The Return of the Swamp Thing
(1989)
review by Head Cheeze

Before D.C. Comics launched the Vertigo imprint in which they hired scribe Alan Moore (From Hell) to reintroduce the Swamp Thing as a more serious, adult-themed book, the character was basically a big mossy goofball. It was a campy schlock horror book, popularized by the excellent artwork of Bernie Wrightson, and tinged with an E.C. Comics nostalgia that lured in lots of readers during the brief horror comics revival of the early 1970's. It was this version of the Swamp Thing that inspired Wes Craven's mediocre film adaptation (1982's Swamp Thing). While that film didn't really capture the essence of the comic book, it did make enough money to spawn a sequel, and in 1989, director Jim Wynorski delivered the goods with the hilarious and vastly superior The Return of Swamp Thing.

Dick Durock reprises his role as the Adam/Swamp Thing who is hell bent on stopping the experiments of Arcane (Jordan) the mad doctor who helped to turn him into a walking cabbage. This time out, Arcane is hoping to harness the same kind of power he'd bestowed upon ol' Swampie, but has moved beyond the fruit and vegetable kingdom and into more of a Dr. Moreau mode. When Arcane's lovely daughter Abby (Locklear) is invited to visit her pop in the swamp, she encounters the Swamp Thing and he warns her of her father's nefarious plans for her, and himself. She, of course, thinks he's a crazed monster, but soon realizes that daddy is the crazed one and sides up with Swamp Thing. Many stunts, explosions, and vegetable sex acts ensue.

Return of Swamp Thing is a silly guilty pleasure. I remember when I first saw the film (on cable, because I had already wasted money on Craven's dull original in the theater) it took me by surprise. It was camp for camp's sake, and it worked. The special effects, while primitive by today's standards, were actually pretty damned good for the late 80's, and Wynorski's lighthearted approach to the subject matter was such a breath of fresh air after Craven's eco-message heavy first entry in the series.

While some may wonder why Wynorski made a sequel ignoring the work of Alan Moore (Moore started writing the comic in 1984, just after Craven's film was released) who can singlehandedly be credited with making the series popular again, I think it was just because, at that time, comic books and their film counterparts didn't really seem to live in the same universe. Hollywood assumed that people who went to see films based on 4 colour characters were there to see high-camp stuff, even though that same year saw a relatively close approximation of Batman hit the screen. Prior to this, super-hero films used the old Batman series as a blueprint. Even Richard Donner's Superman was primarily played for laughs and completely ignored the John Byrne retelling. It would be interesting to see a true HORROR film based on the dark Alan Moore scripted Swamp Thing, but, at that time, I don't think any studio would touch it.

Image releases The Return... in it's original 1.85:1 aspect ratio, enhanced for 16:9 sets, with a nicely remastered 5.1 Dolby mix and a transfer that is as clean and crisp as it's ever been. The disc also sports a full length commentary by Wynorski, theatrical trailers, and a funny little public service announcement by Swamp Thing from the period when the television series aired on the USA network.

Return of Swamp Thing is NOT a great film, but it is an entertaining one, that has immense replay value and, most importantly, a good heart. It's played for laughs, and it succeeds in gettin them, but it also has a fair amount of fun action and goofy monster movie vibes that make it a nice addition to any fans collection.