O Monstro do Pântano

This reminded me of the 1950s science-fiction/horror films with its primitive dialog, hokey action scenes and laughable makeup for the monsters. Oh, man, does this look bad as time goes on and we have been treated to 25 years of great special-effects since this was made.

What makes this more attractive to watch than those '50s films, however, are great swamp photography, Adrienne Barbeau's body and a story that moves fast. Barbeau, as she was prone to do, appears to be only this is to show off her massive chest. However, it's pretty harmless fun, very tame compared to the horror movies of the past generation regarding gore and profanity. It's also pretty tame for a Wes Craven-directed film.

In the end, it's a good Class B film, usually fun to watch for a number of reasons.

"Swamp Thing" is beautifully photographed in authentic swamps, and directed with a nice comic-book sensibility by Wes Craven, but the script is flat, boring and (eventually) silly, and the title creature is too human-like to inspire much awe. However, Louis Jourdan is enjoyable as the suave, cultivated villain, David Hess is in his element as one of his goons, and there is also a black kid who's the epitome of "coolness". (**1/2)

After a violent incident with a special chemical, a research scientist (Ray Wise) is turned into a swamp plant monster.

We have iconic director Wes Craven, the great actress Adrienne Barbeau, great actor David Hess and the composer Harry Manfredini. How can a horror fan watch this and not be in some kind of heaven?

Roger Ebert says this film is "one of those movies that fall somewhere between buried treasures and guilty pleasures." He further says it is "an off-the-wall, eccentric, peculiar movie fueled by the demented obsessions of its makers." He means this in the nicest way possible, and I love him for that.

Author John Kenneth Muir notes that Swamp Thing differs in many respects from Craven's usual work, in that Craven's intent was to show the major Hollywood studios that he could handle action, stunts and major stars. Craven substituted his usual focus on the problems of the family and society for pure entertainment. And you know what? He did it flawlessly.

Why is this film in French on Netflix? There has to be a good reason, but I have no idea why. Also, this film needs a decent DVD release. The Netflix one looks like a VHS transfer. I know it was released a few years ago, but how about a 30th anniversary edition in 2012 with some good features?

And lastly, how this scores a PG rating with three topless women is beyond me. But, well played, Wes.

If only the first half of Wes Craven's Swamp Thing had been as incredibly craptastic as the second: the latter part of the film sees a henchmen transformed into a disfigured dwarf, the villain of the piece becoming a sword-wielding wolf/pig creature with a really hairy back, and Adrienne Barbeau stripping off to take a skinny dip in a swamp (mind the leeches, deary).

Sadly, in order to get to this cheezy but still very fun stuff, the viewer has to trawl through lots of bland comic-book tosh including a dreary introduction to the characters, repetitive poorly staged fight and chase scenes featuring David Hess and his team of stereotypically dumb henchmen, and clumsily handled attempts at tragedy and pathos. It doesn't help either that the central character, The Swamp Thing, is so crap to look at—a man in a rubbishy rubber suit that buckles unconvincingly at the joints.

Worth a look if you're a big fan of the comics, Craven or Barbeau, but casual viewers will probably switch off before they even get to the most enjoyable bits.

The American Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau) travels to a secret governmental bio laboratory of research in the swamp to replace a missing scientist. Soon she befriends the leader of the research Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise) and his sister Dr. Linda Holland (Nannette Brown) and she learns that Alec is developing a hybrid plant combined with animal with the intention to solve the world hunger. However, the ambitious and wealthy Arcane (Louis Jourdan) sends a paramilitary team to steal the research and kill all the team. But there is an accident and the formula spills on Dr. Alec Holland and set him on fire. He disappears in the swamp and Alice is the only survivor of the laboratory team. She hides the seventh notebook with the Alec´s formula and runs to the forest and soon she notes that something is protect her.

"Swamp Thing" is a different film by Wes Craven based on a D.C. Comics. The IMDb rating is unfair since the movie is highly entertaining. One of the greatest attractions is Mrs. "John Carpenter" Adrienne Barbeau, for whom the Swamp Thing falls in love. My vote is seven.

Title (Brazil): "O Monstro do Pântano" ("The Swamp Monster")