''The Return of Swamp Thing'' is a 1989 American

superhero film A superhero film (or superhero movie) is a film that focuses on the actions of superheroes. Superheroes are individuals who possess superhuman abilities and are dedicated to protecting the public. These films typically feature Action film, ac ...

based on the

DC Comics DC Comics, Inc. (doing business as DC) is an American comic book publisher and the flagship unit of DC Entertainment, a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Discovery. DC Comics is one of the largest and oldest American comic book companies, with thei ...

' character of the same name. Directed by

Jim Wynorski Jim Wynorski (born August 14, 1950) is an American screenwriter, film director, director, and film producer, producer. Wynorski has been making B-movies and exploitation movies since the early 1980s, and has directed over 150 feature films. His ...

, it is a sequel to the 1982 film ''Swamp Thing'', having a lighter tone than its predecessor. The film has a main title montage that consists of comic book covers set to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "

Born on the Bayou "Born on the Bayou" (1969) is the first track on Creedence Clearwater Revival's second album, ''Bayou Country'', released in 1969. It was released as the B-side of the single "Proud Mary" that reached No. 2 on the ''Billboard'' charts. The song ...

", and features

Dick Durock Richard Durock (January 18, 1937 – September 17, 2009) was an American actor and Stunt double, stuntman who appeared in over eighty films and over seven hundred television episodes. He played Swamp Thing in both the feature films ''Swamp Thing ( ...

and

Louis Jourdan Louis Jourdan (born Louis Robert Gendre; 19 June 1921 – 14 February 2015) was a French film and television actor. He was known for his suave roles in several Hollywood films, including Alfred Hitchcock's ''The Paradine Case'' (1947), '' Lette ...

reprising their roles as Swamp Thing and

Anton Arcane Anton Arcane is a supervillain appearing in American comic books by DC Comics. the character first appeared in ''Swamp Thing'' #2 (January 1973), and was created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson. He is the archenemy of the Swamp Thin ...

respectively, along with Sarah Douglas and

Heather Locklear Heather Deen Locklear (born September 25, 1961) is an American actress famous for her role as Amanda Woodward on ''Melrose Place'' (1993–1999), for which she received four consecutive Golden Globe nominations for Best Actress – Television ...

Plot

After her mother's mysterious death,

Abigail Arcane Abigail Arcane Cable Holland is a fictional comic book character in the DC Comics DC Universe, Universe. She is the spouse/partner of Alec Holland, Swamp Thing and the mother of Tefé Holland. Holland's psychic powers include empathy, telepathy a ...

travels to the Florida swamps to confront her evil stepfather Dr. Anton Arcane, who had been resurrected after his death in the first film. In an attempt to stave off the effects of aging, Dr. Arcane, assisted by Dr. Lana Zurrell, combines genes from various swamp animals and human beings, creating an army of monsters known as

Un-Men The Un-Men are a group of fictional characters in the DC Comics, DC/Vertigo Comics Fictional universe, universe. Created by the writer/artist team of Len Wein and Berni Wrightson, the Un-Men made their first appearance in 1972 in comics, 1972, in ...

. Dr. Arcane tries to use his stepdaughter Abby in his genetic experiments until she is rescued by Swamp Thing, a scientist previously transformed into a bog creature after a confrontation with the evil doctor.

Cast

as Abby Arcane * Sarah Douglas as Dr. Lana Zurrell *

Alec Holland Alec Holland is a fictional character in comic books published by DC Comics. He is most notably a character in the various ''Swamp Thing'' series. Holland appeared in his first live adaptation in the 1982 film played by Ray Wise. Dick Durock to ...

Swamp Thing The Swamp Thing is a superhero in American comic books published by DC Comics. A humanoid/plant elemental List of swamp monsters, creature, created by writer Len Wein and artist Bernie Wrightson, the Swamp Thing has had several humanoid or mo ...

* Ace Mask as Dr. Rochelle *

Monique Gabrielle Katherine Gonzalez (born July 30, 1962), also known as Monique Gabrielle, is an American model and actress. Gabrielle was selected as the ''Penthouse'' Pet of the Month for December 1982, and has appeared in a variety of mainstream and adult fil ...

as Miss Poinsettia * Daniel Emery Taylor as Darryl *

Joey Sagal Joseph B. Sagal (born February 12, 1957) is an American actor and screenwriter. He is the son of film director Boris Sagal. Career highlights include, He originated the part of "The Visitor" on the Geffen Playhouse stage in the World Premiere St ...

as Gunn *

RonReaco Lee RonReaco Lee (born August 27, 1977) is an American television and film actor best known for his roles as Tyreke Scott on the ABC/The WB sitcom '' Sister, Sister'', and as Jamal Woodson on the BET romantic comedy '' Let's Stay Together''. From 2014 ...

as Omar *

Frank Welker Franklin Wendell Welker (born March 12, 1946) is an American voice actor. He began his career in the 1960s, and holds over 860 film, television, and video game credits as of 2022, making him one of the most prolific voice actors of all time. With ...

as the voice of Gigi the Parrot, and creature vocal effects

Production

In a 2018 interview, director Jim Wynorski recalled that he wanted Louis Jourdan to refer to the character of Miss Poinsettia as "Points". Jourdan refused because he knew that the character's nickname was a sexual-innuendo referring to her breasts. Wynorski then asked Jourdan, "Weren't you just in a movie called ''

Octopussy ''Octopussy'' is a 1983 spy film and the thirteenth in the ''James Bond'' series produced by Eon Productions. It is the sixth to star Roger Moore as the MI6 agent James Bond. It was directed by John Glen and the screenplay was written by G ...

''?" Jourdan refused to speak to Wynorski for much of the shoot afterward. In 2008, Dick Durock said to Bullz-Eye.com that the suit made filming difficult: "I hated the thought of having to go through the whole thing of wearing 50, 60, 70 pounds of weight in the summertime in Savannah, Georgia, but the money was there, and it's a job". According to BPA, Locklear had a hard time working with the guy who played Swamp Thing in his human form: "The model was full of himself and really rubbed Heather the wrong way. As soon as the model's scene was done, he was asked to leave the set".

Release

Home media

RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video released the film in 1989 on VHS. The film was issued on DVD by

Image Entertainment RLJ Entertainment (formerly Image Entertainment) is an American film production company and home video distributor, distributing film and television productions in North America, with approximately 3,200 exclusive DVD titles and approximately 340 ...

, with a commentary by Wynorski which suggests that some of the film's humor was not as intentional as it seems and that Wynorski had a degree of contempt for the material. The DVD also includes two environmental

public service announcements A public service announcement (PSA) is a message in the public interest disseminated by the media without charge to raise public awareness and change behavior. In the UK, they are generally called a public information film (PIF); in Hong Kong, ...

for television recorded with Durock in character and the two children featured in the film. The PSAs aired in certain markets in 1989.

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (commonly known as Warner Bros. or abbreviated as WB) is an American film and entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California, and a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Di ...

re-released the film in April 2008 on DVD. A Blu-ray edition was released by the British label Screenbound Pictures in May 2017.

MVD Entertainment Group MVD Entertainment Group, (previously Music Video Distributors, Inc.) is an American production company and film distributor based in Pottstown, Pennsylvania, consisting of three main departments MVD Visual, MVD Audio, and MVD Distribution. Th ...

released the film on Blu-ray/DVD combo pack May 8, 2018, as part of their MVD Rewind Collection line. The DVD extras were ported over along with a new commentary track and interviews with Jim Wynorski, composer Chuck Cirino, and editor Leslie Rosenthal, an interview with executive of Lightyear Entertainment Arnie Holland, plus a remastered 2K HD transfer. An

Ultra HD Blu-ray Ultra HD Blu-ray (4K Ultra HD, UHD-BD, or 4K Blu-ray) is a digital optical disc data storage format that is an enhanced variant of Blu-ray. Ultra HD Blu-ray discs are incompatible with existing standard Blu-ray players, though a traditional Bl ...

release of the film will be released on February 7, 2023.

Reception

Critical response

, on review aggregation website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee, and Stephen Wang ...

, the film had an approval rating of 44% based on 9 reviews, with an average rating of 3.92/10.

Vincent Canby Vincent Canby (July 27, 1924 – October 15, 2000) was an American film and theatre critic who served as the chief film critic for ''The New York Times'' from 1969 until the early 1990s, then its chief theatre critic from 1994 until his death in ...

of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''the Times'', ''NYT'', or the Gray Lady) is a daily newspaper based in New York City with a worldwide readership reported in 2020 to comprise a declining 840,000 paid print subscribers, and a growing 6 million paid ...

'' gave a negative review, proclaiming the film "is intended for people who missed the 1982 ''

'' and don't want the bother of renting the videocassette". He added that it "means to be funnier than it ever is" and "contains scenes of violence, most of which are so unconvincing as to be less scary than an average comic book". A writer for ''

Time Out Time-out, Time Out, or timeout may refer to: Time * Time-out (sport), in various sports, a break in play, called by a team * Television timeout, a break in sporting action so that a commercial break may be taken * Timeout (computing), an enginee ...

'' gave a somewhat neutral review, stating " Wynorski is well-versed in double-bluffing his audience, denying them the chance of balking at dreadful special effects by implying that the ineptitude is deliberate. He opts for cheap nostalgic laughs and camp '50s sci-fi scenery; depending on whether you find this funny, you'll either smile knowingly or gasp in disbelief". Another positive review was from

Roger Ebert Roger Joseph Ebert (; June 18, 1942 – April 4, 2013) was an American film critic, film historian, journalist, screenwriter, and author. He was a film critic for the ''Chicago Sun-Times'' from 1967 until his death in 2013. In 1975, Ebert beca ...

. He gave the movie a "thumbs up" when

Gene Siskel Eugene Kal Siskel (January 26, 1946 – February 20, 1999) was an American film critic and journalist for the ''Chicago Tribune''. Along with colleague Roger Ebert, he hosted a series of movie review programs on television from 1975 until his d ...

did not in the

talk show A talk show (or chat show in British English) is a television programming or radio programming genre structured around the act of spontaneous conversation.Bernard M. Timberg, Robert J. Erler'' (2010Television Talk: A History of the TV Talk Show ...

Siskel & Ebert & the Movies ''At the Movies'' (originally ''Siskel & Ebert & the Movies'', and later ''At the Movies with Ebert and Roeper'') is an American movie review television program produced by Disney–ABC Domestic Television in which two film critics share the ...

''. Cinapse also gave the positive review as "''The Return Of Swamp Thing'' is a humorous and oddly sweet action adventure that wants nothing more than to entertain you with its quirkiness from start to finish". Before his death a year later, Dick Durock stated in a 2008 interview that "they tried in ''Return of Swamp Thing'' to make it comedy, campy, and that's tough to make that work. I think

TV series A television show – or simply TV show – is any content produced for viewing on a television set which can be broadcast via over-the-air, satellite, or cable, excluding breaking news, advertisements, or trailers that are typically placed betw ...

] they kind of gave up on that idea and got back to the darker side of the character as he was written in the Swamp Thing comics, comic book". Kathleen Norris (poet), Kathleen Norris published a poem referring to this film ("Return of Swamp Thing") in her book ''Journey: New and Selected Poems 1969-1999'' (2001).

DVD Talk DVD Talk is a home video news and review website launched in 1999 by Geoffrey Kleinman. History Kleinman founded the site in January 1999 in Beaverton, Oregon. Besides news and reviews, it features information on hidden DVD features known as ...

rated the film as 4 stars of 5 stars as "Highly Recommended".

Accolades

Heather Locklear won the

Razzie Award The Golden Raspberry Awards (also known as the Razzies and Razzie Awards) is a parody award show honoring the worst of cinematic under-achievements. Co-founded by UCLA film graduates and film industry veterans John J. B. Wilson and Mo Murphy, ...

for Worst Actress for her performance in the film.

Other media

Novelization

Peter David Peter Allen David (born September 23, 1956), often abbreviated PAD, is an American writer of comic books, novels, television, films and video games.Buxton, Marc (March 29, 2014)"From 'Future Imperfect' to '2099': Peter David's Greatest Hits" Co ...

wrote a

novelization A novelization (or novelisation) is a derivative novel that adapts the story of a work created for another medium, such as a film, TV series, stage play, comic book or video game. Film novelizations were particularly popular before the advent of ...

of the film. Disappointed with the script, David rewrote large chunks of the story. To his surprise, the producers enjoyed the changes and allowed the book to see print as is.

References

External links

Official website
* * * *

at Louisjourdan.net {{DEFAULTSORT:Return Of Swamp Thing 1989 films 1980s science fiction action films 1980s superhero films 1980s monster movies 1989 horror films American sequel films American monster movies American science fiction action films 1980s science fiction horror films Films based on DC Comics Films directed by Jim Wynorski Swamp Thing in other media Superhero comedy films American superhero films Mad scientist films American science fiction comedy films Live-action films based on DC Comics Films based on works by Len Wein Superhero horror films Golden Raspberry Award winning films 1980s English-language films 1980s American films