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Q: The Winged Serpent
[Blu-ray]
Blu-ray A - America - Shout! Factory Review written by and copyright: Anthony Arrigo (30th August 2013). |
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The Film
 Although his name might not be as well-known as Roger Corman - the king of low-budget genre productions - auteur Larry Cohen deserves every bit as much respect for his endless gumption and total devotion to making the most out of his features. His ability to work on-the-fly and under the gun is exactly the reason why his film Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) exists today. Cohen, who had just been fired from a low-budget production shooting in New York City, didn’t want to waste the room he’d paid for during the production, so instead he hired some actors and banged out the script that would become Q in a mere six days. The conceit for this tale of a modern-day Aztec beast-god nesting in the art-deco spire of the Chrysler Building came when Cohen looked up at the skyline and said to himself, “That’d be the coolest place to have a nest.” Inspiration can come from anywhere when you’re in the Big City. New Yorkers are losing their heads, literally. Reports of a gargantuan winged creature terrorizing rooftops have the NYPD on high alert, but they just can’t seem to spot the damn thing. Meanwhile, across town, small time crook (and wannabe jazz pianist) Jimmy Quinn (played by Cohen crony Michael Moriarty) is an unwilling participant in a diamond heist (at a store called… wait for it… Neil Diamonds). It goes poorly, leaving Jimmy to run for his freedom all the way up to the top of the Chrysler Building where he finds a huge nest housing the largest cinematic egg since Mothra gave birth. Quinn decides that maybe now would be a good time to give up his life of crime and try going straight for once, but when a couple of his associates come looking for the diamonds he lies and claims they’re hidden at the top of the Chrysler Building. Sure enough, both men leave the rooftop minus a head. Thinking this is his big ticket, Jimmy figures he can use his knowledge of the nest’s location as a bargaining chip with the police, exchanging what he knows for a full pardon on all his crimes in addition to a cool $1 million cash. The way he sees it, this city owes him. Who cares if there’s an ancient behemoth eating residents, all while a mysterious man in a bejewelled mask is making willing human sacrifices to appease the beast? Cohen started off writing detective dramas, a fact which is evident in many of his films since they almost always feature a subplot involving police procedures. While the film is ostensibly sold as a monster-run-amok tale, the fact is that virtually every big creature feature needs a compelling story to work within. Now, I’ll be the first to admit that Michael Moriarty isn’t exactly the most charismatic leading man, but it’s clear that he has a strong desire to imbue his parts with enough of his quirky charm and dogged resilience that they’re at least memorable. Jimmy Quinn is a lifetime loser; a petty crook with no luck who overlooks the one stable, good thing in his life: his girlfriend, Joan, played (rather terribly) by Candy Clark. He’s so accustomed to being broken down and spat out that once he gets a small amount of power it completely goes to his head. Moriarty’s performance ends up being the film’s highlight, mainly because our eponymous creature is a little less than spectacular when finally revealed. Q had a stellar poster design. I can still vividly recall seeing the VHS cover art many times as a kid and thinking that it looked impossibly awesome. Emphasize “impossible” because this is another case of the poster setting such high expectations that they would be hopeless to match on screen. It also doesn’t help when you hire one of the foremost fantasy artists of all-time, the masterful Boris Vallejo, the design your one sheet. Quetzalcoatl looks a lot like a plucked turkey, soaring through the skyline of the Big Apple. The design isn’t necessarily terrible, but compared to the beast the cover implies you’re getting… it just doesn’t even come close. Thankfully, since this is 1982, viewers can enjoy seeing Q brought to life via stop-motion animation. The work done here is impressive for a low-budget production, and Q moves through the air almost seamlessly. Large feathered claws were crafted for scenes where lounging New Yorkers are pulled from rooftops before being torn apart, although their employment usually ends up looking like someone is playing with a giant arcade claw machine attempting to win a prize. Richard Roundtree and David Carradine both receive top billing as a couple of cops working the Q case. Carradine is given the most to do out of the pair, however, leaving Roundtree to just bark a few orders and act mildly heroic when he finally meets the beast. Carradine’s focus is mainly on investigating the series of human sacrifices occurring around the city – hearts cleanly ripped from chests, skin flayed off bodies… that kind of stuff. It’s a bit underdeveloped as a subplot, but the only real purpose it needs to serve is explaining why an Aztec god is making home in a modern day metropolis. While many might dismiss the film as a big turkey, I think there’s more than enough of interest occurring within the running time to at the very least entertain viewers. Cohen came up with a unique take on ancient Aztec rituals, and he made sure to populate the film with a few well-rounded characters and familiar faces. Hell, it’s worth watching just for all the glorious NYC skyline porn, since the film was shot entirely on location. Cohen even managed to secure permits to shoot at the top of the Chrysler Building. Fans of old-school monster movies are sure to be pleased.
Video
Shout! Factory has unleashed Q onto Blu-ray with a pleasing hi-def image that is an appreciable upgrade over Blue Underground’s previously issued DVD, though I wouldn’t be surprised to find out this image was culled directly from Blue Underground’s HD master. The 1.78:1 1080p 24/fps AVC MPEG-4 encode features a moderate layer of grain over a very clean print of the film. Due to its low-budget origins, the photography isn’t always the sharpest. The biggest benefit this disc offers is a boost in color reproduction, as well as a noticeable improvement in clarity. There are still a few soft shots, and background detail is still a bit hazy, but this is also likely as good as the film can look. Night time scenes – of which there are few – tend to be enveloped in black to the point that detail is obliterated. Thankfully, almost the entirety of the movie takes place in sunlight.
Audio
Don’t decry that the previous DVD has a DTS 6.1 surround sound track, while this Blu-ray features a DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0 stereo track (48 kHz/24-bit). The film was mixed in mono originally, so any additional rear use is likely an unnecessary expansion of the soundtrack, or it’s newly created effects to fill things out. Either way, this stereo track ably gets the job done. Dialogue levels sound a tad on the low side, especially when characters are talking outside on the street, but it’s never so low that voices are indistinguishable. The track gets a little lively once the dramatics of the score kick in, which also provides a decent opportunity for the LFE to get in on the action, but mostly this is just a dialogue heavy film. No subtitles are included.
Extras
This Blu-ray might be light on extras, but one of the few we do get more than makes up for the lack of love. There’s an audio commentary, theatrical trailer, and a teaser trailer. The audio commentary with writer/producer/director Larry Cohen is all kinds of fascinating. Once he gets going, he barely ever lets up. And it’s ALL good information – everything from securing permits to shoot atop the Chrysler Building, to aerial shots, locations, hiring the actors… Cohen delivers one of the most insightful and engaging commentary tracks I’ve heard in a long while. The theatrical trailer (1080p, 1.33:1) looks rough as hell, but that’s just fine because it only adds to the charm of watching this dated slice of entertainment. The funniest part is that audiences didn’t yet know that the trailer shows more than half of the creature footage in the film. A teaser trailer (1080p) runs for 33 seconds. Short and effective.
Packaging
As per usual, Shout! Factory has released Q in a Blu-ray keep case, sporting the original theatrical key art along with some re-printed ephemera gracing the inside cover.
Overall
Q has a lot going for it, allowing for some good character interactions when there isn’t a giant flying serpent plucking people from rooftops. The creature, while visually unimpressive, does enjoy smooth animated life courtesy of some classic stop-motion effects. Moriarty turns in a convincing performance, while Carradine and Roundtree add some gravitas but not much else. Shout!’s Blu-ray is definitely recommended for fans of low-budget monster flicks and those who enjoy Larry Cohen’s work.
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