Legendary horror director Wes Craven died on Sunday at the age of 76, following a battle with brain cancer. As you might expect, the film and culture internet soon filled with tributes to Craven and his film legacy.
If you grew up watching movies in the 1980s, Craven’s name likely meant horror to you, with films like The Hills Have Eyes, A Nightmare on Elm Street and The Serpent and the Rainbow. Back when you had to go to the video store to watch movies at home, those looking for scares on a Friday or Saturday night with friends or dates probably picked up something directed by Craven to get that fix. That applied during the mid-1990s too, when Craven reinvented both himself and the horror genre with the postmodern take of the Scream movies.
Upon hearing the news of Craven’s death, many probably immediately thought of one of his iconic films or characters, like Freddy Krueger or Ghostface. Those definitely crossed my mind on Sunday night. But as a comic book enthusiast (geek), I always associated Craven fondly with a film he made before A Nightmare on Elm Street, but after The Hills Have Eyes. Craven was the writer and director of 1982’s Swamp Thing, based on the DC Comics horror title. And I love him for that.
I’ve been meaning to watch Swamp Thing again for quite a few years, but never got around to it. For one thing, it wasn’t circulating on cable or even broadcast TV as goofy late-night programming. Considering the popularity of comic books and superheroes, I’ve often been surprised by that. Of course, I always could have rented the movie. I might still have a VHS copy packed away somewhere (though probably ditched it during one move or another).
But deep down, I think I was afraid that the movie wouldn’t hold up, that watching it as an adult — presumably with a better sense of what makes a quality movie, rather than a wide-eyed kid who was giddy that a comic book was adapted into a movie — would ruin a warm childhood memory of watching a character jump from the page onto the big screen.
Even back then, I knew the make-up and special effects in Swamp Thing were terrible. Yet I just didn’t care. My critical mind has exposed other TV shows and movies that I loved as a child for the crap they really were. I didn’t want that to happen to Swamp Thing, because I probably really knew that it wasn’t that good. I didn’t need that confirmed for me. I preferred to keep those fond memories intact and use my leisure time to view something else.
But Craven’s death spurred me to action. Soon after reading the news, I rented the film on Amazon. I had to see it again. The hope was that I would be reminded of why I loved the movie, why it was an affirmation of my comic book and horror movie (especially monsters) fandom. For 90 minutes, my adult mind could take a break and I could reunite with that inner child who just enjoyed a movie for what it was. (Maybe I’d also enjoy how Adrienne Barbeau looked running around in a tight tank-top. Young Ian certainly appreciated that.)
I was ready to raise a figurative glass to Craven for his role in creating one of my favorite childhood memories. But as I watched Swamp Thing, I was pleasantly surprised. It’s not a bad movie. Can I objectively call it “good”? Well, probably not. I mean, it looks like a made-for-TV movie and probably had that sort of budget to work with. This is a B-movie in every way, but Craven also knew that. It’s a monster movie, but it’s also a tragedy — something I responded to even when I was a kid. Craven absolutely got that in his writing.
Alec Holland is a handsome, brilliant, eccentric scientist on the verge of a landmark breakthrough, creating a formula that can grow plants where they’re not meant to grow. As played by Ray Wise, he has the enthusiasm for his field of study and work that you’d associate these days with a Neil deGrasse Tyson. He makes this stuff sound cool. How could you not think it’s cool too? No matter what else Wise has done in his career — and he’s had a ton of movie and TV roles — I always associate him with Alec Holland, which makes me like him.
But other people want in on Holland’s invention and the ability to monetize or weaponize it. In the film’s pivotal sequence, rival scientist Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan) and his team of militarized goons wipe out the government operatives charged with protecting Holland and storm his lab to steal the formula, along with all of the notes and research associated with it. Holland puts up a fight, resulting in the death of his sister, he becomes doused in the formula — which has explosive properties — and dives into the swamp in an attempt to save himself.
From there, the properties of the formula and the swamp (teeming with all sorts of life) combine with the damage to Holland’s body to create an entirely new sort of being. Holland has become a monster fueled by pain and rage, though it eventually becomes clear that his conscience and mind still exist underneath that mossy exterior. His (its?) primary motivation appears to be protecting Alice Cable (Barbeau), the last remaining agent assigned to Holland’s detail, from Arcane and his thugs, but if some revenge can be exacted upon those who destroyed his life, then that’s a fringe benefit.
Again, the make-up and effects are terrible. The costume Dick Durock has to wear as Swamp Thing looks every bit the rubber suit, one that doesn’t even fit him very well. (Apparently, most of the film’s budget went into that suit, in addition to a couple of notable stunt sequences.) When he rips the roof off the truck, the piece just floats away as it’s supposed to be flung away, carried away by wires or crane.
And the monster that Arcane becomes after ingesting the formula is abysmal, some kind of wolf-reptile hybrid whose face doesn’t even move. You can probably find a better mask at a Halloween store pop-up this fall. It’s certainly no mistake that Craven rarely shoots the beast in close-up. All of the action and fight scenes with Swamp Thing are shot from a distance.
But Craven still makes this thing work. The movie is genuine, made with thought and craft. Even if the budget or special effects of the time couldn’t match its ambition, there’s a sincere effort. There’s no wink at the audience, there’s no shame in the material. No one’s acting like they wish they were in a different or better film. Swamp Thing knows exactly what kind of movie it is and does its best to fulfill those genre objectives. Maybe it could be scarier or gorier, but there are plenty of scenes that are creepy and suspenseful.
Swamp Thing is very much a product of its time. (Two years later, Troma Films made The Toxic Avenger, almost a parody of Swamp Thing.) A higher quality movie could undoubtedly be made now, with better effects (probably with too much CGI) and a grander scale. But I honestly don’t know if the writing and acting could be much better, unless a remake tried to tell a different story, perhaps focusing on the more human elements of the character and the tragedy Holland has suffered.
Two years ago, I wrote that Swamp Thing is a movie begging to be remade, preferably by a filmmaker like Guillermo Del Toro. Yet I don’t know if it would actually be a better film than what Craven made in 1982. He certainly went on to make bigger and better films, ones that continue to resonate in pop culture. But he had to start somewhere. Taking a comic book property and reducing it to its base genre elements for a movie adaptation was masterful stuff from a writing and directing standpoint. And the work still stands up 33 years later.
