Swamp thing is campy and somewhat fun. The effects and monsters are cheesy, even for the times. I understand that Wes Cravens' budget was cut out from under him, so the movie that was made was not the same movie that Cravens imagined. Adrienne Barbeau was beautiful, and performed her role with total seriousness and professionalism, which probably wasn't easy. The Blu-Ray copy which I saw had an excellent picture, but was the edited version, so I wonder what I missed.

Swamp thing is a comic book film with the audacity to flaunt it's low budget and depend on the character elements of the film, well executed action sequences, scenery and a vibrant score which luckily saves a lot of money and provides for and entertaining gem of a film. Louise Jordan is a wonderful villain, his work is on par with his later appearance as a 007 villain in octopussy. Adriene Barbeaux oozes sexuality, without sacrificing toughness which is rare. Something disappeared after the 1980's with regard to women in action thrillers. The toughness seems manufactured as opposed to genuine. The sexual attractiveness remains, but rather than asserting themselves through intelligence, many of the female heroes of todays films seem to display a snobbish sort of entitlement, almost as if a lawyer was waiting to swoop down and file a law suite, if the film's villains dare to detract from their toughness. There is none of that here, she seems smart, tough and sexy which is rare. As for the storyline, it is what it is, not a whole lot of surprises, but that's o.k. It's a comic book, not War and Peace. Swamp Thing is an overlooked and under-rated movie that deserves a look from fans of the genre, and yound people fascinated with comics especially.

Swamp Thing (1982) ** 1/2 (out of 4) Wes Craven's adaptation of the DC Comic isn't the greatest thing out there but I think there are enough campy moments to make it worth sitting through. Dr. Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan) is in the swamp trying to come up with a new chemical that would help vegetation grow when his new assistant (Adrienne Barbeau) arrives. The doctor comes under attack from a group wanting the formula and he's turned into the title character who must fight for the assistant he has fallen in love with. SWAMP THING was released with a thud but overtime I think people have somewhat warmed up to it. There's no question that the film falls short of being a "good movie" but considering what Craven had to work with I think it turned out okay. Craven has stated in interviews that he took the picture because he wanted to work with stars, the studio and with a budget. I can understand this but I think one of the problems with the picture is that there's really no look or style to it. I think Craven was so worried about creating a Hollywood picture that he really made a film that doesn't look like his and even worse is that the picture has a poor look to it. I think the action scenes are all poorly shot, executed and they've just got a cheap, fake look to them. I thought they were all poorly staged and there's just not any excitement or energy to them. Another problem is the music score by Harry Manfredini. Each time I hear a score from him after Friday THE 13TH it's a copy of that film's score. The borrowed cues from that just don't work well with this picture and it just sounds like it should be for a different movie. The performances are pretty good with Jourdan and Barbeau both doing fine work and their chemistry together works well. It was fun seeing David Hess with Craven and Nicholas Worth makes for a good villain. I did think the locations were good, the costume was cheap but effective and there's no question that the film has its own charm that comes from some of the campy moments. I think SWAMP THING could benefit from a remake but this film here holds up fairly well as a piece of 80s silly action.

A rather embarrassing film that offers nervous chuckles as it's biggest form of entertainment. With someone like Wes Craven, I expected at least a bit of suspense or terror. Instead I got a slapstick comedy that wasn't very funny. Luckily my love of monsters, bad movies, and the character in general, made me enjoy it enough. There are some great things. A badass female scientist puts up a fight before being taken. A large lumbering villain has a soft heart etc. It's just all too familiar, and the suit is atrocious for any age/budget. It just looked like one big human sized green condom with a face. By the end, we see Swamp Thing fight against a big ginger pig monster wielding a sword. At this point is seems like the film goes undirected.