4) Swamp Thing
Swamp Thing is as overt as its own title; plain as day in its efforts to create an unabashedly weird would-be superhero who plods around sludgy swampland. Inspired by the DC comic book character of the same name, Swamp Thing depicts the mutation of a fine physicist who is doused with his own experimental formula, dunked into a swamp, and then emerges looking a little like a green toy army soldier that’s been chewed up by the family dog.
Threaded around a King Kong-like philosophy where a woman develops funny feelings for a monster, Swamp Thing is one of director Wes Craven’s earlier works, and is seasoned with the kind of absurd horror-humor that the exploitationist occasionally likes to sprinkle on his movies scripts.
A moderate success (with a sequel named Return Of Swamp Thing released several years later), there is something to be said for the way that Swamp Thing plays out so confidently. But it still wasn’t enough to sway huge support, and the film’s aimless wander away from its source material meant that some fans of the original comic were only too happy to forget it.
Swamp Thing may hold a special place in your heart if you’re a Craven-ologist, but otherwise it remains a largely forgotten, gloopy enigma; resolutely restricted to cult film circles. For some weird, campy fun on a solemn Sunday evening, it may be worth digging up.
