88 Films, out now

Murky goings on in the swamp…

Well, they’re not so murky in the new transfer used for this edition of the 1982 cult classic – even on the review DVD, the clarity of picture was considerably greater than we’ve seen in earlier versions. In a time when superhero movies were either on the scale of Superman or were compilations of the Spider-Man TV series, Swamp Thing had the benefit of a strong writer/director in Wes Craven, and a good cast – Adrienne Barbeau at its heart, with Ray Wise (early on) and Louis Jourdan warming up for his role as Kamal Khan in the 1983 Bond movie Octopussy. Dick Durock makes the first of his many, many appearances as Swamp Thing and seems to be channelling the great B movie heroes of the 1950s.

This new release is of the international version (the one that got the distributors in trouble when it was accidentally released on home video a few years back). That means we get some shots of Barbeau topless, and an adjunct to the party at Arcane’s home with a load of hookers entertaining the troops – although you can tell immediately which bits have been reinserted as the colour grading changes dramatically!

The DVD is bare bones, with just subtitles and the hokey trailer. The Bluray has multiple extras including an audio commentary by director Wes Craven, an interview with Production designer Robb Wilson King, and a new interview with critic Kim Newman.

Verdict: A cut above many other comic book movies, this holds up well nearly four decades later. 7/10

Paul Simpson