Very well executed

It is both painfully honest and laugh-out-loud funny at the same time.

Excellent and certainly provocative... If nothing else, the film is a real conversation starter.

Great movie. Not sure what people expected but I found it highly entertaining.

THE RETURN OF SWAMP THING is a sequel to the Wes Craven original, directed by Jim Wynorski this time around. Given that Wynorski has never made a decent movie, the odds are stacked against this one too, and so it proves. This is silly, campy film throughout, one which is bogged down by awful overacting from the supporting players and a general lack of coherence.The story sees the titular character returning to fight villain Louis Jourdan once more, after he somehow survived at the end of the last picture. There's some rubbery action and lots of posing from starlet Heather Locklear, but the whole thing's a cheese fest along the lines of the TROLL movies. I always found Swamp Thing one of the silliest comic book heroes (sillier even than the Toxic Avenger) and so it proves here.

The Return of Swamp Thing sees evil scientist Dr. Anton Arcane (Louis Jordan) trying to reverse the extreme ageing that he is undergoing as a result of his experiments. Meanwhile in Los Angeles his stepdaughter Abigail (Heather Locklear) decides to visit him to find out more about her late mother & the events surrounding her sudden death. It turns out that Abigail has the exact genetic make-up that Arcane needs to complete his experiments & give himself eternal life. Arcane also needs a sample of Swamp Thing's (Dick Durock) DNA to complete the process but getting a sample isn't going to be as easy as Arcane hoped for as Swamp Thing sets out to put an end to Arcane's evil experiments...Directed by Jim Wynorski whom I consider one of the worst genre filmmakers of all time I have to say that I really liked The Return of Swamp Thing & for my money just about the best thing Wynorski has ever done (which isn't saying much in itself). A direct sequel to Wes Craven's Swamp Thing (1982) it is never actually explained how Arcane survived the events during the climax of the original although it turns out he is suffering from the process that saved him which forms the basis of the plot as he sets out to find a cure & doesn't care how many people he kills to do just that. Based on the dark Gothic DC comic book character the script by Neil Cuthbert & Grant Morris hasn't got too much to it & is rather simplistic & underdeveloped but is good fun all the same & you suspect that what the production team were aiming for, a good solid entertaining light hearted fun comic book superhero flick which I think it succeeds at being but like most things in life it's down to personal opinion. At a little over 90 minutes it's relatively short, it moves along like a rocket & I was never bored with it which is always a good thing to be able to say. There are one or two half decent action set-pieces but considering the production team had a budget smaller than the Wes Craven original you could say they worked minor miracles. The character's are fun although not particularly deep, the dialogue is often amusing & packed full of one-liners & doesn't take itself too seriously either with Locklear's character referring to the TV show T.J. Hooker (1982 - 1986) in which she starred. All in all much, much better than I expected & a film that I really liked. Keep watching after the end actor credits as the two kids get an extra little scene.Director Wynorski does a decent job & the film looks reasonably good although you can tell there wasn't much money with which to make it. One very impressive aspect of The Return of Swamp Thing is the special make-up effects which are of a very high standard. The Leechman in particularly looks great although he disappears about halfway through, there's a elaborate Cockroachman & an Elephantman. The Swamp Thing suit is also much better than seen in the original, it's far more leafy & slimy & more representative of a what a half man half Georgia swamp creature may look like. The Dr. Rochelle mutation at the end also looks good but is dispatched too easily by Swamp Thing & doesn't put up much of a fight. There are some good fight scenes as well along with a couple of impressive explosions.Technically the film is good, it's well made with the already mentioned special effects impressing. Shot in Savannah in Georgia. The acting is pretty camp & over-the-top but the material demands it, Louis Jordan is somewhat restrained, Dirk Durock's voice was dubbed in post while Heather Locklear looks nice enough.The Return of Swamp Thing is a film which I admit that I throughly enjoyed, that's my opinion & I am sticking with it. Followed by the made-for-TV live action series Swamp Thing (1990 - 1993) & the short lived made-for-TV animated series Swamp Thing (1991).

Much like its title hero, "The Return of Swamp Thing" is a hybrid creature: it tries to do many different genres - horror, comedy, action, romance - and, as it usually happens in these cases, does none of them completely satisfyingly. What keeps it watchable is its cast: Heather Locklear is a beautiful and engaging heroine (her spectacular cleavage doesn't hurt either), and nobody can play a suave, sophisticated, cultured villain quite like Louis Jourdan (it's ironic that his character in the film is trying to find a formula to reverse the aging process, because Jourdan himself seems to have already discovered that formula; he was 70 years old when this film was made but he looks about 50!). The witty and classy Sarah Douglas plays his assistant, and Dick Durock does a fine (physical as well as emotional) job as the Swamp Thing. And the final bonus: a GORGEOUS red-haired Monique Gabrielle as an armed security guard - YES!!! (**)

Every once in awhile, a sequel is a million times better than the original. This is just such a sequel! If you look up my review for Swamp Thing, you'll see that I didn't care to much for it. This, on the other hand, was great! They decided to go with the over-the-top comic-book style that the original skirted, which made the movie a lot more enjoyable. The effects improved greatly, the creatures in this actually looked like some effort was put into them! I especially liked the updated Swamp Thing costume, made him look a lot better and more intimidating. Louis Joudan was thankfully back, and his character, Dr. Anton Arcane, was even better than ever! His step-daughter Abby, played by Heather Locklear, was one of many great comic relief characters, along with the bumbling head of security named Gunn, and many others. The side plot with two kids trying to get Swampy's picture was a tad annoying, but it had it's amusing moments. Overall, this was a great intentionally cheesy B-movie, that you really should check out! 8/10