The Return of Swamp Thing

PG-13

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1 hr. 28 min.

Sci-Fi

Action

Adventure

Fantasy

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44%

9 Reviews

Tomatometer

54%

2,500+ Ratings

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A mad scientist's (Louis Jourdan) vegetarian stepdaughter (Heather Locklear) falls in love with one of his leafy failures.

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Lou T

Following up the dreadfully boring and generic original, The Return of Swamp Thing takes us back to the swamp and into a very different kind of sequel. Moving away from the poorly handled serious aspects that made the original so boring, the sequel relies more on comedy and, shockingly, they do it really well! Returning as the titular creature, Dick Durock adds a lighter tone and jovial attitude which work much better than the stoic nature of the previous installment. Heather Locklear as Abby Arcane adds a delightfully humorous love interest, equipped with quite a few memorable one-liners. Although Dr. Anton Arcane (Louis Jourdan) returns to continue his hunt for Swamp Thing, this still fails to create any original or exciting action, sticking with the lackluster strongman punches of the original. The prosthetics still look cheesy, but have been improved and look much more detailed this time around. While The Return of Swamp Thing is no masterpiece, the team saw what didn't work in the original and put time and effort into creating a truly fun time capsule of campy film.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

01/09/24

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Petros T

Adopting a much less serious, more humorous approach than the original, it's more pleasant and appealing, even if the laughs are not always necessarily intentional. The prosthetics are considerably improved, the tradition of the comic relief kid is successfully continued with not one but two kids this time, and the end is sweet. The script remains a rather cliched, predictable, half-baked mess however, and the use of a model for the love scene is an odd choice that negates the whole point of it.

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

11/14/23

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Vin f

Better than the first. It has better fighting scenes, the way the made the villains, and the woman of swamp thing. More funny and less darker. The ginger kids acting was horrible, though. Can't blame him, he is probably only 8.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/17/23

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Tim .

Masterfully imitates a campy, cult classic, without actually being one.

Rated 3 out of 5 stars

08/22/22

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Audience Member

I find it incredibly humorous that after Alan Moore, Stephen Bisette and John Totleben reinvented comic books with Saga of the Swamp Thing, director Jim Wynorski and writers Neil Cuthbert and Grant Morris were making this sequel to the original Swamp Thing and went nearly full camp. After her mother's mysterious death, Abigail Arcane (Heather Locklear) has come to confront her wicked stepfather Dr. Arcane (the returning Louis Jordan) who has somehow come back from the grave and is working to stop the aging proccess with Dr. Lana Zurrell (Sarah Douglas). Oh yeah, he's also making an army of monsters. Luckily, Swamp Thing is around and still played by stuntman Dick Durock, who wore a seventy plus pound suit in the humid swams so we'd have a movie to watch. This being a Wynorski movie, Monique Gabrielle shows up as well. I love that in the midst of this wackiness — I mean, Swamp Thing drives a jeep at one point sending me into fits of laughter — the movie takes the time to recreate the love scene between its hero and Abby from "Rite of Spring," which appeared in Swamp Thing #34. In the hands of the comic creative team, it's poetic, gorgeous and full of deep meanings about man's spiritual place in nature. In the hands of Wynorski, it's Heather Locklear eating a cucumber out of a swamp person. In my youth, I used to look down on the director's movies as fluff. As I've grown older, I appreciate them for their entertainment value and how well made they are. Not everything has to be so deadly droll all the time.

Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars

02/06/23

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brad p

‘The Return of Swamp Thing' is Horror Fun with a Green Thumb

Rated 3.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Jim Wynorski

Director

Louis Jourdan

Dr. Anton Arcane

Heather Locklear

Abby Arcane

Sarah Douglas

Dr. Lana Zurrell

Dick Durock

Swamp Thing

Ace Mask

Dr. Rochelle

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Matt Brunson

Film Frenzy

Oafish, innocent, and almost adorable in its ineptitude.

Rated: 1.5/4

Aug 24, 2021

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Ed Travis

Cinapse

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

Nov 1, 2018

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Jacob Knight

Birth.Movies.Death.

Yes, it's a story as corny and clichd as they come, but that's part of the picture's charm.

May 24, 2018

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Felix Vasquez Jr.

Cinema Crazed

An endurance test even the most forgiving audiences won't find pleasure in.

Jun 9, 2013

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Felix Vasquez Jr.

Film Threat

This sequel to the Craven cheese fest is bad beyond the English language with Heather Locklear the poor man's Ann Darrow.

Rated: 1/5

Jul 16, 2007

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Rob Gonsalves

Rob's Movie Vault

This sequel, coming as it did after Alan Moore's critically acclaimed, award-winning run on the comic, looked really sad.

Rated: D

Apr 9, 2007

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Synopsis

A mad scientist's (Louis Jourdan) vegetarian stepdaughter (Heather Locklear) falls in love with one of his leafy failures.

Director: Jim Wynorski
Executive Producer: Tom Kuhn, Charles Mitchell
Screenwriter: Neil Cuthbert, Grant Morris
Production Co: Lightyear Entertainment
Rating: PG-13
Genre: Sci-Fi, Action, Adventure, Fantasy
Original Language: English
Release Date (Theaters): May 12, 1989, Limited
Release Date (Streaming): Apr 3, 2012
Sound Mix: Surround

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