The Return of Swamp Thing
Go Ahead And Scoff. But This cheap-jack sequel to the 1982 cult favorite about a hunky scientist (Dick Durock) turned talking plant delivers more tacky hit-and-miss hilarity than a Cineplex-ful of teen-sex comedies. Using the DC Comics series as source material, screenwriters Derek Spencer and Grant Morris and director Jim Wynorski give the Swampy story a good-natured razzing. Durock is back with new stalks, and Louis Jourdan, the evil Dr. Arcane, is still trying to melt him down into a rejuvenating drink. Adrienne Barbeau, Swampy’s romantic interest last time, has been replaced by Heather Locklear, playing Jourdan’s suspicious stepdaughter. Heather and Swampy are a perfect match, since she professes to like plants more than men. “I mean, you can stroke a plant,” she says, “and they don’t get all worked up about it.” Such remarks prompt Jourdan to ask his parrot, Gigi, “Am I a fool without a mind or have I merely been too blind to realize I’m dealing with two idiots?” And so it goes. Sure, the laughs are cheap, but why kick when you’re richly entertained.