Q the Winged Serpent (1982)

The director of this super cult horror is Larry Cohen and he is one of those people who seems to have been around the fringes of Hollywood for many years, both as a director and as a writer-cum-script-doctor.  His output has seldom fallen within the mainstream, but he has produced a fine body of work by his own slightly perverse standards, including the "It's Alive" series which I confess is probably not to many people's taste.  This movie is about a mythical giant feathered serpent from Aztec lore which has been brought back to life by a series of ritual murders and which is now making its nest at the top of the Chrysler Building in New York City.  For sustenance, it picks off sunbathers and construction workers from the rooftops; as one cop cracks, 'New York has always been famous for good eating'.  The detective hottest on his trail is played by David Carradine (now of "Kill Bill" fame) but as charismatic as a plank of wood here, but this is compensated by the balance of the B-cast who give their all to the nonsense on display.  Foremost among them is Michael Moriarty -- a regular in Cohen's movies -- playing a not-too-bright crook who chances upon the monster's nest and sees it as his chance to get rich quick.  The ending which was an original one here has been ripped off so many times since by bigger budget movies (in particular the dire U.S. version of "Godzilla") that it has lost its punch.  However the film still holds up as an example of what can be achieved with good dialogue and a great imagination.