I consider “Swamp Thing” to be a tragedy of cinema. So much potential to be a good movie; all of it wasted. Giving the film a cursory evaluation before watching it, one would expect it to be fairly enjoyable: made during the early era of Swamp Thing’s popularity, directed by Wes Craven and starring such talented players as Louis Jourdan and Adrienne Barbeau…it all seems like a recipe for success, but what we got was a disaster. As a life-long devoted fan of the Swamp Thing comics, I especially found watching this film to be a stomach-churning endeavor.
Alec Holland (Ray Wise) and his (I can’t believe I have to say this) sister, Linda (Nannette Brown) have been commissioned by the United States government to create the bio regenerative formula: an elixir that can accelerate plant growth and end world hunger. Hidden away in the bowels of the Louisiana swamp and overseen by FBI agent Alice (grrrr) Cable (Adrienne Barbeau), the pair find themselves under attack by the private army of mad scientist Dr. Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan). Arcane wants the formula in order to attain eternal youth, but after a raid on the research facility, Linda Holland is killed and Alec is doused in the formula, set ablaze and sent screaming into the swamp. The only loose end left in Arcane’s mad plot is Agent Cable, whom he intends to silence before she can reach her superiors. Cable, however, finds herself under the protection of a guy in a green rubber suit (Dick Durock).
If all my irritated remarks hidden in parenthesis didn’t tip you off, I’m not pleased with the changes they made from the original comic. I know changes from the source are a given in all comic book movies, but the level of changes made in this film are virtually unforgivable. First and foremost, Linda Holland was Alec’s wife, not his sister, with her death being something that constantly haunted him for a large chunk of the book’s run. Secondly, Alice Cable was actually a man in the comics, a character named Matt Cable who was featured very prominently in the book. Changing someone’s gender just to provide a needless love interest does not sit well with me, particularly considering they went out of their way to remove his original love interest! I suppose the only alteration I didn’t mind was that they made Swamp Thing’s nemesis from the comics, Arcane, the culprit behind his creation. Turning Arcane from a freakish geriatric into a suave young man I’m still on the fence about.
But what did the people at DC Comics actually think of this movie? Well, barring an annual which adapted the movie into comic form, they weren’t particularly fond of it. I recall an issue from Rick Veitch’s run which featured the supporting character of John Constantine stumbling across the flick at a video store and making some rather amusing comments at its expense (likewise, Abigail poked fun at the film from time to time).
Alright, turning my fanboy button to the “off” position, “Swamp Thing” had way more problems than simply deviating from the comic. This happens to be one of Wes Craven’s first forays into the world of feature films, even predating his career-making hit, “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. His inexperience reeks throughout the run of the film like a dumptruck full of rotten fish. The atmosphere is terribly uneven, as Craven can’t seem to decide whether he wants “Swamp Thing” to be a serious horror film, a campy throwback to 50’s B-movies or a flat-out slapstick comedy. And for no readily apparent reason, he throws in a mutated pun-spewing midget at the end of the film (providing such witty commentary as “Have a nice trip! See you next fall!”).
The music for the film is provided by Harry Manfredini, the man who scored “Friday the 13th”. That might sound promising at first, but don’t be fooled, “Swamp Thing” is proof of how limited Manfredini’s orchestral talents really are. To put it simply, save for the lack of “chi chi chi ha ha ha”, the score in this film is almost identical to the one heard in “Friday the 13th”. You’ll be half expecting Jason Voorhees to pop out of a tree stump at any minute. Try to imagine if they played the “Jaws” theme song during “Batman”. It’s that distracting and awkward.
But the problems don’t end there. If “Swamp Thing” has one primary detractor it would have to be the title character. The suit used for Swamp Thing is a joke. A bad one. Bright lime green and made of rubber, the only thing particularly “swampy” about the thing are the handful of vines randomly superglued about it. A dreadful costume might not have been so bad had most of Swamp Thing’s appearances either been at night time or simply hidden through cuts and camera techniques…but Wes Craven thought differently. In fact, he seemed to be proud of the costume, as Swamp Thing appears in all his wrinkled rubber glory in full frame, in broad daylight, for extended periods of time.
While I’ll trash the suit from here to Schenectady, one thing about Swamp Thing I won’t trash is Dick Durock. The man would go on to play Swamp Thing in the sequel (which I actually enjoyed) and the live action television series, really embodying the character for an entire generation. His later performances were wonderful, particularly when enhanced by a better costume. Sadly, his talents aren’t given the best spotlight here in his first performance thanks mostly to that awful, awful outfit.
“Swamp Thing” is one of the worst comic book movies I’ve ever seen, not only because I’m a fan of the character and his book, but because it’s just plain bad. Silly, stupid and poorly produced, “Swamp Thing” has little chance of appealing to the average film-goer. The ridiculous changes to the source material ensure that it won’t even appeal to the hardcore built-in fanbase. A poor creative decision all-around.
Grade: D- (as in “Did you know that Swamp Thing could sword fight? I sure didn’t”.)
Alec Holland (Ray Wise) and his (I can’t believe I have to say this) sister, Linda (Nannette Brown) have been commissioned by the United States government to create the bio regenerative formula: an elixir that can accelerate plant growth and end world hunger. Hidden away in the bowels of the Louisiana swamp and overseen by FBI agent Alice (grrrr) Cable (Adrienne Barbeau), the pair find themselves under attack by the private army of mad scientist Dr. Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan). Arcane wants the formula in order to attain eternal youth, but after a raid on the research facility, Linda Holland is killed and Alec is doused in the formula, set ablaze and sent screaming into the swamp. The only loose end left in Arcane’s mad plot is Agent Cable, whom he intends to silence before she can reach her superiors. Cable, however, finds herself under the protection of a guy in a green rubber suit (Dick Durock).
If all my irritated remarks hidden in parenthesis didn’t tip you off, I’m not pleased with the changes they made from the original comic. I know changes from the source are a given in all comic book movies, but the level of changes made in this film are virtually unforgivable. First and foremost, Linda Holland was Alec’s wife, not his sister, with her death being something that constantly haunted him for a large chunk of the book’s run. Secondly, Alice Cable was actually a man in the comics, a character named Matt Cable who was featured very prominently in the book. Changing someone’s gender just to provide a needless love interest does not sit well with me, particularly considering they went out of their way to remove his original love interest! I suppose the only alteration I didn’t mind was that they made Swamp Thing’s nemesis from the comics, Arcane, the culprit behind his creation. Turning Arcane from a freakish geriatric into a suave young man I’m still on the fence about.
But what did the people at DC Comics actually think of this movie? Well, barring an annual which adapted the movie into comic form, they weren’t particularly fond of it. I recall an issue from Rick Veitch’s run which featured the supporting character of John Constantine stumbling across the flick at a video store and making some rather amusing comments at its expense (likewise, Abigail poked fun at the film from time to time).
Alright, turning my fanboy button to the “off” position, “Swamp Thing” had way more problems than simply deviating from the comic. This happens to be one of Wes Craven’s first forays into the world of feature films, even predating his career-making hit, “A Nightmare on Elm Street”. His inexperience reeks throughout the run of the film like a dumptruck full of rotten fish. The atmosphere is terribly uneven, as Craven can’t seem to decide whether he wants “Swamp Thing” to be a serious horror film, a campy throwback to 50’s B-movies or a flat-out slapstick comedy. And for no readily apparent reason, he throws in a mutated pun-spewing midget at the end of the film (providing such witty commentary as “Have a nice trip! See you next fall!”).
The music for the film is provided by Harry Manfredini, the man who scored “Friday the 13th”. That might sound promising at first, but don’t be fooled, “Swamp Thing” is proof of how limited Manfredini’s orchestral talents really are. To put it simply, save for the lack of “chi chi chi ha ha ha”, the score in this film is almost identical to the one heard in “Friday the 13th”. You’ll be half expecting Jason Voorhees to pop out of a tree stump at any minute. Try to imagine if they played the “Jaws” theme song during “Batman”. It’s that distracting and awkward.
But the problems don’t end there. If “Swamp Thing” has one primary detractor it would have to be the title character. The suit used for Swamp Thing is a joke. A bad one. Bright lime green and made of rubber, the only thing particularly “swampy” about the thing are the handful of vines randomly superglued about it. A dreadful costume might not have been so bad had most of Swamp Thing’s appearances either been at night time or simply hidden through cuts and camera techniques…but Wes Craven thought differently. In fact, he seemed to be proud of the costume, as Swamp Thing appears in all his wrinkled rubber glory in full frame, in broad daylight, for extended periods of time.
While I’ll trash the suit from here to Schenectady, one thing about Swamp Thing I won’t trash is Dick Durock. The man would go on to play Swamp Thing in the sequel (which I actually enjoyed) and the live action television series, really embodying the character for an entire generation. His later performances were wonderful, particularly when enhanced by a better costume. Sadly, his talents aren’t given the best spotlight here in his first performance thanks mostly to that awful, awful outfit.
“Swamp Thing” is one of the worst comic book movies I’ve ever seen, not only because I’m a fan of the character and his book, but because it’s just plain bad. Silly, stupid and poorly produced, “Swamp Thing” has little chance of appealing to the average film-goer. The ridiculous changes to the source material ensure that it won’t even appeal to the hardcore built-in fanbase. A poor creative decision all-around.
Grade: D- (as in “Did you know that Swamp Thing could sword fight? I sure didn’t”.)
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