(10/10)
Ever since I saw this movie I've loved it. It is hands down one of the best monster-movies of all time and
one of my all-time favorites.
The ancient Aztec god Quetzelcoatl is making his presence known in midtown Manhattan of all places,
biting off the heads of unsuspecting skyscraper window-washers and carrying away topless sunbathers.
The monster flies in line with the sun and avoids being spotted so the police are baffled by all the
accidents and disappearances until a small-time hood stumbles on the monster's hideout and uses it to
hold the city hostage.
Sure the monster is a little hokey-looking but this was over twenty-five years ago and both director
Larry Cohen and legendary B-movie producer Sammuel Z. Arkoff are in on the joke. They're making a
silly monster movie but they're wise enough to not go for high camp - we don't get the schlocky,
intentionally awful shtick ('How wacky is this? This must be the worst movie ever!') that makes a movie
like "Mars Attacks" just plain bad.
Cohen colors his crazy picture neatly in the lines by filling his movie with a great cast chewing scenery
but also delivering great performances and sharp, well-written dialogue: Michael Moriarty as the
enjoyably greedy hoodlum steals almost every scene he's in with his jittery mannerisms and his
hilarious banter with the police commissioner; David Carradine by comparison is restrained with the
same likeably low-key style he brought to Frankenstein in "Death Race 2000"; Richard Roundtree is
tough-as-nails in all his "Shaft" glory as Carradine's no-nonsense partner; Candy Clark is very appealing
as Moriarty's long-suffering girlfriend. This is a far better cast than you're ever likely to find again in a
movie of this sort.
The DVD from Blue Underground is actually a treat in and of itself if you're a fan of the movie (though
they've oddly chosen to change the poster color scheme on the box). There's a great commentary with
Larry Cohen about the film which will be highly appreciated by both fans of the film and aspiring film
makers. Cohen tells the story of how he began work on the Armand Assante vehicle "I, The Jury" (based
on the Mike Hammer novel) and how he was fired by 20th Century Fox from that project for trying to be
'too efficient' and how he threw "Q" together right after and got it to theaters the same day as "I, The
Jury" and outdid that film both critically and at the box office. He also shares some humorous anecdotes
about the cast and how he sort of discovered Eddie Murphy and Bruce Willis. Definitely one of the
better DVD commentaries.
The DVD is available from the good folks at Blue Underground. You can get it here:
http://www.blue-underground.com/
Ever since I saw this movie I've loved it. It is hands down one of the best monster-movies of all time and
one of my all-time favorites.
The ancient Aztec god Quetzelcoatl is making his presence known in midtown Manhattan of all places,
biting off the heads of unsuspecting skyscraper window-washers and carrying away topless sunbathers.
The monster flies in line with the sun and avoids being spotted so the police are baffled by all the
accidents and disappearances until a small-time hood stumbles on the monster's hideout and uses it to
hold the city hostage.
Sure the monster is a little hokey-looking but this was over twenty-five years ago and both director
Larry Cohen and legendary B-movie producer Sammuel Z. Arkoff are in on the joke. They're making a
silly monster movie but they're wise enough to not go for high camp - we don't get the schlocky,
intentionally awful shtick ('How wacky is this? This must be the worst movie ever!') that makes a movie
like "Mars Attacks" just plain bad.
Cohen colors his crazy picture neatly in the lines by filling his movie with a great cast chewing scenery
but also delivering great performances and sharp, well-written dialogue: Michael Moriarty as the
enjoyably greedy hoodlum steals almost every scene he's in with his jittery mannerisms and his
hilarious banter with the police commissioner; David Carradine by comparison is restrained with the
same likeably low-key style he brought to Frankenstein in "Death Race 2000"; Richard Roundtree is
tough-as-nails in all his "Shaft" glory as Carradine's no-nonsense partner; Candy Clark is very appealing
as Moriarty's long-suffering girlfriend. This is a far better cast than you're ever likely to find again in a
movie of this sort.
The DVD from Blue Underground is actually a treat in and of itself if you're a fan of the movie (though
they've oddly chosen to change the poster color scheme on the box). There's a great commentary with
Larry Cohen about the film which will be highly appreciated by both fans of the film and aspiring film
makers. Cohen tells the story of how he began work on the Armand Assante vehicle "I, The Jury" (based
on the Mike Hammer novel) and how he was fired by 20th Century Fox from that project for trying to be
'too efficient' and how he threw "Q" together right after and got it to theaters the same day as "I, The
Jury" and outdid that film both critically and at the box office. He also shares some humorous anecdotes
about the cast and how he sort of discovered Eddie Murphy and Bruce Willis. Definitely one of the
better DVD commentaries.
The DVD is available from the good folks at Blue Underground. You can get it here:
http://www.blue-underground.com/
 |
Rating;
| by Jim Haggerty |
