PLOT: An ancient Aztec flying serpent god is loose in New York City and it’s up to a low-life criminal to help track it down. 

The mere fact that Q exists is a strange fact. Imagine if Ray Harryhausen decided to stop wasting time making movies in a fantasy setting and just decided to devote his time to making a weird horror movie about a giant flying snake terrorizing early 80s New York hipsters. In a few words: this movie is kind of great. 

Q: The Winged Serpent has the audience following around Jimmy Quinn, the least likeable protagonist I’ve seen in quite some time. Jimmy drinks, acts a fool, and is a terrible getaway driver. Jimmy eventually drinks himself into a stupor and wanders to the top of the Empire State Building, where he uncovers an enormous nest and human skeletons. It’s up to him to convince the detectives on the case of the presence of the giant flying serpent that has been killing people before the creature continues its rampage. 

There is so much ridiculousness in this movie, but it just plain works. Who cares that the serpent seems to be flying undetected over Manhattan despite being about 40 feet long? Who cares that Jimmy is the most selfish protagonist of all time? It all just works so well for a fun, early 80s creature feature. 

OVERALL


I loved Q for what it is, which is a silly movie with some wonderful stop-motion creature animation, even though it’s probably an antiquated look by the time this movie was made. It’s a fun movie that you don’t need to take seriously. It just kind of works despite a lot working against it. 

Overall Rating: 7.5 out of 10