review: SWAMP THING: THE SERIES

Shout Factory  //  Buy from Amazon.com Sleep tight naughty evildoers! Don't let the Swamp Thing bite! Enter into a mind-bending world where a humanoid mass of plant life matter fights to protect his swamp home, the environment and humanity from various supernatural and evil threats as the comic book superhero Swamp Thing comes to life! On January 22, 2008, Shout! Factory will unleash Swamp Thing: The Series DVD box set, packed with all original 22 original suspenseful episodes culled from Seasons 1 & 2 of the cult TV series in the order they were meant to be seen. When an attempt on Dr. Alec Holland's life leaves him consumed by deadly chemicals and fire, the swamps of Louisiana transform him into a superhuman creature hell-bent on ridding the swamp--and the world--of the evil that men do, beginning with his arch nemesis, Dr. Anton Arcane, the mad scientist responsible for Holland's monstrous new incarnation as Swamp Thing. I grew up a huge fan of the original "Swamp Thing" movie (directed by Wes Craven, donchaknow!) and even it's far weaker, but still entertaining, sequel. What I don't think I was aware of - at least not that I'm able to recall - is that there was a "Swamp Thing" TV series as well! (Damn you Canada, for not carrying the USA Network!) Thankfully, the fine folks @ Shout Factory have seen fit to release this series onto DVD, and this first collection packages up the first 2 seasons of the show. It's very familiar territory if you've seen the first film - we get to see Dr. Holland get splashed with chemicals, dive into the swamp, and emerge as the vengeful Swamp Thing, taking on evildoers and ensuring that all that is wrong is righted in the world. One part sci-fi, one part horror, and more than a sprinking of campiness, and you get "Swamp Thing: The Series." Very entertaining, faithful to the comics and the films, and surprisingly better than you might expect from a relatively-unknown series, "Swamp Thing" is definitely worth checking out. Video The series is presented in its original fullframe aspect ratio (1.33:1) and looks about as good as you'd expect from a low(ish)-budget sci-fi/horror tv series. No issues with the overall picture quality, but this is definitely not THX quality. Audio The included Dolby 2.0 stereo mix is a-okay - nothing fancy or flashy, but perfectly solid & fine. Extras "The Men Behind the Much" featurette Closing Thoughts Fun, campy entertaintment for fanboys + minimal extras = worth checking out for fans of the original cult-classic movie (or even the comic books)