Cheesy fun B-movie classic, about a man-plant monster who is the result of a scientific experiment gone wrong, and displays delightfully terrible makeup effects. But to be honest, I'm not sure if the whole movie was about the monster, or the monster's love interest Adrienne Barbeau (John Carpenter's wife at the time) in a very crucial scene - namely, the scene that was edited out in the newer cleaned-up version. You be the judge.
PS: Debating whether to watch the sequel, The Return of Swamp Thing (1989).
Mo says:
This movie could have been so good but what little budget it had was wasted on pointless swamp-mobile chases. Swamp things mask was great but his body suit was pathetic, if you only do one thing, get the creature looking fantastic.
ReplyDeleteI think the love scene was intact in the version I saw, it even turned into a feeble soft-porn movie for ten minutes that really added nothing to the movie and should have been cut anyway. I want to see Swamp Thing battling with other mutated monsters and vile humans not a few bare breasts in a pointless brothel scene.
Don't debate about seeing the sequel it's much better, mainly because they got the monster suit just right.
Toast,
ReplyDeleteHere's imdb.com's account of why you saw the intact version in Europe, and we in the US initially didn't. It's quite pathetic:
"[Barbeau's] nude scene in Swamp Thing (1982) was intended only for European release but eventually made its way onto an American DVD of the movie -- until a Texas housewife complained of her sons' inadvertently viewing nudity in a PG-rated movie, at which point the DVD was recalled."
Goes without saying I didn't watch the PG-rated version. I always make a sincere effort to watch what the director wanted me to see, so I can learn the director's artistic views, not the producer's or the public.
If you recommend the sequel ... I'll go for it! I've already bought the DVD.
I was hoping for a lot more from Wes Craven. The partial nudity was probably added to get more people to watch in Europe.
ReplyDeleteIt was pathetic that it was cut in the US after one complaint. Does she not know that PG means parental guidance? I doubt the poor kid was scarred for life.
Enjoy the sequel. I don't want to make it out to be a classic, just better than the original.