Swamp Thing is a 1982 superhero horror film directed by Wes Craven, and written by Craven and Len Wein. Taking inspiration from the original Swamp Thing comics, it depicts the title character's origins and first conflict with Anton Arcane.
Synopsis for "Swamp Thing (1982 Movie)"
Swamp Thing was a full-length feature film produced by Embassy Pictures in 1982 and directed by horror aficionado Wes Craven. The film was loosely based on the original Swamp Thing storylines set down by writer Len Wein and illustrator Bernie Wrightson in Swamp Thing (Volume 1). The character of the Swamp Thing is played by two different actors. Ray Wise plays the part of Alec Holland, while stuntman Dick Durock dons the green latex for the Swamp Thing scenes. French stage actor Louis Jordan played the role of the villainous Anton Arcane, an ambitious scientist eager to get his hands on Dr. Holland's work. Despite its low budget and meager reviews, the film proved popular enough that DC Comics revived the Swamp Thing comic title that same year under the name The Saga of the Swamp Thing. In 1989, director Jim Wynorski helmed a sequel film titled The Return of the Swamp Thing. Both Louis Jordan and Dick Durock reprised their rolls as Anton Arcane and the Swamp Thing, but the film failed to meet fan expectations and was critically panned.
While the origin of the Swamp Thing remains fairly loyal to the source material, there are also several deviations from the comic book continuity. The most obvious of the changes is the character of Alice Cable. Alice (played by Adrienne Barbeau) is an adaptation of the longtime Swamp Thing supporting character Abigail Cable (later Abigail Holland). The comic Abby was the Eastern European white-haired niece of Anton Arcane, but in the movie she is an American with no family connection to Arcane at all. Alec Holland himself, although he spends little time on-screen, deviates from the canon Holland as well. Wein and Wrightson's Holland was a blonde-haired stoic scientist who was completely devoted to his wife, Linda. Craven's Holland has dark brown hair and possesses a more jovial wit. Also, Linda Holland is Alec's sister in the film, rather than his wife. This alteration allowed the producers the ability to pursue a romance sub-plot between Alec/Swamp Thing and Alice Cable.
Appearing in "Swamp Thing (1982 Movie)"
Featured Characters:
- Swamp Thing (Alec Holland) (First appearance) (Origin)
Supporting Characters:
- Alice Cable (Single appearance)
- Jude (Single appearance)
- Linda Holland (Single appearance; dies)
Antagonists:
- Anton Arcane (First appearance)
- Bruno (Single appearance)
- Charlie (Single appearance)
- Ferret (Single appearance)
Other Characters:
- Harry Ritter (Mentioned only)
- Karen (Single appearance)
- Walter Holland (Mentioned only)
Locations:
Items:
Vehicles:
Cast
- Dick Durock and Ray Wise as Alec Holland/Swamp Thing
- Louis Jourdan as Anton Arcane
- Don Knight as "Harry Ritter"
- Adrienne Barbeau as Alice Cable
- Nannette Brown as Linda Holland
- Al Ruban as Charlie
- David Hess as Ferret
- Nicholas Worth as Bruno
- Reggie Batts as Jude
- Karen Price as Karen
Notes
- Swamp Thing has been released on VHS, Laserdisc and DVD.
Trivia
- This is the first appearance of Swamp Thing and his related characters in a non-comics media.
- Swamp Thing is one of the few movies based upon a comic book to feature female nudity. To date, the only other mainstream films based on a DC Comics title to feature female nudity are Watchmen and The Suicide Squad, although the latter features it very briefly.
- One of the fight scenes includes audio stock footage commonly regarded as the Wilhelm scream.
- The Swamp Thing movie actually exists in the DC Universe, according to Swamp Thing (Volume 2) #67. Swamp Thing himself did not like it.[1]
See Also
- Characters from Swamp Thing (1982 Movie)
- Other things related to Swamp Thing (1982 Movie)
- Movie Gallery: Swamp Thing (1982 Movie)
Links and References
This is an in-universe article with out-of-universe material.