SWAMP THING
Golly, green giant
released 24 september 1982 | 15 | blu-ray & dVd (dual format) Director Wes Craven Cast ray Wise, adrienne barbeau, dick durock, louis Jourdan
Released a couple of years before Alan Moore’s groundbreaking run on the Swamp Thing comic, this cheap and cheerful monster movie does the DC character few favours.
Alec Holland (Ray Wise) is working on a bioengineering project in the deep South when his team, including Adrienne Barbeau’s Alice Cable, is attacked by the criminal Arcane (Louis Jourdan) and his henchmen. Holland is contaminated by the formula he’s been developing and mutates into the half-man, half-plant Swamp Thing. Cue running, punching and shooting. Like its protagonist, Wes Craven’s film struggles with its identity. It gestures towards horror, but is neither scary nor especially gruesome. The action scenes – goons running around the jungle firing machine guns – feel straight out of The A-Team, and it could be a family-friendly adventure but for a bout of unexpected nudity (later snipped from this international cut for the theatrical release). Barbeau is a fine lead and Jourdan is hammy fun, but it’s little more than a nostalgia piece now.
Extras Two commentaries (an old one by Craven; a new one by critic Ian Jane), plus interviews with production designer Robb Wilson King and Kim Newman.
A 3D reboot was in development around 2009. Vincenzo Natali (Cube/Splice) wrote a script based on Alan Moore’s take.