SWAMP THING (1982), THE RETURN OF SWAMP THING (1989)

PHENOMENALITY: *marvelous*
MYTHICITY: (1) *fair,* (2) *poor*
FRYEAN MYTHOS: (1) *drama,* (2) *comedy*
CAMPBELLIAN FUNCTIONS: *cosmologioal*


Where the two low-budget SWAMP THINGS are concerned, I'm not sure which is less desirable: a plodding, nominally serious treatment of the famed comic-book monster, or a lively but horribly lame comic take on the same material. Wes Craven both wrote and directed the 1982 adaptation-- the first comics-character to make it to the big screen since 1978's SUPERMAN-- but he doesn't really bring any special insight to the work.

The original character was Alec Holland a scientist working in the Florida swamps with his wife on a biological restorative project. Spies infiltrated Holland's project to steal his project, killing both of the scientists despite the attempts of an American agent, Matt Cable. However, thanks to his formula Holland's body merged with the flora of the swamplands, so that he rose to a second life as the plant-creature Swamp Thing.

Craven doesn't mess with this template much. Agent Cable gets a sex-change, becoming Holland's possible romantic interest Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau). Because Craven wants to suggest some sparks even after Holland dies and is resurrected, the wife of the comics-story becomes Holland's sister. (It may be that the actress was originally told she was a wife, going by the severe look she gives Holland when he's first seen chatting with Alice.) After that, the evolution of Swamp Thing is pretty much on-target. The monster-hero's perpetual adversary in the comics was a mad scientist named Anton Arcane, but here he becomes the mastermind behind the spies who bring about Holland's death. Arcane wants Holland's formula in order to experiment on a new breed of super-warriors-- but what he gets is a hulking plant-monster who shrugs off gunfire and trashes Arcane's henchmen.

After some repetitive encounters in the swamp, with the monster helping Alice against her pursuers, both of them are captured and imprisoned in Arcane's house. While the villain amuses himself by applying the serum to one of his henchmen, Swamp Thing-- who's lost one vegetable arm to a thug's machete-- gets his best scene, exposing his arm-stump to dawning sunlight and willing himself to grow a new arm. (The scene might have been better played silent, but unfortunately we get some inappropriately triumphal SUPERMAN-style music.) Swamp Thing has a final confrontation with Arcane, who "monster-izes" himself, and after the villain's defeat he leaves the heroine behind, accepting his isolation in the solitary swamp.


This was a fairly simple but accurate translation of the 1970s SWAMP THING comic. However, by the mid-eighties, DC Comics had launched a new run of the title-- in part because the first movie was reasonably profitable-- and during that time, the team of writer Alan Moore and artist Steve Bissette made fannish history by giving the moss-backed monster some new dimensions beyond just skulking around the swamps. An example of one of the best stories appears in this review, showing the creature enjoying a strange tryst with human heroine Abigail Arcane.

I have to assume that either director Jim Wynorski or one of the credited writers read this 1985 comic, since RETURN includes a tossed-off reference to a major motif in the comic-tale, wherein Abigail has a visionary experience after eating a tuber growing from Swamp Thing's body. Since Wynorski and his people play the whole thing for laughs, I can't imagine why they bothered to include such a scene, unless they simply wanted to fill time.

Arcane, though killed in the first movie, has been revived by his rogue scientist-allies, and now he has another whole compound in the swamp. He invites his stepdaughter Abby (Heather Locklear) to said compound for a visit, but he's got a deeper ploy in mind. He believes Abby has some unique genetic potential, like that of her mother, which Arcane can use to stave off death. Instead of instantly imprisoning the helpless young woman, the cultured villain procrastinates, inviting Abby to dinner while Arcane's lover Lana darts jealous looks at the younger woman.

Eventually Abby escapes the compound, and when she's overtaken by the villain's hirelings, Swamp Thing comes to her rescue-- though he's apparently no longer immune to bullets, since he's seen comically running from a fusillade. His strength is apparently less as well, since he's seen bludgeoning henchmen with (of all things) a baseball bat. (Allegedly this stupid scene appears because Wynorski was a big WALKING TALL fan.) While Arcane's henchmen get a lot of dopey asides, Swamp Thing and Abby more or less fall in love, though Wynorski plays this for laughs as well. It all leads up to another big fight between Swampy and one of Arcane's fiendish creations, though this trifling action doesn't create any more excitement than anything else.

So I guess my verdict is that the nominally serious if dull movie was a touch better than the rampantly stupid one. Still not much of a choice, though.