The Return of Swamp Thing

The Return of Swamp Thing is a sci-fi-comedy film released in 1989, and directed by Jim Wynorski. It is based on the DC Comics (later Vertigo Comics) title Swamp Thing and is a sequel to the 1982 Horror film Swamp Thing directed by Wes Craven; however, it had a lighter tone than the previous film. The film's main title montage consists of comic book covers set to Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Born on the Bayou". The film stars Dick Durock and Louis Jourdan returning from the original film as Swamp Thing and Arcane respectively, and costars Sarah Douglas and Heather Locklear.

Plot
After her mother's mysterious death, Abby Arcane (Heather Locklear) travels to the Florida swamps to confront her evil stepfather Dr. Arcane (Louis Jourdan), who had been resurrected with a ludicrous explanation after his death in the first film. In an attempt to stave off the effects of aging, Dr. Arcane, assisted by Dr. Lana Zurrell (Sarah Douglas), combines genes from various swamp animals and human beings, creating an army of monsters. Dr. Arcane tries to use his stepdaughter Abby in his genetic experiments until she is rescued by Swamp Thing (Dick Durock), a scientist previously transformed into a bog creature after a confrontation with the evil doctor, and a conscience-stricken Dr. Zurrell.

Reception
The Return of Swamp Thing received largely poor responses from critics. Vincent Canby of The New York Times gave a negative review, proclaiming the film "is intended for people who missed the 1982 Swamp Thing and don't want the bother of renting the videocassette." He added that it "means to be funnier than it ever is" and "contains scenes of violence, most of which are so unconvincing as to be less scary than an average comic book." Another negative review came from Variety. Its summary headline read: "The Return of Swamp Thing is scientific hokum without the fun. Second attempt to film the DC Comics character will disappoint all but the youngest critters."

A writer for Time Out gave a somewhat neutral review, stating "Wynorski is well-versed in double-bluffing his audience, denying them the chance of balking at dreadful special effects by implying that the ineptitude is deliberate. He opts for cheap nostalgic laughs and camp '50s sci-fi scenery; depending on whether you find this funny, you'll either smile knowingly or gasp in disbelief." Another positive review was from Roger Ebert. He gave the movie "Thumbs Up" when Gene Siskel did not.

Before his death a year later, Dick Durock stated in a 2008 interview, "They tried in Return of Swamp Thing to make it comedy, campy, and that's tough to make that work. I think [for the TV series] they kind of gave up on that idea and got back to the darker side of the character as he was written in the comic book."

Kathleen Norris published a poem referring to this movie ("Return of Swamp Thing") in her book Journey: New and Selected Poems 1969-1999 (2001).

Heather Locklear won the Razzie Award as Worst Actress for her performance in the film.

Novelization
Peter David wrote a Novelization of the film. Disappointed with the script, David rewrote large chunks of the story. To his surprise, the producers enjoyed the changes and allowed the book to see print as-is.

VHS and DVD release
RCA/Columbia Pictures Home Video released the film in 1989 on VHS.

The film was issued on DVD by Image Entertainment, with a commentary by Wynorski which suggests that some of the film's humor was not as intentional as it seems, and that Wynorski had a degree of contempt for the material. The DVD also includes two environmental public service announcements for television recorded with Durock in character and the two children featured in the movie. The PSAs aired in certain markets in 1989.

Warner Brothers re-released the film in April 2008 on DVD.

Television series and sequel
In July 1990, USA Network premiered the Swamp Thing television series. This saw Dick Durock reprising his role using a modified version of the Return of Swamp Thing costume. The series took a deliberate turn away from the campy themes of its 1989 film predecessor and leaned toward the darkness of Wes Craven's version. It lasted into 1993 with a total of 72 episodes.