Barnes & Noble

Both an adaptation of a popular comic book and an homage to '50s sci-fi movies, Swamp Thing (1982) possesses more than enough slam-bang action and campy thrills to satisfy genre fans. Ray Wise (TV's Twin Peaks) plays Dr. Alec Holland, whose experimental infusing of vegetable cells with animal nuclei provokes an unexpected chemical reaction: After being doused with the formula, set on fire, and chased into the nearby swamp, he mutates into a half-man, half-vegetable creature. Living proof of his experiment's success, Holland is pursued by both villainous Louis Jourdan and government agent Adrienne Barbeau, each determined to secure the formula. Director Wes Craven (The Hills Have Eyes) choreographs numerous fights and chases with panache, although he's less successful in restraining Jourdan, whose tongue-in-cheek performance is even broader than Barbeau's bustline. Scenery-chewing notwithstanding, Swamp Thing still holds up, nearly 20 years after its theatrical release, as a perfect popcorn movie: fast, furious, and funny. Ed Hulse

All Movie Guide

Director Wes Craven, who went on to fame as the force behind blockbuster horror films such as A Nightmare on Elm Street, departed from his favorite genre to film this unique cult classic -- a spoof on the mad scientist movies of the 1950s. Adrienne Barbeau stars as Alice Cable, a government agent sent to replace a man who has disappeared while guarding a secret experimental lab in the middle of the Louisiana bayous. Dressed in heels and a skirt, Cable professes unease at her strange new surroundings, but she is soon wooed by Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise). Holland is working on a concoction that combines plant and animal cells. Arcane (Louis Jourdan) is the criminal mastermind who is trying to steal the secret recipe for the potion. When Arcane and his mercenaries break into the government camp, they kill Holland's sister Linda (Nannette Brown) and the scientist is accidentally doused with his own formula and bursts into flames, then dives into the swamp. Arcane's men pursue Cable, but she is rescued by a mysterious green man. It takes several rescues for her to understand that the Swamp Thing (Dick Durock) is Dr. Holland, transformed by his own formula. ~ Michael Betzold, All Movie Guide

Product Details

• UPC: 883904127376
• Source: MGM (VIDEO & DVD)
• Time: 1:30:00
• Sales Rank: 24,724

This DVD is also available as part of a box set:

• Triple Feature: Stay Out of the Water