Q: The Winged Serpent

Q: The Winged Serpent is a 1982 fantasy-horror film written and directed by Larry Cohen and starring Michael Moriarty, Candy Clark, David Carradine, and Richard Roundtree.
==Summary==
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, which they assume to be bogus until the lizard starts to eat people. An out-of-work, ex-con piano player is the only person who knows the location of the monster's nest and is determined to turn the knowledge to his advantage, but will his gamble pay off or will he end up as lizard food?
==Cast==
*Michael Moriarty as Jimmy Quinn
*Candy Clark as Sailor Joel
*David Carradine as Dr. Shepard
*Richard Roundtree as Sergeant Powell
*James Dixon as Lieutenant Murray
*Malachy McCourt as Commissioner Nick McConnell
*Fred J. Scollay as Captain Fletcher
*Peter Hock as Detective Harold Kipps
*Ron Cey as Officer Hoberman
*Mary Louise Weller as Mrs. Pauley
==Production notes==
The movie was shot on location in and around New York city's Chrysler Building and uses the interior of the building's tower crown as a primary location.
The original music score was composed by Robert O. Ragland.
The film was marketed with the tagline "It's [sic] name is Quetzalcoatl... just call it Q, that's all you'll have time to say before it tears you apart!"
The film poster's glossy monster illustration was painted by science fiction/fantasy artist Boris Vallejo.
==Special effects==
The special effects for the flying serpent were done using stop-motion animation.
==Release==
The film was given a limited release theatrically in the United States by United Film Distribution Company in October 1982. It grossed approximately $255,000 at the box office.
The film was later released on VHS by MCA/Universal Home Video. It was released on DVD by Blue Underground in 2003.
Shout! Factory released the film on DVD and Blu-ray Disc August 27th, 2013, through their Scream Factory branch.
==Reception==
Roger Ebert gave the film 2 and 1/2 stars in his original review but was bursting with praise for Moriarty's performance. He relates the anecdote that, when movie reviewer Rex Reed met Q's producer, Samuel Z. Arkoff, Reed told him "What a surprise! All that dreck—and right in the middle of it, a great Method performance by Michael Moriarty!" Arkoff replied "The dreck was my idea." Andrew Smith at Popcorn Pictures said that the film was tough going at times but picked up whenever the monster was on screen.
==Videos==
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Category:1982 films
Category:English-language films
Category:American films
Category:Stop-motion animated films
Category:Giant monster films
Category:Films about dragons
Category:Independent films
Category:Films set in New York City
Category:Detective films
Category:1980s films