The Return of Swamp Thing (1989)

The Return of Swamp Thing is a low-budget horror movie made in 1989. It was directed by Jim Wynorski, and had a running time of 95 minutes. The film is based on the DC Comics title Swamp Thing, and is a sequel to the 1982 Swamp Thing film directed by Wes Craven.

After her mother's mysterious death, Abby Arcane (Heather Locklear) travels to the Florida swamps to confront her evil stepfather, Dr. Arcane (Louis Jourdan). In an attempt to stave off the affects of aging, Dr. Arcane combines genes from a series of swamp animals and human beings, creating an army of monsters. Dr. Arcane tries to use his stepdaughter Abby Arcane in his genetic experiments, but she is rescued by the Swamp Thing (Dick Durock), a scientist turned into a bog creature after a battle with the evil doctor.

The film is primarily a silly comedy-adventure for young children. Most notable is the comedic performance of nine-year-old Daniel Emery Taylor as one of two children who play the comedy relief.

A novelization of the film was written by Peter David. It may have been written from an earlier script, as the novelization has a considerably more serious attitude and would have taken a much larger budget had the story been filmed. The tale draws more openly from the Alan Moore era of Swamp Thing comics which influenced the final movie only on the most basic level. The novelization includes a scene in which Swamp Thing takes control of an entire hillside.

The film was issued on DVD with a commentary by Wynorski which suggests both that some of the comedy may not be as intentional as it seems, and that Wynorski had some degree of contempt for the material. It also includes two environmental public service announcements for television recorded with Durock in character and the two children featured in the movie. It is unknown if the PSAs were ever aired.