Q (1982), aka Q - THE WINGED SERPENT

Director: Larry Cohen

Writer: Larry Cohen

Producers: Samuel Z. Arkoff, Larry Cohen

Cast: Michael Moriarty, Candy Clark, David Carradine, Richard Roundtree, James Dixon, Fred J. Scollay, Malachy McCourt, Ron Cey, Peter Hock, Mary Louise Weller, Tony Page, Shelly Desai, John Capodice, Lee Louis, Bobbi Burns, Larry Pine, Larkin Ford, Eddie Jones, Fred Morsell, Ed Kovens, Linda Gilbert, Richard Duggan 

In New York City, people that venture out onto exposed places atop tall buildings are being attacked and eaten by an enormous flying creature. Small-time crook Jimmy Quinn (Michael Moriarty) discovers a gigantic nest inside the peak of the Chrysler Building. The perennial loser realizes that he has found the lair of the menace terrorizing the city. Quinn relishes his secret, which he will only share with the authorities for a steep price. 

The Flashback Fanatic movie review 

Maverick filmmaker Larry Cohen made some very distinctive horror movies. As he would often write, direct, and produce his own films, Cohen would not have to compromise and could deliver movies that were unique. He would use outrageous menaces to deal with uncomfortable themes and contemporary concerns that both unsettle and amuse the audience. 

Q seems like Cohen’s take on King Kong (1933), another movie about a giant monster loose in New York City. In King Kong, showman Carl Denham (Robert Armstrong) is responsible for the widespread death and destruction his exploited monster deals to New York City, but that aspect is not explored. Q also shares with that earlier classic a protagonist exploiting the creature he discovers to make a profit. However, in Cohen’s story, his hustler Jimmy Quinn is not a globetrotting adventurer and showman, just an insecure nobody incapable of making an honest living. In the process of using this sort of a character for his protagonist, Cohen deals with the morality and conflicts involved with his anti-hero exploiting such a situation while a menace to his fellow citizens is at large. In Q, there is a lot of time spent with the selfish Jimmy Quinn and it is shown that he could promptly reveal information to put an end to the danger facing the city. 

We can appreciate Quinn’s plight of being a nobody who wants success and respect. However, we should also realize that withholding life-saving knowledge until a lucrative deal is struck is wrong. The real dynamic in this story is waiting to see how soon our flawed hero will do the right thing and if it is done for the right reason. 

Cohen also returns to a theme that he dealt with earlier in God Told Me To (1976). In that film he was exploring man’s relationship to faith in the Christian God. In Q, Cohen’s take on faith is that the title monster may be the ancient Aztec god Quetzalcoatl. It may have been summoned through a series of sacrificial rituals or could even have been prayed into existence. Both films deal with the same conundrum: Do the gods man worships actually exist or does man simply assign divinity to inhuman beings because he can’t fully comprehend them? 

Michael Moriarty delivers an eccentric performance as the pathetic Jimmy Quinn. He holds our attention in every scene despite Quinn being the kind of person that is usually beneath everyone’s notice. He is the loser we can pity till he shows how selfish he becomes with an opportunity for fame and fortune. Later we learn of the grievances he has due to previously being framed by law enforcement for his first arrest and conviction. Jimmy Quinn is a flawed character with a questionable set of values that challenges us to decide if we should root for him. Whether he is hero, villain, or loser, Moriarty’s Quinn is always an interesting character. 

Candy Clark, as Quinn’s girlfriend Joan, is that anchor of morality and common sense in Quinn’s empty life that he really does not seem to deserve. She must be just as quirky as Quinn to put up with this self-absorbed and dysfunctional individual. You really have to love Joan when she tries to see the good in him and stands by him when he is at his most neurotic. This is actually another pretty gutsy way of writer-director Cohen demonstrating that this story’s hero is challenging our acceptance of him. Cohen has the daring to keep presenting a character as pathetic as Quinn as the protagonist and still maintain our interest in him. 

This movie gives David Carradine the closest thing to a “regular guy” role I had ever seen him play. His Detective Shepard expresses humor and exasperation, and he even patronizes Quinn at one point trying to get his cooperation. Carradine is not just stoic or enigmatic in this film; he is actually quite amusing and likable. 

Richard Roundtree’s Sgt. Powell provides an antagonistic foil to both Jimmy Quinn and Detective Shepard. Initially, we think that Powell and Shepard will be partners that are always on the same page, but Powell’s friction with Shepard is another quirk in this film’s character interactions. This friction also demonstrates the workaday stress in big city law enforcement that is bound to affect those working relationships. This friction is not a gimmick used to develop character or plot; it just enlivens the police procedural scenes with a bit of emotional authenticity to keep them from seeming like scripted plot points. 

It is Cohen’s characters, their conflicts, and their eccentricities that make Q an involving film and not just a monster movie. It also creates interest that allows more screen time to be spent on the personal interactions of the characters rather than devoting extra time to monster action. This is not only a budget-conscious strategy (more effects cost more money), it also prevents us from becoming all too familiar with the creature so that it will still have some impact when it really lets loose. 

This movie’s menace is referenced as “Q” in the title. However, that initial actually references two menaces in this story: the mythical god of ancient Aztec culture Quetzalcoatl and the dangerously selfish Jimmy Quinn. This is an indication of how Larry Cohen’s horror films give the audience more than one thing to ponder about morality and culture along with plenty of dark humor. These qualities make Q a far more satisfying experience than many of the effects-driven fantasy films that were becoming evermore frequent in the ’80s.

DEATH RACE 2000 (1975)

Director: Paul Bartel

Writers: Robert Thom, Charles B. Griffith, adapting Ib Melchior’s original short story “The Racer”

Producer: Roger Corman

Cast: David Carradine, Simone Griffeth, Sylvester Stallone, Mary Woronov, Louisa Moritz, Roberta Collins, Fred Grandy, Don Steele (as The Real Don Steele), Joyce Jameson, Carle Bensen, Martin Kove, Leslie McRay, Sandy McCallum, Harriet Medin, Wendy Bartel, Bill Morey, William Shephard, Vince Trankina, Paul L. Ehrmann (as Paul Laurence), John Favorite (as Jack Favorite), John Landis, Sandy Ignon, Darla McDonnell, Roger Rook, Paul Bartel (uncredited), Lewis Teague (uncredited), Charles B. Griffith (uncredtited), Dick Miller (uncredited)

In the year 2000, the United States has become a totalitarian society. It provides the public the distraction and spectacle of the annual Transcontinental Road Race. The racers not only compete to traverse the country in the fastest time, but they also must score points for the kills they make by running over pedestrians. The current champion is Frankenstein (David Carradine). He is so named because of his many racing injuries and surgical reconstructions. In addition to the dangers he and the other drivers face in their sport, there are anti-government rebels attempting acts of sabotage against the race.

The Flashback Fanatic movie review

Celebrity worship, totalitarianism, and dumbing down of the masses are present day concerns that were quite aptly addressed back in 1975 with the dystopian future portrayed in Death Race 2000. Like many Roger Corman productions, it first and foremost means to entertain; yet it still has themes to explore without preaching.

I think the film’s most pertinent point is the depiction of the manic enthusiasm of the fans for the sport and its champions. This gaudy and brutal distraction of the Transcontinental Road Race entertains and ultimately pacifies the citizens. It also cheapens the merit of human life to being worth no more than points to be scored by the racing heroes that they adore. This removes the motivation to demand that a government dedicated to “minority privilege” be responsible for the well being of all the people. The public is idiotically devoted to an entertainment they want to believe has some sort of meaning; it must if it makes them feel good, right? So long as the citizens don’t ever ask themselves what difference a winning score in a sport has to do with anyone’s quality of life, they should be happy.

The film is loosely based on an Ib Melchior short story called “The Racer.” That story also details a futuristic road racing sport that involves scoring points for running down pedestrians. It is told from the perspective of the champion racer being confronted about the morality of such real-life violence used to entertain. Death Race 2000 expands the story to include more characters and additional themes in a satirical manner. 

The wild and witty screenplay is by Robert Thom along with producer Roger Corman’s inventive and humorous writing veteran Charles B. Griffith. Director Paul Bartel has always distinguished himself both in front of and behind the camera in films of bizarre comedy. While many of the characters are laugh-out-loud funny, they all seem to be appropriate to the shallow and empty world of this future dystopia.

Having just wrapped up his popular Kung Fu television series, David Carradine stars as the racing champion called Frankenstein. While nearly every other character is a loutish caricature, Frankenstein is an intriguing enigma. In public he is always hidden behind a mask supposedly to conceal his road accident scars. His manner is stoic while most of those around him are eccentric and volatile. Whether this was a writing choice, a directing decision, or just Carradine’s acting style, I think it is this restraint in an exotic character that makes him interesting and keeps Frankenstein the hub around which the rest of the story revolves.

The other standout in the cast has to be Sylvester Stallone as the hilariously belligerent racer Machine Gun Joe Viterbo. He is both funny and despicable. Being jealous of Frankenstein’s popularity, Viterbo always has a chip on his shoulder and is ready to dole out violence to anyone. Just one year later, the struggling actor Stallone would achieve lasting stardom in Rocky (1976). 

Cult film favorite and frequent Paul Bartel co-star Mary Woronov appears as the racer Calamity Jane Kelly. Unlike the other characters in this film, she actually seems quite likable. 

Special mention must go out to Don Steele as the obnoxious race announcer Junior Bruce. His hyperbole and gung-ho puns keep stressing the superficiality of this race and this society. 

Aside from the humor, the major fun factors in this film are the attention-getting personas worked out for the racers that are complimented by the design of their vehicles. Since Frankenstein is named after a famous monster, his vehicle is called “The Monster” and is decked out like a dragon with huge fangs protruding from the front bumper. The other racers each have their own appropriately adorned cars. 

At this film’s most visceral level, it provides forbidden appeal with the depiction of sanctioned vehicular homicide. There is a sense of sick liberation in the notion that one becomes a hero for violating the rules that we are conditioned to follow as good drivers and citizens. That is the main reason that Death Race 2000 became a very successful film. 

Obviously concocted to cash-in on the futuristic blood sport vibe of the soon-to-be-released Rollerball (1975), Death Race 2000 approaches its subject in a much more freewheeling and humorous manner, yet it is just as thought provoking. Being an exploitation film that has themes worth pondering along with its action and laughs meant that Death Race 2000 was bound for cult status.