Swamp Thing (1982)

"Oh shit. Here comes trouble."

Of all the big, heavy-hitter names in the legacy of modern horror, none have had such a wildly varied series of highs and lows as Wes Craven. George Romero was consistently great for a long time, but after his candle burned out in the early 90's, he only had a brief comeback with Land and Diary of the Dead before vanishing once again. Tobe Hooper never really found his feel again after The Texas Chain Saw Massacre, and despite making several entertaining, big-budget films such as Poltergeist and Lifeforce, his name is essentially mud to horror fans these days. Craven though, has been quite lucky throughout the last 4 decades. Despite making one of the most notorious films of the 70's with Last House on the Left, by the early 80's his projects were getting smaller, cheaper and honestly, pretty terrible. He managed to turn the horror genre on it's head in 1984 with A Nightmare on Elm Street pulling him out of the doldrums, a feat he managed to do once again in the mid-90's with the Scream franchise. He has managed to stay floating to this day, with plenty of projects on the go, and many titles in his catalogue now considered 'classics'. But what about those that fell between the hits?

Based on the comic book of the same name, Swamp Thing opens with stern-faced scientist, Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau; The Fog, Creepshow) landing via helicopter in the swamps of South Carolina to replace a tech from a secret science lab who was eaten by alligators. She is quickly introduced to brilliant-but-quirky scientist, Dr Alec Holland (Ray Wise; Robocop, Twin Peaks). His work involves creating plant hybrids that can adapt to extreme conditions, his noble goals being able to feed Third World countries and the future human race. Unfortunately for him and Alice, there is a military group, led by the evil Arcane (Louis Jordan; Octopussy, Gigi) wandering around the swamp, looking to steal the doc's secret formula. Arcane believes it will work to sustain his life beyond normal human expectations, and will stop at nothing to get it.

That includes raiding the laboratory and shooting the employees, Dr Holland's wife included. Alice manages to escape moments before Dr Holland is doused with his own formula and set on fire. He flees the lab, diving into the swamp where he is presumed dead. The lab burns to the ground, and Arcane comes away empty handed. Alice happens to find one of the doctors journals in the ruins, and makes off with it, the commandos in hot pursuit. When they are about to close in on her, she is suddenly rescued by a hulking green monster from the swamp. It appears that the good doctor didn't die after all, but was transformed into this monstrous mutant instead. As hideous as he might be, he still has a heart of gold, and wants to make sure Arcane is stopped and Alice lives. As he continues to fight off the commandos, he and Alice are eventually captured, with the journal finally getting into Arcane's evil clutches. Just what will happen when he takes the formula? Will Swamp Thing fight back and save the day? Will Alice continue to run around in a wet t-shirt?

Swamp Thing is exactly what you would expect from a director in between Deadly Blessing and The Hills Have Eyes Part II; it's a bit of a mess. The script never seems to really gel that well, to begin with. The commandos and Arcane just sort of happen to be there; they are wandering around the swamp as Alice lands. Not much exposition is given, and sometimes that's fine. But when you are introducing the bad guys at the same time as the good guys, and essentially in the opening act,  it can feel a bit of a hodge-podge. We really could have had more of a focus on the relationship between the doctor, his work and Alice, and it would have been fine to introduce the bad guys at the 15-20 minute mark. Nothing would be lost by doing this. This carelessness carries on throughout the film, which essentially turns into 'Alice nearly gets grabbed - Swampy better save her' for the next 50 minutes or so, and it does get a bit tiresome.  To liven things up, a kid is introduced in the form of Jude (Reggie Batts) who seems to be running a roadside liqueur store in the middle of a swamp by himself. 

The emphasis is definitely on action over horror, here. There are plenty of brawls and several explosions, and the stunts are good enough. But the action tends to feel quite flat, and not particularly exciting. The one moment I really liked was the impressive fire stunt when Dr Holland goes up in flames. It looked dangerous, and made me realise how much I miss classic stunts like that. Beyond that, the action is strictly locked-off camera positions and fist fights. The film really falls down in this department in the final act, when the Arcane monster shows up. The fight between Swamp Thing and the creature is not nearly as creative as it could have been. I know the film was relatively low budget, but I just don't think Wes Craven has an action director hat to wear...

The low budget extends to the special effects. Swamp Thing himself isn't a bad design, but the suit is a bit of a let down. It very much looks and moves like an ill-fitting costume, with folds obvious on the actor. In some shots the suit seems to be hanging off him from being in the water. The same goes for the Arcane monster - it is essentially an expensive Halloween mask, complete with zero facial animatronics. Overall though, I think a lot of this might well have been intentional. The film has a very definite '50's monster movie' vibe to it, not only from the location but to the titles and creatures. I mean, the film had a 3 million dollar budget, they could have gotten better than this if they wanted. So I can only assume the result was intended. It certainly is keeping with the comic book origins, anyway, and to be honest, cheap effects would never put me off a film. This is backed up by the fact that the film really doesn't take itself seriously, with it all playing out like a Saturday morning cartoon (which it would eventually become).

One thing that does work quite well is the performances. Ray Wise is a likable actor, and he does great to convince you of him caring about people in the first twenty minutes. Dick Durock is the stuntman and actor portraying Swamp Thing, and he does a great job of showing the humanity through the make up. This gentleness is one of the few aspects the script got right, and you genuinely want to see the big green plant come out tops. Barbeau is watchable as always, and let's be honest, a huge part of the cult following for this film is down to the extended topless shots of her bathing in the swamp. I think these might not have made the USA cut, but they are part of the European release, as are the topless hookers at Arcane's house in the last act. She spends most of the rest of the time showing a lot of cleavage, and it definitely feels like an updated version of The Creature from the Black Lagoon. Fans of Last House on the Left will be delighted to see David Hess playing one of the commandos. It's a pity that he has virtually no dialogue, as a few of his sneers would have livened up some of the scenes.

Another good aspect is the cinematography. Despite the lack lustre direction, the film has a really rich, 'swampy' look to it - the greens really pop, and the use of real locations is great. I wish they had of pushed it a bit further perhaps, to really get that comic book feel to it, in say, the way Romero did with his colour schemes in Creepshow.  But, they didn't. Making an homage to the likes of The Creature From the Black Lagoon and other iconic B movies was the perfect time to go nuts with your creativity, but who knows what was happening behind the scenes.

I read that Craven had hoped this film would show he could direct bigger, Hollywood-style films. Sadly, I think it missed the mark. With a better script (which was actually written by Craven himself, so I'm pointing the finger at him) I think it could have worked, but it all feels a bit too scatter shot to be considered a classic. The film can be fun, if taken in the right way, and it is somewhat successful in capturing the feeling of the 50's monster films. It is short enough (just under 90 minutes), and has enough nudity, action and poor special effects to keep the 'Bad Movie' crowd happy. Wes didn't have to wait too long to hit a home run again with A Nightmare on Elm Street, but unless you really enjoy this kind of thing, it's probably best avoided.