Swamp Thing
Wes Craven, 1982
A scientist (Ray Wise) turns into a a swamp monster (Dick Durock) and takes revenge on those responsible.
I'm a big fan of Swamp Thing - that is, of the comic book character Swamp Thing. I also loved the TV series growing up. One of those (the comic) is fantastic, the other (TV show) kind of terrible, but this movie makes them both look like high art. It starts of reasonably well - it's sort of got the feel of an old Universal horror film, one of the later ones from the 40's and 50's, but crossed with a cheap 80's A-Team sort of aesthetic. It shouldn't work, but it does. The problem is mainly Swamp Thing himself - the costume just looks terrible. I'm willing to forgive a lot in my low-budget effects, but when your star's skin (I presume) doesn't even fit the actor, it's pretty tough to deal with. Add in an obnoxious comic-relief kid, a plethora of horrible "comic-booky" transitions, and another monster that manages to look even worse than Swamp Thing, and you can see it all fall apart right before your eyes.
3/10 (and I'm being generous)
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