SWAMP THING

This movie was so awful, I loved it!

I saw this film in the theater when I was in high school and couldn't get enough of the cheesy horror flick, sci-fi, and all that was in-between, and "Swamp Thing" was just the right kind of movie I needed to see at the right time to enjoy it as I did. Adrienne Barbeau had the right assets for a high school boy, and to this day I love any movie or TV show with Ray Wise.

The effects were pretty cool for that time, though not too sophisticated as they really didn't need do be. As long as you had some dry ice, food coloring, water, beakers and such, and a green rubber suit that looked a bit like a walking bean stalk, this was the movie to make following in the tradition of bringing the comics we read and collected to life on the big screen. Sure, I had Swamp Thing comic books (DC) (I guess they're called 'Graphic Novels' now). A few more prosthetics and Wes Craven writing and directing and you have "Swamp Thing" the motion picture.

Rent it, buy it, stream it, just watch it, and grab a bag of popcorn if you love these movies like I do. In other words, just enjoy!

Meh. I found Swamp Thing to be rather bleak. Just really some lady falls in love with a scientist turned swamp monster. They just kind of kiss and then “hey, look we are in love” and then he turns into a dreadfully awful looking ideration of the Swamp Thing and she’s scared of it until she figures out it’s him. Really cool to see this was filmed in my state of residence, South Carolina, though.

Live-action version of the DC character is too, um, comic booky

RELEASED IN 1982 and directed/written by Wes Craven, “Swamp Thing” is a live action movie version of the DC Comics’ character. The plot revolves around a scientist (Ray Wise) working on a top-secret bioengineering project deep in the swamps of the American South who falls prey to his own formula and becomes a bog monster. Adrienne Barbeau plays a government worker at the lab while Louis Jourdan plays an evil genius who wants the formula for his own designs.

I own the original Swamp Thing comics by Len Wein & Bernie Wrightson from the early 70s and this movie doesn’t capture their mature, moody essence. It’s just too comic booky, too kiddie-oriented despite a couple surprising risqué scenes involving female nudity. Adrienne Barbeau was 36 during shooting and has a nice, fit body, but her permed hairdo is pretty hideous. I suppose if you’re not familiar with the original comic, you might be more receptive of this cinematic rendition. Siskel & Ebert, amazingly, gave it a hearty thumbs-up. Go figure.

THE FILM RUNS 1 hour, 33 minutes, and was shot at Cypress Gardens in Charleston, South Carolina, and nearby Johns Island, but some scenes look like that were shot in Southern Cal.

GRADE: C