VideoXploiter Like Jaws, you barely see the monster. Unlike Jaws, the characters are uninteresting. There are boobs in the beginning, then the entertainment value drops sharply. Skip to the last 20 minutes, when you actually see the monster in a King Kong-esque skyscraper showdown.

OneEightNine Media This film is a classic example of how awful directing can kill a movie. I was watching the El Rey Network and this came on so I gave it a go. The plot for the film is actually pretty good but the director's quick shots, mixed up pacing, cornball editing makes this seem like a C level movie, but that can't be the case considering the actors in this film. It has the guy who played the original Shaft as well as David Carradine back when he was in his prime. The film is about a giant flying serpent from Aztec lore terrorizing the City of New York because some crazy witch doctor has been making all kinds of offerings to it. The problem is, the witch doctor angle isn't given enough attention and comes out of nowhere towards the end of the film. The flying serpent is done as cheesy as possible but considering the directing, I understand why. But it does look good in some shots. The battle between the police and the serpent is entertaining but not a good enough reason to watch the whole film. My advice, just fast forward to the end.

ebiros2 As if New York doesn't have enough problems already, a flying serpent is on the loose picking people off as a feed.Jimmy (Michael Moriarty) is a thief, and one day he discovers a giant bird's nest at the top of the Chrysler building. Around the same time, police is looking for who killed the window washer, a construction worker, a man in bed, and a woman on the rooftop. Shepard (David Carridine) is a cop who's on this case and starts to suspect that something flying is the culprit of all the killing. When Jimmy gets caught, he uses the information he has to spring a deal with the cops.Unlikely story that a giant serpent can roam New York city and not get detected by thousands of people, but that's the plot. As far as giant monster flick is concerned this movie is crap, crap, crap because there's aren't much of a scene involving the Q itself, and all it does is fly around and pick people off of here and there. Otherwise, it's just one long boring sequence of nonsense that goes on between Jimmy and the police.Stingy is what I'd categorize this film under. Unlike Steven Spielberg, director Larry Cohen lacks the spirit to entertain and excite its viewers with visuals of the main antagonist. Don't waste your time on this one, as there's no delivery, and lots of tease. The main character of this film seems to be the greedy thief (and not the Q) that the director seems to identify a lot with.

Chase_Witherspoon Resurrected Aztec God embodied in the form of a giant winged serpent, stalks the cityscapes of Chicago, preying on rooftop dwellers and those who stumble on its lair. Perennial loser and small-time hood Michael Moriarty is menaced and intimidated into committing an armed robbery that goes wrong. Evading capture he hides out and inadvertently discovers the resting place of the prehistoric reptile, at the apex of the Chrysler building. When his ex-accomplices corner him to get even for the botched burglary, he lures them to the serpent's lair and lets Q do the rest.Genre director Larry Cohen has conjured a tight little pot-boiler with an entertaining mix of mysticism, crime-thriller, horror and comedy that employs some impressive stop-motion animation and clever photographic angles to depict the Pteradactyl-like Quetzacotal – abbreviated to Q. Aside from Moriarty's empowered weakling, Carradine is on-song as a tough detective who struggles to suspend disbelief long enough to investigate the link between ritual disembowelments and the spate of rooftop rippings that are bringing the city to its knees. Candy Clark ably supports the two leads as Moriarty's long-suffering girlfriend."Q" doesn't try to take itself too seriously, and its frantic pace and narrative, punctuated by the random, opportunistic rooftop snatchings keeps up the momentum and thrills. It plays like a cop thriller, cleverly blending the "monster movie" theme with conventional police drama, but spiced up particularly by Moriarty's manic impression of the petty loser baying for his seven minutes of stardom at any cost. The presence he brings to the character and in turn its association with the picture, is the dimension that elevates this B-grade monster-crime thriller into a minor classic. Perhaps the most satisfying aspect is that it contrives the way for a sequel that's never seen the light of day, and in doing so, preserved this film's distinction. Great movie.