This film is a bit different from director Wes Craven. "The Swamp Thing" is a bit more comic strip in style and tone, compared with his films like "A Nightmare on Elm Street" and "The Hills Have Eyes." In addition, the above movie tends to keep its tongue firmly in its cheek. Adrienne Barbeau gives a good performance as the tough and determined Government agent who has been sent into a more wild and less inhibited part of the country to see how certain secret experiments are progressing. Ray Wise - whilst he's in the film - is cast against type as a more decent character for a change. He plays the rather luckless research scientist whose life is about to be transformed in ways he couldn't possibly imagine. Louis Jourdan is another creepy and evil villain as the man who will stop at nothing in order to gain full control and possession of the scientific research and to use it for his own evil ends. Dick Durdock is well cast as the title character and manages to imbue the role with a bit of depth and sympathy. David Hess is someone who was rather underused. He was the one to watch in Wes Craven's "Last House on the Left" and he doesn't disappoint in "The Swamp Thing" either. He is evil personified as the leader of the rebel band of guerrillas. Action scenes are pretty good on the whole and helps to keep the film ticking along agreeably enough. The whole thing gets a bit cheesy toward the end but it is only what I would expect from a film of this kind. The climax is an effective one and I know who I was rooting for! A worthwhile movie which provides plenty of undemanding entertainment.

This is quite a campy horror flick, featuring Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise), a scientist who had discovered a way to create a new species from a combination of animals and plants. However, he became of victim of an evil faction who wants the doctor's plant formula, and then ultimately became a creature of his own creation.The film does take a while to gain any traction. When there is some monster action, the swamp creature merely appears on cue (without any dramatic entrances) whenever there is trouble and is basically a creature you feel sympathetic with, trying to fight back the people that wronged him.Adrienne Barbeau did a nice job with her role as Alice Cable, and delivered some deadpan humor in the film. The character of Jude was pretty random, but he was quite funny in the film also.There's quite a bit of good guy vs. bad guy action, but the suspense is lacking, thrills and scares are limited and the attempts at comedy mostly fall flat.Grade C

If you're keeping up to date with the now rampant battle between comic powerhouses Marvel and DC then you'll probably know that Marvel are waaaaay ahead with their 'shared universe' and DC are, despite Batman, Superman and Margot Robbie in hotpants, lagging behind significantly. Back before such an epic cinematic conflict took place, DC had a fair few minor 'superheroes' on the silver screen, yet little way made of it. 'Swamp Thing' is one such example. And for good reason. It's pretty awful.Many people have slated DC's recent offerings such as 'Batman vs Superman' and 'Suicide Squad.' Personally, I quite enjoyed them, but if people had to sit through 'Swamp Thing' they'd really have something to gripe about! I watched it for three reasons: (1) It had Ray Wise in it. He's hardly a 'big name' in cinema, but, if you've seen him in 'Twin Peaks' (and pretty much anything else), you'll know he's a damn fine actor and always gives an intense performance. (2) It was directed by Wes Craven and (3) It's DC – and therefore may one day be dragged kicking and screaming into their floundering shared universe.I was basically short-changed on all my three reasons. For a start – the great – Ray Wise was hardly in it (sorry if that's a minor 'spoiler' but there's little anyone can say that will spoil this film any more than it already is. Yes, the equally great horror maestro Wes Craven did direct it, but it was one of his early films that I think he probably never put on his C.V. Surely he must have only done this one for the paycheque! And finally, if this is an example of what happens in the 'Swamp Thing' then I hope he stays well clear of Batman and Superman! It's just awful (I think I already said that). Sorry, I can't think of any other way to describe it. No, I'm not a 'film snob' who only wants to watch 'high art' with deep and meaningful character development (hell, one of my favourite films is 'Flash Gordon' so I'm well up for a good 'good-bad' film any day!).There are old horror/sci-fi films which, despite their age, still stand up today. 'Swamp Thing' will never be one of them. I even spoke to someone who had read some of the comics it was based on and she confirmed that the film was completely different (and not in a good way!). The 'climactic' end battle between hero and villain is truly laughable and like something out of a parody using men in rubber suits to slug it out (think that scene in 'Crank 2' that just sort of came out of nowhere!).Just don't bother with this at all and pray that DC have upped their game to produce the output they do today. You may hate 'Dawn of Justice' and 'Suicide Squad' but, compared to 'Swamp Thing' they are truly cinematic greats!

Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau) comes to a research lab in the deep swamp. Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise) is developing new species combining plants and animals. He creates a new formula that regrows old cells. Alec's sister Linda drops some on the wooden floor and new branches start to grow. Obsessed with immortality, Dr. Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan) tries to steal the formula by attacking the camp. Linda is killed. Alec is set on fire by the new concoction and jumps into the swamp. They try to drown Alice but the Swamp Thing comes to the rescue.Swamp Thing remains a B-movie despite being dressed up by Wes Craven. It's well made but it doesn't reach higher than that. It couldn't escape the fact that this is a monster movie with a guy in a rubber suit. The action is slightly better than most 80s B-movie. This is fun with some explosions and some gunplay. Barbeau is definitely memorable as Alice although she's probably a little old to play the damsel in distress. Louis Jourdan is terrific as a creepy villain. His creepiness really sells this movie. This is a solid fun effort.