The Return of Swamp Thing (1989) – Episode 178 – Decades of Horror 1980s
Decades of Horror | Horror News Radio
Release Date: 04/19/2021
Decades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“If thy hand offend thee, cut it off and cast it aside. For it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.” Keep your hands off my members! Join your faithful Grue Crew – Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr, and a late “appearance” by special guest host Jerry Chandler – as they discuss (1981), a movie that isn’t about what it looks like it’s about. Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 293 – Demonoid (1981) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click...
info_outlineDecades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“The world has caught up with me and surpassed me. It’s drivel. 90 years ago, I was a freak. Today, I’m an amateur.” If you work at it, you can still regain your “freak” status. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – in 1979 San Francisco as they follow the exploits of H.G., Amy, and Jack in Nicholas Meyer’s (1979). Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 249 – Time After Time (1979) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! ...
info_outlineDecades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“Evening News! Full Mail Gazette! Missing actress! No suspects! They can’t find the body! Police at their ruddy wit’s end as usual!” Don’t you miss the newsboys standing on the corner crying out the headlines? Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Doc Rotten, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they take in the Bernard Herrmann concerto that infuses the deadly developments in (1945). Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 211 – Hangover Square (1945) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today!...
info_outlineDecades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“You admit it is possible for a piece of glass to retain the image of someone who sits in front of it for a great period of time?” Wait. No! Where do you get this nonsense? H. P. Lovecraft? Oh. Okay. Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they discuss (1988), about an unnamable creature that, oddly enough, has a name. Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 292 – The Unnamable (1988) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new content! ANNOUNCEMENT...
info_outlineDecades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“Can I be the butter on your pumpernickel bread?” Oh, dear. What does that even mean? Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, and Jeff Mohr – as they check out (1976) while pondering on which side their pumpernickel is buttered. Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 248 – Dark August (1976) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! ANNOUNCEMENT Decades of Horror 1970s is partnering with THE CLASSIC SCI-FI MOVIE CHANNEL, THE CLASSIC HORROR MOVIE CHANNEL, and...
info_outlineDecades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“May the devil himself splatter you with dung.” Okay. Is it his dung? Or dung from something else? It might make a difference. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Doc Rotten, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they eagerly enter the world of (1946, La Belle et la Bête), Jean Cocteau’s classic fantasy. Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 210 – Beauty and the Beast (1946) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content! ANNOUNCEMENT Decades...
info_outlineDecades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“Damn rotten kids. They’ll get what they deserve. Yeah. They’ll get what they deserve tonight.” Well, if you’re thinking razor blades in apples for Halloween, your wife might have other ideas, which will include the question: “How do you like them apples?” Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they discuss (1988), a Halloween cult classic from Kevin Tenney. Now, where did I put that lipstick? Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 291 – Night of the Demons (1988) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine...
info_outlineDecades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“This piece is actually an ideal marriage. Iron, the strongest metal then known to man, and the color red, the color of the planet Mars, the planet of vitality, passion, and sexual vigor.” So iron plus red equals sexual vigor. Got it! Join your faithful Grue Crew – Doc Rotten, Bill Mulligan, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and guest Dave Dreher – as they take a ride in the possessed car from Charles Band’s (1976). There will be crashes! Decades of Horror 1970s Episode 247 – Crash! (1976) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today!...
info_outlineDecades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“Never saw anything like it! No footprints! No blood! No sign of a struggle! The bones just stripped clean like peeling a banana!” Well, if it were a giant spider, it would be because they liquefy their food by flooding it with digestive enzymes. Of course, there’s no such thing as giant spiders. Join this episode’s Grue-Crew – Doc Rotten, Daphne Monary-Ernsdorff, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr – as they try to keep up with the giant spider in (1955). Wait. There are giant spiders? Decades of Horror: The Classic Era Episode 209...
info_outlineDecades of Horror | Horror News Radio
“He’s not kidding! There’s a spaceship or something outside. There was three little guys that came out!” Maybe he should have led with, “Look what I got on video!” Join your faithful Grue Crew – Crystal Cleveland, Chad Hunt, Jeff Mohr, and special guest Michael Steinberg – as they discuss (1989), an early found footage film depicting an alien abduction. Decades of Horror 1980s Episode 290 – The McPherson Tape (1989) Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel! Subscribe today! Click the alert to get notified of new content! Gruesome Magazine...
info_outline"God will pardon me. That's His job." Somehow, that seems unlikely. Join your faithful Grue-Crew - Crystal Cleveland, Chad Hunt, Bill Mulligan, and Jeff Mohr - as they look for the good in Jim Wynorski’s The Return of Swamp Thing (1989).
Decades of Horror 1980s
Episode 178 – The Return of Swamp Thing (1989)
Join the Crew on the Gruesome Magazine YouTube channel!
Subscribe today! And click the alert to get notified of new content!
https://youtube.com/gruesomemagazine
In this tongue-in-cheek sequel, the benevolent bog creature falls for the vegetarian, plant-loving daughter of the evil scientist who created him.
IMDb
- Director: Jim Wynorski
- Writers: (written by) Neil Cuthbert & Grant Morris; (Swamp Thing created by) Len Wein & Bernie Wrightson (as Berni Wrightson)
- Creature makeup creator: Carl Fullerton
- Cast
- Louis Jourdan as Anton Arcane
- Heather Locklear as Abby Arcane
- Sarah Douglas as Dr. Lana Zurrell
- Dick Durock as Alec Holland / Swamp Thing
- Joey Sagal as Gunn
- Ace Mask as Dr. Rochelle
- Monique Gabrielle as Miss Poinsettia
- RonReaco Lee as Omar
- Daniel Emery Taylor as Darryl
- Ralph Pace as Sheriff Beaumont
- Timothy Birch as Clyde
- Alex Van as Gurdell
- Christopher Doyle as Leechman (as Chris Doyle)
- Rex Pierson as Dr. Rochelle Mutation
- Tony Sears as Harry Dugan (as Anthony Sears)
- Bill Eudaly as Withered Chuck
- J. Don Ferguson as Bob
- Cockroach Bob as Cockroach Bob
- Anthony Cecere as Conklin (as Tony Cecere)
- Jim Grimshaw as Morty
- Albert B. Cooper IV as Taxi Driver
- Kevin Schmidt as Lab Technician
- Frank Welker as the voice of Gigi the Parrot, and creature vocal effects
This “sequel” to Wes Craven’s original doesn’t measure up to that film or the comic source material. Even though he’s a big Swamp Thing fan and likes the Swamp Thing and creature designs by Carl Fullerton in this one, Chad says The Return of Swamp Thing suffers from superhero-itis, when everyone wants to do a superhero movie but not to good effect, especially when Swampie is not a superhero. According to Bill, once you accept The Return of Swamp Thing is an atrocity, you can enjoy it for its goofy 80s shenanigans. Crystal agrees it’s a horrible, awful movie but it can be entertaining if you just have fun with it and the creatures in Dr. Arkane’s menagerie. Based on the poster, Jeff assumed he was in for camp, good or bad, and he loved the Creedence Clearwater Revival music with the comic graphics in the intro.
Your Decades of Horror 1980s Grue-Crew finds this one to be tough to recommend, but if you’re a Swamp Thing fan, you’ll want to check this one out. As of this writing, The Return of Swamp Thing is available for streaming on Amazon Prime and on a 2-disc Special Edition Blu-ray from Lightyear Video.
Every two weeks, Gruesome Magazine’s Decades of Horror 1980s podcast will cover another horror film from the 1980s. The next episode’s film, chosen by Jeff, will be From a Whisper to a Scream (1987), a horror anthology from Jeff Burr, featuring Vincent Price in the framing story. You won’t want to miss that one!
Please let them know how they’re doing! They want to hear from you – the coolest, grooviest fans: leave them a message or leave a comment on the gruesome Magazine Youtube channel, on the website or email the Decades of Horror 1980s podcast hosts at [email protected]