Swamp Thing (film)
From The Art and Popular Culture Encyclopedia
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Swamp Thing is a 1982 horror film written and directed by Wes Craven. It tells the story of scientist Alec Holland (Ray Wise) who becomes transformed into the monster Swamp Thing (Dick Durock) through laboratory sabotage orchestrated by the evil Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan). Later, he helps out a woman named Alice (Adrienne Barbeau) and battles the man who made responsible for it all, the ruthless Arcane. The film was based on the DC Comics (later Vertigo Comics) character of the same name by Len Wein and Bernie Wrightson. A low-budget sequel entitled The Return of Swamp Thing was released in 1989.
Plot
In the swamps of South Carolina, Dr. Alec Holland works with his sister Linda on a top-secret bio-engineering project to create a plant/human hybrid capable of thriving in extreme environments. Government agent Alice Cable arrives just as Holland makes a major breakthrough, and begins to develop feelings for him. However, a paramilitary group led the evil Dr. Arcane, who is obsessed with immortality, kills Linda while trying to steal the formula. Dr. Holland is covered in chemicals, caught on fire, and runs screaming in the swamp, presumably to die, but returns as a monstrously mutated plant creature. As the Swamp Thing, Holland battles Arcane's forces to protect Cable, and eventually takes on the mad doctor himself, who has also mutated from his incomplete understanding of the formula.
Production
Filming occurred primarily on location in Charleston, South Carolina, and nearby Johns Island, South Carolina.
Reception
The film received generally average to positive reviews from critics, currently holding 69% on Rotten Tomatoes.
