Swamp Thing (1982)

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Awesome Movie

A film with more than the usual spoiler issues. Talking about it in any detail feels akin to handing you a gift-wrapped present and saying, "I hope you like it -- It's a thriller about a diabolical secret experiment."

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

This is quite a campy horror flick, featuring Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise), a scientist who had discovered a way to create a new species from a combination of animals and plants. However, he became of victim of an evil faction who wants the doctor's plant formula, and then ultimately became a creature of his own creation.The film does take a while to gain any traction. When there is some monster action, the swamp creature merely appears on cue (without any dramatic entrances) whenever there is trouble and is basically a creature you feel sympathetic with, trying to fight back the people that wronged him.Adrienne Barbeau did a nice job with her role as Alice Cable, and delivered some deadpan humor in the film. The character of Jude was pretty random, but he was quite funny in the film also.There's quite a bit of good guy vs. bad guy action, but the suspense is lacking, thrills and scares are limited and the attempts at comedy mostly fall flat.Grade C

... with the unlikely Wes Craven as director. Brilliant scientist Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise) is conducting experiments for the US government deep in the heart of bayou swamp country. The isolation causes a lot of turnover in employees at the lab, so new recruit Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau) arrives as a replacement. She's just in time for the lab to be attacked by mercenary goons in the employ of the diabolical Arcane (Louis Jourdan). Holland is doused in an experimental substance and set on fire, left to die in the swamp. However, instead of dying, he is reborn as Swamp Thing, a tall, super strong humanoid made out of green plant material. He uses his new found strength to battle Arcane and his men.Barbeau makes a good, tough female hero, and Jourdan has fun with his villainous role. Veteran stuntman Dick Durock plays the title green guy, a role he would reprise in the film's sequel seven years later, as well as a TV show spin-off in 1990. Frequent B-movie bad guys David Hess and Nicholas Worth also have a lot of screen time as Arcane's chief thugs. The effects are a bit on the cheap side, but it adds to the film's charm. The whole enterprise has a comic-book vibe, and fits in with the late 70s superhero style; it's not as cheesy as the 60s BATMAN TV show, but keeps some comic touches, like the Christopher Reeves SUPERMAN films or the Tim Burton BATMAN films.It's also not quite clear who the audience for this was supposed to be. It has the aforementioned comic book style, and the story never gets more complicated than say a middle-school level. But it also features some gruesome violence and some nudity. It managed a PG rating (this was before PG-13), and you can tell there were some awkward edits to tone down the language. Based on the DC Comics characters.

Considering the amount of horror films that he's made, it may be too easy to forget that Wes Craven also made this endearing, amusing, campy comic book adaptation. It's not without flaws, but overall it's fast paced fun that makes full use of its South Carolina locations. It benefits from great casting in the key roles, and performances ranging from sincere to theatrical.The Len Wein character makes his debut in this story (written for the screen by Craven) in which a sexy government agent, Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau) is called in to replace an agent who'd been protecting research scientist Alec Holland (Ray Wise). Alec's new formula, unfortunately, falls into the wrong hands, those of ambitious creep Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan). Alec gets doused with his own formula and set on fire; he runs outside into the swamp where the bad guys wrongly assume he perished. But he's simply been reborn as humanoid plant man Swamp Thing (now played by stuntman Dick Durock). Swamp Thing falls for Alice while doing battle with Arcane and his assortment of goons.Jourdan is delicious as he chews into the scenery. Barbeau is pleasing to watch and admire. Wise creates a likable if somewhat temperamental character in his brief time on screen. David Hess, who'd been so perfect as degenerate criminal Krug in Cravens' "The Last House on the Left", creates another entertaining villain with his portrayal of headband wearing commando Ferret. Nicholas Worth ("Don't Answer the Phone!") also is featured prominently as another of the bad guys. Durock does a fine job of acting underneath the cumbersome Swamp Thing costume. And young Reggie Batts is a deadpan delight as local kid Jude. "Here comes trouble," he quips, when first noticing Alice running in his direction.William Munns' makeup effects are sub standard, to be sure; the Swamp Thing costume actually has a better look in the (even more comedic) sequel. The South Carolina swamps add plenty of atmosphere to the proceedings. The scene transitions involve the use of "wipes" and add to the fun factor. Harry Manfredini of the "Friday the 13th" series does the score for this one, and it sounds awfully familiar at times."Swamp Thing" is agreeable escapism, and would be recommended to Craven completists. It's not among his best but is also definitely not among his worst.Seven out of 10.

I know what you think. A movie for kids about some cartoon hero. Well sure it is based on a comic book but don't let that premise fool you. First of all this movie comes with a 15+ rating and for good reasons since people die to the left and the right and Adrienne Barbeau can't stop from pulling her tits out. Some of the scenes like the one where Swamp Thing crushes a man's head with his bare hands can also be a bit to graphical for minors. This is the way I remember it since my mother never kept a close eye to what I was watching as a kid and this resulted in me without any recognition of the English language at an age of 9 getting my hands on this tape through a friends friends older brother or something like that. Even though I couldn't understand most of the dialogue I just loved the movie with all its awkward action scenes, rubber monster-suits and most of all the voluptuous woman known as Adrienne Barbeau. A woman whom I as a kid had a crush on, a crush that made me watch everything from Escape from New York to the fantastic film The Fog.I am no longer a kid (even though most people I know keep telling me that I act like one) but I must say this piece of cinema is an excellent example of how good B-movies can be if given a proper budget. The plot is not the most original (think any other super hero from your childhood) but it has a story that is interesting and easy to follow. It sports some of the biggest genre-stars of its time all under the directing wings of none other than the legendary Wes Craven. It has tits, midgets, heads being crushed, swamp monsters, shoot outs and even a little "Women in bondage" section. All this is made with a class and taste that is far from common in the 80's genre movies.One can laugh hard at the rubber suits and try to poke fun at the numerous plot holes throughout the movie, especially in the beginning when the bad guy orchestrates an attack on his own facility or the little black kid that seems to pop up from nowhere in the middle of the swamp but this is just too good to be picked on.