# Q: The Winged Serpent
**Q: The Winged Serpent** (released theatrically as *Q*) is a 1982 American monster film written, directed, and produced by Larry Cohen, in which the Aztec feathered serpent deity Quetzalcoatl takes up residence atop New York City's Chrysler Building and devours residents while police investigate a parallel series of ritual murders.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) • [2](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/q-the-winged-serpent-1982-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) It stars [Michael Moriarty](https://www.edgepedia.org/michael-moriarty) as [Jimmy Quinn](https://www.edgepedia.org/jimmy-quinn), a small-time ex-con who discovers the creature's nest and tries to extort the city with the information, alongside [David Carradine](https://www.edgepedia.org/david-carradine), Richard Roundtree, and Candy Clark.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) • [3](https://projectedfigures.com/2019/03/24/q-aka-q-the-winged-serpent-1982/)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Release | New York opening 8 October 1982; Los Angeles opening 19 November 1982; rated R; 92 minutes[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) |
| Premise | Quetzalcoatl, the winged serpent god of the Aztecs, nests atop the Chrysler Building and feeds on New Yorkers; ritual human sacrifices are linked to its presence[2](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/q-the-winged-serpent-1982-film-review-by-jennie-kermode) • [4](https://moriareviews.com/horror/q-the-winged-serpent-1982.htm) |
| Principal cast | Michael Moriarty (Jimmy Quinn), David Carradine (Detective Shepard), Richard Roundtree (Sergeant Powell), Candy Clark (Joan)[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) |
| Production | Began 1 June 1981 in New York City after Cohen was fired from directing *I, the Jury*; pre-production completed in under two weeks[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) |
| Effects | Stop-motion creature by David Allen, Randall William Cook, and Peter Kuran; effects artists constructed a forty-foot serpent[5](https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s933quetz.html) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) |
| Box office | Four-day gross of $619,726 in 115 theaters after the New York opening[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) |
| Critical standing | 72% on the Rotten Tomatoes Tomatometer from 29 reviews[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/q_the_winged_serpent) |
## Spoilers
### Plot
Detectives Shepard (Carradine) and Powell (Roundtree) investigate two strands of death in Manhattan: a series of ritualistic killings in which victims are skinned and their hearts cut out, and apparently unrelated deaths such as a decapitated window washer and a sunbather snatched from a rooftop.[4](https://moriareviews.com/horror/q-the-winged-serpent-1982.htm) • [7](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084556/?bypassRefViewPref=1) A curator at the [American Museum of Natural History](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-museum-of-natural-history) tells Shepard about the human sacrifices the Aztecs made to a winged serpent god called Quetzalcoatl, and Shepard advances the theory that renewed sacrifices have brought the creature back.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) • [4](https://moriareviews.com/horror/q-the-winged-serpent-1982.htm)
Meanwhile Jimmy Quinn, an out-of-work ex-con and aspiring jazz pianist played by Moriarty, stumbles into the creature's nest in the topmost spire of the [Chrysler Building](https://www.edgepedia.org/chrysler-building) while fleeing a botched job, and instead of reporting it tries to turn his knowledge into a payday.[3](https://projectedfigures.com/2019/03/24/q-aka-q-the-winged-serpent-1982/) • [8](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/q-the-winged-serpent/cast/2030083311/) The film ends with Shepard leading an army of cops against the serpent in a finale modeled on *King Kong*.[9](https://wevegotbackissues.com/2023/04/06/q-the-winged-serpent/)
## Production
**A hurried start.** In early 1981, Cohen finished writing the screenplay and, moving swiftly, obtained funding from private backers for the film, which was produced through his own company, Larco Productions. He began production after being fired from directing his screenplay for *I, the Jury* (1982), which was filming concurrently in New York City; with pre-production completed in under two weeks, principal photography began on 1 June 1981, with fifteen to sixteen-hour days and six-day weeks planned to finish before a possible [Directors Guild of America](https://www.edgepedia.org/directors-guild-of-america) strike expected for 1 July 1981.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) Cohen's commentary on the Shout! Factory Blu-ray describes the premise as hastily invented after another project fell through.[10](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/q-the-winged-serpent/)
Early casting announcements named Laurene Landon, and later [James Coburn](https://www.edgepedia.org/james-coburn) and [Yaphet Kotto](https://www.edgepedia.org/yaphet-kotto), but none of them appears in the final film. During production, Cohen was reported to have taken out a $15 million insurance policy for David Carradine, who reportedly refused a stunt double. The final two weeks of shooting moved to Los Angeles and Mexico City.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864)
**Titles.** Contemporary sources alternately called the film *Serpent*, *The Serpent*, *Serpent: The Ultimate Thriller*, and *Serpent, The Ultimate Thriller* during production. Variety reviewed it after the 1982 Cannes Film Festival under the title *The Winged Serpent*, and publicity materials referred to the project as *Q: Quetzalcoatl*, but it was released theatrically as *Q*.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864)
**Effects.** Special visual effects artists Randy Cook and David Allen constructed a forty-foot serpent for the film, and the creature was realized in stop-motion animation, with Peter Kuran compositing shots including tracer bullets striking the monster in aerial angles.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) • [5](https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s933quetz.html) Reviewer Glenn Erickson judged the animation effective in some scenes but not wholly convincing, noting that the tiny human figurines had disproportionately long limbs, likely because they were made under a very tight schedule.[5](https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s933quetz.html) The film also made heavy use of location shooting in and around the actual Chrysler Building, and a July 1981 advertisement from the filmmakers apologized for frightening New Yorkers while shooting a scene involving SWAT team gunfire atop the building.[9](https://wevegotbackissues.com/2023/04/06/q-the-winged-serpent/) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864)
## Release and box office
United Film Distribution scheduled the release with a $500,000 advertising campaign, and the film opened in New York on 8 October 1982, grossing $619,726 in 115 theaters over its first four days.[1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) According to a retrospective account, it returned only a quarter of its $1.2 million budget, though the [American Film Institute](https://www.edgepedia.org/american-film-institute) catalog records a 1 June 1981 *Hollywood Reporter* estimate of a $5 million budget; the two figures have not been reconciled.[11](https://dailydead.com/drive-dust-offs-q-winged-serpent-1982/) • [1](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864) Reviews were fairly kind, with most critics singling out Moriarty's performance as Jimmy Quinn rather than the film as a whole.[11](https://dailydead.com/drive-dust-offs-q-winged-serpent-1982/)
## Reception and legacy
On Rotten Tomatoes the film holds a 72% Tomatometer from 29 reviews, with a critics consensus that reads: "Q's campy charms may be lost on audiences who want their monsters frightening, but a game cast and lovingly retrograde visual effects give this kaiju romp some majesty."[6](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/q_the_winged_serpent) Roger Ebert gave the film two and a half stars in his original review while praising Moriarty's performance.[12](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084556/externalreviews/)
**Moriarty's Quinn.** Commentary across decades converges on Moriarty as the film's center. Slant Magazine wrote that the film tends to stall when Moriarty is not on screen performing his "one-of-kind mixture of satirical, self-amused, experimental vaudeville," and that people remember *Q* for the notion of an infinite loser who briefly holds the city's fate in his pocket.[10](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/q-the-winged-serpent/) Moriarty became Cohen's favorite actor and went on to star in Cohen's *The Stuff*, *It's Alive III: Island of the Alive*, and *A Return to Salem's Lot*.[3](https://projectedfigures.com/2019/03/24/q-aka-q-the-winged-serpent-1982/)
**Standing among Cohen's films.** Glenn Erickson called it perhaps Larry Cohen's best picture, crediting the script and the acting.[5](https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s933quetz.html) Slant Magazine took a more reserved view, judging *Q* slighter and sketchier than Cohen's *God Told Me To*, *It's Alive*, and *The Stuff*, though still a good-natured lark that riffs on the stereotype of New York as a crime-plagued wasteland whose inhabitants are too desensitized to recognize a genuine atrocity.[10](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/q-the-winged-serpent/) The film has maintained cult status for decades; Eye for Film attributed its staying power to the scale of what Cohen achieved with his monster on a low budget and to the film's pace and personality.[2](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/q-the-winged-serpent-1982-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)
**Influence.** Bong Joon-ho has said he lifted the idea for his 2006 film *[The Host](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-host-2006-film)* directly from Cohen's movie, according to a retrospective review.[13](https://film-authority.com/2022/02/26/q-the-winged-serpent/) The film has also been compared to the 1946 low-budget picture *The Flying Serpent*, which featured a mad scientist training a Quetzalcoatl bird to kill.[4](https://moriareviews.com/horror/q-the-winged-serpent-1982.htm)
## Home video
Blue Underground released a special-edition DVD in 2003 with an anamorphic 16:9 transfer, a Cohen audio commentary, a teaser trailer, and a poster and still gallery.[5](https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s933quetz.html) Shout! Factory issued a Blu-ray on 27 August 2013 with a new Cohen commentary, a theatrical trailer, and a teaser; reviewers praised the commentary but found the video and audio presentation respectable rather than definitive.[10](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/q-the-winged-serpent/) • [14](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Q-The-Winged-Serpent-Blu-ray/71893/) As of the most recent streaming listings, the film is available on Amazon Prime Video and free with ads on services including Tubi, Plex, and [The Roku Channel](https://www.edgepedia.org/the-roku-channel).[15](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/q-the-winged-serpent)
## References
1. [Q (1982), AFI Catalog of Feature Films](https://catalog.afi.com/Catalog/moviedetails/56864)
2. [Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) Movie Review, Eye for Film (Jennie Kermode)](https://www.eyeforfilm.co.uk/review/q-the-winged-serpent-1982-film-review-by-jennie-kermode)
3. [Q (aka Q: The Winged Serpent) (1982), Projected Figures](https://projectedfigures.com/2019/03/24/q-aka-q-the-winged-serpent-1982/)
4. [Q – The Winged Serpent (1982), Moria: The Science Fiction Horror and Fantasy Film Review](https://moriareviews.com/horror/q-the-winged-serpent-1982.htm)
5. [DVD Savant Review: Q, The Winged Serpent (Glenn Erickson)](https://www.dvdtalk.com/dvdsavant/s933quetz.html)
6. [Q, Rotten Tomatoes](https://www.rottentomatoes.com/m/q_the_winged_serpent)
7. [Q: The Winged Serpent (1982), IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084556/?bypassRefViewPref=1)
8. [Q: The Winged Serpent – Full Cast & Crew, TV Guide](https://www.tvguide.com/movies/q-the-winged-serpent/cast/2030083311/)
9. [Q – The Winged Serpent (1982) – Review, We Have Issues](https://wevegotbackissues.com/2023/04/06/q-the-winged-serpent/)
10. [Review: Larry Cohen's Q: The Winged Serpent on Shout! Factory Blu-ray, Slant Magazine](https://www.slantmagazine.com/dvd/q-the-winged-serpent/)
11. [Drive-In Dust Offs: Q: The Winged Serpent (1982), Daily Dead (Scott Drebit)](https://dailydead.com/drive-dust-offs-q-winged-serpent-1982/)
12. [Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) – External reviews, IMDb](https://www.imdb.com/title/tt0084556/externalreviews/)
13. [Q – The Winged Serpent, film-authority.com (Eddie Harrison)](https://film-authority.com/2022/02/26/q-the-winged-serpent/)
14. [Q: The Winged Serpent Blu-ray Review, Blu-ray.com](https://www.blu-ray.com/movies/Q-The-Winged-Serpent-Blu-ray/71893/)
15. [Q streaming: where to watch movie online?, JustWatch](https://www.justwatch.com/us/movie/q-the-winged-serpent)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Arts and culture › Screen and stage › Film and television › Films and standalone screen works › Individual films by title and year › Horror films (individual works) › Monster and creature films*
*Initially written Oct 3, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 25, 2026 · Edited: Oct 15, 2026; Oct 21, 2026; Oct 25, 2026; Nov 1, 2026 · Last review: Oct 25, 2026*
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License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license