Q (1982)

Director:

Larry Cohen

Writer:

Larry Cohen

Release Date:

29 October 1982 (USA)

Genre:

Drama | Fantasy | Horror | Mystery | 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:

Monster | Nest | Police | Anklet | Decapitation

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
Bobbie Burns	...	Sunbather (as Bobbi Burns)

Directed by
Larry Cohen

Writing credits (in alphabetical order)
Larry Cohen

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 (uncredited)
Rick Stratton	....	special makeup effects (uncredited)

Production Management
Peter Sabiston	....	executive in charge of production
Michelle Solotar	....	unit manager

Sound Department
Sandy Berman	....	sound designer
Jane Landis	....	boom operator
Don Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
Lee Minkler	....	sound re-recording mixer
T.A. Moore Jr.	....	sound re-recording mixer

Visual Effects by
Aiko	....	additional modelmaker
David Allen	....	special visual effects
Randall William Cook	....	special visual effects (as Randy Cook)
Roger Dicken	....	additional modelmaker
Dennis Gordon	....	additional modelmaker
Peter Kuran	....	special visual effects
Deed Rossiter	....	additional modelmaker

Stunts
Peter Hock	....	stunt coordinator

Camera and Electrical Department
Don Cerrone	....	key grip
Yuri Denysenko	....	assistant camera: second unit
Morris Flam	....	lighting technician
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
John Bruno	....	production office assistant
Nancy Juliber	....	production coordinator
Dennis Stuart Murphy	....	production coordinator
Al Cerullo	....	helicopter pilot (uncredited)

Production Companies

• Arkoff International
• Larco Productions

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
• Shout! Factory (2013) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-Ray)
• Shout! Factory (2013) (USA) (DVD) (Blu-ray)

Special Effects

• Lost Arts

Other Companies

• TVC Laboratories  dailies (as TVC Lab)
• Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM)  titles
• Producers' Sound Service  soundtrack recorded at (as Producers Sound Service)

Also Known As:

Runtime:

93 min

Country:

USA

Language:

English

Color:

Color

Aspect Ratio:

1.85 : 1

Sound Mix:

Mono

Certification:

Australia:M | France:-12 | Norway:18 | UK:15 (re-rating) (1982) | UK:X (original rating) | USA:R | Iceland:16 | Canada:13+ (Quebec) | West Germany:16

Filming Locations:

Chrysler Building - 405 Lexington Avenue, Manhattan, New York City, New York, USA

Company:

Arkoff International

Trivia:

Film debut of John Capodice.

Goofs:

Audio/visual unsynchronized: When the police open fire on the monster, the sound effects for their machine guns include science-fiction blaster effects in amongst the sounds of gun fire. Ricochets can also be heard when there is nothing for the bullets to be bouncing off from to make such a noise.

Quotes:

Kahea:I am the plumed serpent, I fly, and I crawl... I have fallen, but I shall rise again!

Movie Connections:

References "The Tonight Show Starring Johnny Carson" (1962)

Soundtrack:

Evil Dream

An Aztec winged monster named Quetzalcoatl flying over Manhattan

This flick is a distinctive and haunting oddity , concerning about a winged serpent, a dragonlike, which carries out creepy killings , happening in N.Y. City. A detectives(David Carradine, Richard Roundtree) are investigating the strange events. The giant winged bird hungry for sunbathers and rooftop construction workers.Thanks help a delinquent(Michael Moriarty) who encounters the monster's hidden nest on the Chrisler building, detective Sheperd discovers that several murders committed of violent manner have been executed as bloody sacrifices to Aztec God named Quetzalcoatl, a feathered serpent whose two halves are a serpent and a bird.

This is a rough-edged chiller and results to be an entertaining return to monster movies from the 50s. Simple and stop-motion monster special effects by recently deceased David Allen, usual of 'Full moon and Empire' factory. Good cast as an overacting Michael Moriarty , David Carradine, Richard Roundtree as Police Inspectors and nice support casting

as Eddie Jones and Candy Clark as crooks'fiancée.The film is well produced by Samuel Z Arkoff who along with James H Nicholson financed numerous movies of various genres, including monsters movies, during the 50s,60s, and 70s by their production company called American International. Cool photography by Fred Murphy, today with a successful career as cameraman. The picture is originally realized by Larry Cohen. He's a B series expert, such as terror genre(Stuff,Return to Salem's Lot, It's alive I,I and Island of the alive), hard hitting crime films(FX,Ambulance) and Blaxploitation(Black Caesar, Hell up in Harlem,Original gangsters), plus a prestigious screenwriter(Phone booth,The ex,Invasion of privacy) and usually writes all his own scripts. This is a cult movie to be liked for chillers and monsters films admirers.