The Return of Swamp Thing sees evil scientist Dr. Anton Arcane (Louis Jordan) trying to reverse the extreme ageing that he is undergoing as a result of his experiments. Meanwhile in Los Angeles his stepdaughter Abigail (Heather Locklear) decides to visit him to find out more about her late mother & the events surrounding her sudden death. It turns out that Abigail has the exact genetic make-up that Arcane needs to complete his experiments & give himself eternal life. Arcane also needs a sample of Swamp Thing's (Dick Durock) DNA to complete the process but getting a sample isn't going to be as easy as Arcane hoped for as Swamp Thing sets out to put an end to Arcane's evil experiments...
Directed by Jim Wynorski whom I consider one of the worst genre filmmakers of all time I have to say that I really liked The Return of Swamp Thing & for my money just about the best thing Wynorski has ever done (which isn't saying much in itself). A direct sequel to Wes Craven's Swamp Thing (1982) it is never actually explained how Arcane survived the events during the climax of the original although it turns out he is suffering from the process that saved him which forms the basis of the plot as he sets out to find a cure & doesn't care how many people he kills to do just that. Based on the dark Gothic DC comic book character the script by Neil Cuthbert & Grant Morris hasn't got too much to it & is rather simplistic & underdeveloped but is good fun all the same & you suspect that what the production team were aiming for, a good solid entertaining light hearted fun comic book superhero flick which I think it succeeds at being but like most things in life it's down to personal opinion. At a little over 90 minutes it's relatively short, it moves along like a rocket & I was never bored with it which is always a good thing to be able to say. There are one or two half decent action set-pieces but considering the production team had a budget smaller than the Wes Craven original you could say they worked minor miracles. The character's are fun although not particularly deep, the dialogue is often amusing & packed full of one-liners & doesn't take itself too seriously either with Locklear's character referring to the TV show T.J. Hooker (1982 - 1986) in which she starred. All in all much, much better than I expected & a film that I really liked. Keep watching after the end actor credits as the two kids get an extra little scene.
Director Wynorski does a decent job & the film looks reasonably good although you can tell there wasn't much money with which to make it. One very impressive aspect of The Return of Swamp Thing is the special make-up effects which are of a very high standard. The Leechman in particularly looks great although he disappears about halfway through, there's a elaborate Cockroachman & an Elephantman. The Swamp Thing suit is also much better than seen in the original, it's far more leafy & slimy & more representative of a what a half man half Georgia swamp creature may look like. The Dr. Rochelle mutation at the end also looks good but is dispatched too easily by Swamp Thing & doesn't put up much of a fight. There are some good fight scenes as well along with a couple of impressive explosions.
Technically the film is good, it's well made with the already mentioned special effects impressing. Shot in Savannah in Georgia. The acting is pretty camp & over-the-top but the material demands it, Louis Jordan is somewhat restrained, Dirk Durock's voice was dubbed in post while Heather Locklear looks nice enough.
The Return of Swamp Thing is a film which I admit that I throughly enjoyed, that's my opinion & I am sticking with it. Followed by the made-for-TV live action series Swamp Thing (1990 - 1993) & the short lived made-for-TV animated series Swamp Thing (1991).
Directed by Jim Wynorski whom I consider one of the worst genre filmmakers of all time I have to say that I really liked The Return of Swamp Thing & for my money just about the best thing Wynorski has ever done (which isn't saying much in itself). A direct sequel to Wes Craven's Swamp Thing (1982) it is never actually explained how Arcane survived the events during the climax of the original although it turns out he is suffering from the process that saved him which forms the basis of the plot as he sets out to find a cure & doesn't care how many people he kills to do just that. Based on the dark Gothic DC comic book character the script by Neil Cuthbert & Grant Morris hasn't got too much to it & is rather simplistic & underdeveloped but is good fun all the same & you suspect that what the production team were aiming for, a good solid entertaining light hearted fun comic book superhero flick which I think it succeeds at being but like most things in life it's down to personal opinion. At a little over 90 minutes it's relatively short, it moves along like a rocket & I was never bored with it which is always a good thing to be able to say. There are one or two half decent action set-pieces but considering the production team had a budget smaller than the Wes Craven original you could say they worked minor miracles. The character's are fun although not particularly deep, the dialogue is often amusing & packed full of one-liners & doesn't take itself too seriously either with Locklear's character referring to the TV show T.J. Hooker (1982 - 1986) in which she starred. All in all much, much better than I expected & a film that I really liked. Keep watching after the end actor credits as the two kids get an extra little scene.
Director Wynorski does a decent job & the film looks reasonably good although you can tell there wasn't much money with which to make it. One very impressive aspect of The Return of Swamp Thing is the special make-up effects which are of a very high standard. The Leechman in particularly looks great although he disappears about halfway through, there's a elaborate Cockroachman & an Elephantman. The Swamp Thing suit is also much better than seen in the original, it's far more leafy & slimy & more representative of a what a half man half Georgia swamp creature may look like. The Dr. Rochelle mutation at the end also looks good but is dispatched too easily by Swamp Thing & doesn't put up much of a fight. There are some good fight scenes as well along with a couple of impressive explosions.
Technically the film is good, it's well made with the already mentioned special effects impressing. Shot in Savannah in Georgia. The acting is pretty camp & over-the-top but the material demands it, Louis Jordan is somewhat restrained, Dirk Durock's voice was dubbed in post while Heather Locklear looks nice enough.
The Return of Swamp Thing is a film which I admit that I throughly enjoyed, that's my opinion & I am sticking with it. Followed by the made-for-TV live action series Swamp Thing (1990 - 1993) & the short lived made-for-TV animated series Swamp Thing (1991).