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:

With tongue planted firmly in cheek, the jewel store that the bad guys rob in the early part of the film is called "Neil Diamonds."

Quotes:

Jimmy Quinn: Eat 'em! Eat 'em! Crunch crunch!

Movie Connections:

Referenced in Godzilla (1998)

Soundtrack:

Dancing Too Close to the Flame

Cohen does Corman

Cohen is pretty goddamned erratic for an auteur. I mean, I don't think I've ever seen a movie with worse continuity; I don't think the constant lapses in screen direction are an homage to Godard; the character motivation is a mess. The newspaper headlines even have spelling mistakes for crying out loud. And every gruesome effort is made to avoid showing the titular winged serpent on screen. So why is this movie so cool? First of all, because it doesn't give a sh*t; second of all, because its subject matter takes us on an unprecedented and mesmerizing tour of the rooftops of NYC. And third of all because of that cast! I can't fling my stock epithet of 'stupid detectives' at Richard freakin' Roundtree and David by-the-Jesus Carradine, now can I? And I've never seen anything like Michael Moriarty's lead performance as a born-to-lose ex-junkie loudmouth opportunist with ego to burn. He's so mesmerizing you don't care about all the nervous cutting away from the sub-Harryhausen goings-on upstairs. In fact when you realize that Moriarty in Q equals Haze in Little Shop equals Miller in Bucket of Blood, the accretion of glaring imperfections starts to look like another form of loving tribute.