Q

Q is for Quirky...as in Michael Moriarty's performance. The impression I got before going in was that the winged beast would be the strangest thing in this movie. Instead, it's Moriarty. I shouldn't stop there. David Carradine is odd, too. In fact, most everything here is off a step. The dialogue is goofy and the conversations between characters is poorly timed or something. It's almost like they were ad-libbing much of the time. The stop motion animation is pretty weak, but it's good enough to make the final battle between Q and the police at the top of the Chrysler Building a lot of fun. It ultimately makes the movie worth watching. There are a lot of nice, early-'80s aerial shots of New York City and it makes me wonder how much of it that director Larry Cohen was responsible for. This is the guy who directed classics like "It's Alive" and "The Stuff". There were many times that "Q" gave me the same feeling I get when watching old episodes of "Kolchak: The Night Stalker".

Ancient Aztec rites of human sacrifice have brought the legendary flying serpent, Quetzalcoatl, back to life in New York City. This is such a delightful creature feature film despite having too many plot points. For a creature film, it doesn't have nearly enough creature in it and the effects are so 60s. I get that it's a very low budget so I shouldn't expect anything too slick anyway but the NYC cop drama and ancient ritual mix is very entertaining. It's surprisingly atmospheric and tense in places, there's a lot of humor in this and crazy fun performance from Michael Moriarty. Jimmy Quinn has to be one of my favorite characters. It's how this giant bird only attacks in bright daylight and no one notice its presence.