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Review
by
Brian Lindsey
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6
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8 |
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10
= Highest Rating |
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SNEAK
PREVIEW
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DVD Release Date: Aug.
26, 2003 |
Droll,
tongue-in-cheek humor enlivens this low budget '80s hommage
to the giant monster movies of the 1950s.
In New York City, a window washer working 40 floors above the
street is mysteriously decapitated. A woman sunbathing (topless,
of course) on the roof of her apartment building suddenly disappears,
as if snatched up by something from the sky. A hard-hat worker
goes missing from a high-rise construction project, leaving
behind only his blood-smeared helmet. Police detectives Shepard
(Kung Fu's David Carradine) and Powell (Shaft
himself, Richard Roundtree), are baffled by the bizarre incidents,
which coincide with tabloid-trumpeted sightings of a giant birdlike
creature over the city. The two cops are also puzzled over a
series of bizarre mutilation murders which seem to indicate
some kind of ritual sacrifice. Despite his cynical nature Shepard
begins to believe these weird events are all somehow related.
Meanwhile, petty criminal and wannabe jazz
musician Jimmy Quinn (Return To Salem's
Lot's Michael Moriarty) is reluctantly involved in a
botched jewelry heist. He flees the scene of the crime and heads
for his lawyer's office, located in Manhattan's Chrysler Building.
Eluding a security guard Jimmy makes his way to the very top
of the building, where he makes a startling find: a gigantic
nest, complete with egg, and the bloody remains of several corpses.
Unknowingly he's stumbled upon the lair of Quetzalcoatl feathered
serpent-god of the ancient Aztecs, now making its home (and
hunting grounds) in the Big Apple. As more people disappear
and sightings of the creature intensify Jimmy realizes that
he alone possesses knowledge that the authorities, fearful of
a citywide panic, will pay dearly for.
QThe
Winged Serpent is
simultaneously a throwback to the monster films of yore and
a conscious departure from them. I can't imagine a character
as offbeat (or ultimately irritating) as Jimmy carrying one
of those B&W
'big beastie' pics from the '50s
Ken Tobey or John Agar would've just beat the crap out of him
and that would be that. Rather than play the scenario in deadly
earnest the script knowingly winks at the audience, readily
acknowledging the absurdity of it all. This proves to be the
film's most winning attribute. Thus I can forgive the pointless
subplot involving Jimmy's girlfriend Joan (Candy Clark), whose
presence serves only to help Moriarty traverse his character's
'development' arc. (Yawn.) Director Larry Cohen (It's
Alive!) gets the maximum and more out of his small budget,
the actors and New York locations. He also throws in enough
gore and a smattering of nudity (the aforementioned sunbather)
to keep exploitation fans happy. The pre-CGI creature effects
have a sort of low rent Harryhausenish charm to them and don't
really detract from the picture.
Moriarty's quirky,
oddball performance is one of the film's strengths but also
a weakness. The Jimmy character
who at times seems almost borderline retarded
is an unusual protagonist for such a film, lending a degree
of unpredictability to the story that's refreshing. (We're certainly
not stuck with the tried-and-true troika of scientist, cop/military
man and female romantic interest here.) But, as good as Moriarty
is, he eventually wears out his welcome. Long before Jimmy makes
his play to become New York's savior you'll be desperately hoping
he's made a meal of by the monster... or at least get his face
bashed in by Carradine.
Cohen lavishly indulges
Moriarty's scene-hogging method acting when he should've been
restraining him. For me the whole Jimmy thing 'jumps the shark'
when he returns to his girlfriend's apartment after his discovery
of the egg, blubbering about what he's discovered. The scene
stops the movie dead in its tracks for a full five minutes;
I started loathing Jimmy from that moment on. Call me a traditionalist
if you will, but I think the film would have been much better
had it focused on Carradine's detective character instead, with
Moriarty only supporting.
Q
remains an amusing, offbeat monster romp, though, with touches
of genuine wit. Just remember that your enjoyment factor will
greatly depend on your tolerance level for Moriarty's antics.
In any case, it beats the hell out of the unfortunate The
Flying Serpent (1946), the 'original' Quetzalcoatl movie.
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The
DVD is being released this month by Blue Underground in conjunction
with two other Larry Cohen films making their digital debut, Bone
and God Told
Me To. Q's anamorphic
widescreen (1.85:1) transfer looks terrific with virtually no
wear 'n' tear in evidence. Any limitations stem from the low budget
of the original production. Surprisingly, BU has seen fit to include
no less than four distinct audio options on the DVD: 6.1 DTS,
5.1 Surround, 2.0 Dolby stereo and the film's original mono. Sound
effects
cracking bones, the monster chomping on victims, the tinkling
of expended machine-gun shell casings, etc.
are the major beneficiaries of the remastered audio tracks with
dialog taking a back seat, especially Moriarty's mumblings. You'll
want to experiment to determine which option is best suited for
your playback equipment.
An audio commentary, featuring Blue Underground honcho Bill Lustig
sitting in with Cohen, gives Q's
writer-producer-director full rein to discuss virtually every
aspect of the film's production. There are very few lapses of
silence as Cohen doesn't require much prompting to get on a roll.
Justifiably proud of his considerable talent for on-the-spot improvisation
and guerilla filmmaking, he nevertheless comes off as being something
of a control freak and little bit full of himself. (At one point
Cohen claims he originally wanted then-unknowns Eddie Murphy and
Bruce Willis for the Jimmy/Shepard roles.)
The
disc is capped off with the original teaser trailer ("Q...
is coming," the announcer ominously intones), an image gallery
of stills and promotional materials, a Talent Bio/Director's Filmography
of Cohen, and DVD-ROM content.
8/14/03 |
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