movie as well." Q: The Winged Serpent His fantasy horror Q a.k.a. Q: The Winged Serpent (1982) has a Rotten Tomatoes rating of 61%. TV Guide praise Cohen for his intelligence, creativity and originality and further comment that '[Cohen] successfully combines a film noir crime story with a good old-fashioned giant monster movie' and that 'Michael Moriarty turns in a brilliant performance as Jimmy Quinn [...]'. Horror author and movie critic, Kim Newman, praises Cohen's plot originality and canny use of characters in Empire, pointing out the director's use of an oddball as lead – Jimmy Quinn – who would ordinarily be a secondary character or warrant solely a cameo appearance; Newman also explains how Cohen has relegated all the usual plot devices – in movies such as King Kong – to the background. Alternatively, the Chicago Reader, although viewing Cohen's monster movie as 'cheesy' and 'fun', ultimately condemns the movie as being 'curiously disengaged and sloppy'. The New York Times, following the film's opening day at the Rivoli Theater, had just 'a few words – only a very few – about Q, offering a brief neutral synopsis and a couple of quotes. Variety are more favourable, focusing on Cohen's 'wild' and 'bizarre' – albeit realistic – efforts: Q has great fun mixing realistic settings with political satire and a wild yarn'. They go on to say that the film belongs to both Moriarty and the Monster. It's Alive It's Alive, the first part of Cohen's horror trilogy featuring a mutated baby that kills its prey when trapped or frightened, holds a rating of 67% on Rotten Tomatoes, one of the highest ratings for his films. Focusing on the social context of the film at the time, The Film Journal points out that It's Alive "carries a potent mix of both suspense and social critique [...] [i]nvoking such taboo subjects as abortion as early as 1974." As well as being apt at providing 'suspense,' The Film Journal acknowledges Cohen's ability "to impart an intelligent nature to his otherwise pulpy horror films." Black Hole magazine opines that despite a lack of A-List actors and special effects, It's Alive still manages to maintain the viewer's interest due to Cohen's "unique horror concept and a script rich in ideas." Black Hole nevertheless points out that "[w]hile the drama is consistent, it's less successful as a seventies monster movie, and especially lacking now." Whereas