Review: Swamp Thing originally premiered in issue #92 of House of Secrets in 1971. Eventually the character went on to his own series of comics. To myself the best series of Swamp Thing comics were done by the great Alan Moore who most know for The Watchmen. For myself when it came to discovering the character of Swamp Thing was actually the first time I saw The Return of Swamp Thing (1989) and then from there I saw the cartoon which had very little episodes. Eventually I did get to see the original Swamp Thing and I really liked it. It took some time before I loved it because when I was little all I cared about was seeing creatures and monsters which made The Return of Swamp Thing more appealing.
Swamp Thing I see as a more serious in tone film that takes it's time telling the story. For those who are not familiar with the plot of this film I will let you know what it's about. Deep in the Florida everglades, a brilliant scientist, Dr. Alec Holland (
Ray Wise), and a sexy government agent, Alice Cable (
Adrienne Barbeau,
The Fog), have developed a secret formula that could end world hunger. Little do they know, however, that their arch nemesis, Arcane (
Louis Jourdan,
Octopussy),
is plotting to steal the serum for his own selfish schemes. Looting the
lab and kidnapping Cable, Arcane douses Holland with the chemicals and
leaves him for dead. Mutated by his own formula, Holland becomes "Swamp
Thing" - a half-human/half-plant superhero who will stop at nothing to
rescue Cable and defeat Arcane...even if it costs him his life!
The cast in this film is awesome in my eyes. Some of the cast are Dick Durock as Swamp Thing who also played in the sequel and all the episodes from the live action TV series, Adrienne Barbeau as Alice Cable. Ray Wise as Doctor Alec Holland, David Hess as Ferret, and the great Nicholas Worth as the somewhat sympathetic thug Bruno. How could you go wrong with such a great amount of talent like that.
If you have not seen this film before I want to let you know that this film was made on a low budget and at times it does show, but do not let that interfere with getting a chance to experience this awesome film. The only thing that I can say was really effected by the budget was some of the creature effects, namely the final beast that Swamp Thing has to fight near the end of the film. It just looks a little too goofy with it's eyes seeming like they are about to pop out of it's head. Other than that I think everything else worked for this film.
Overall this is a very cool and entertaining loosely based comic book adaptation. The picture quality on this release is the best that I have seen for this film. There is a kinda soft look to the film here and there, but that can be found in alot of films from this era. For this release there is a few good special features to be seen which includes an audio commentary with Wes Craven, an audio commentary with make-up effects artist William Munns, interviews with Adrienne Barbeau, Reggie Batts, and Swamp Thing creator Len Wein, theatrical trailer, and photo galleries. I really liked the interview with Len Wein because he gives his view on the film. Just so you know this is the 91 minute cut and not the 93 minute cut with nudity that was released briefly on DVD back in 2000.
-Daniel "Damnation" Lee
Director: Wes Craven
Genre: Horror/Action
Blu-ray Release Year: 2013
Theatrical Release Year: 1982
Time Length: 91 mins.
Company: Scream Factory (Shout! Factory)
****SORRY BUT THE SCREENSHOTS WERE FROM THE DVD IN THE SET NOT THE BLU-RAY****
Review: Swamp Thing originally premiered in issue #92 of House of Secrets in 1971. Eventually the character went on to his own series of comics. To myself the best series of Swamp Thing comics were done by the great Alan Moore who most know for The Watchmen. For myself when it came to discovering the character of Swamp Thing was actually the first time I saw The Return of Swamp Thing (1989) and then from there I saw the cartoon which had very little episodes. Eventually I did get to see the original Swamp Thing and I really liked it. It took some time before I loved it because when I was little all I cared about was seeing creatures and monsters which made The Return of Swamp Thing more appealing.
