richard Roundtree is believeable and best of all Michael Moriarty is nuts! You wouldn't believe this was the same actor who co-starred in Eastwoods 'Pale Rider' four years later. In that film he was a dignified decent man, here he is an odious small time time crook who accidently discovers the beast of the title. Its a brilliant performance that raises the film to a higher level.

Larry Cohen the director and writer makes full use of New Yorks dramatic buildings with some great ariel photography. Q itself now looks completely unrealistic as the special effects available for a low budget movie in 1982 were very limited. It really doesn't matter though.

My only criticism is the quality of transfer on the DVD. Its not bad, but its not great either. Probably its the best available but I suspect they could have done better with a digital remaster.

However with the extras, which include a commentary from the director and some interesting DVD-ROM material this is a fine release.