Swamp Devil Review by Bobby LePire. Edited by Courtney McAllister.

 

Side note- In the majority of my reviews I do try to avoid major spoilers and explaining the plot in its entirety, because I want you, the reader, to seek these out and have as much fun with them as I did. However, the biggest faults in this movie come from a specific character’s arc, and in order to discuss it, I must spoil the ending. MAJOR SPOILER WARNING! MAJOR SPOILER WARNING!

 

There is surprisingly only a handful of movies about swamp creatures proper. I don’t mean a creature that lives in a swampy region, a la Bigfoot in any of the numerous “Boggy Creek” films or the shark in “Shark Swamp”. I mean a humanoid, sentient monster consisting of vines, thorns, and various other swamp shrubbery; you know, Swamp Thing and the like. So, when the SyFy Channel (via the Maneater series) created one of their own, it joined a small, but storied genre.

 

The opening shot is of a massive blood red moon. Less than a full second in and I am already not sure what kind of film this is- werewolf? Not according to the title, but this shot of the moon doesn’t make sense- the creature attacks during the day and night, and the moon never comes into play again.

 

Over this moon, we get Bruce Dern’s top billed credit. Then we cut to a prologue, in which a teenage girl is running through the woods from something. She’s followed by Bruce Dern, who seems to be more hiding then anything. Also, quite inexplicably, the whole Gibbington police force is out looking for the girl, Lisa. I have no idea how they got there, who informed them of the girl’s screams for help, or what exactly that person said. See, Lisa is found dead in the swamp, and Dern’s Howard is blamed. But because the police were out looking for her before she freaking died, the fact that he’s blamed, and that the police were already out, make no sense! By the way, this girl’s death is the springboard for the rest of the movie’s plot!

 

After the girl is found, we get another opening title sequence. This one as if we are swimming in the swamp- very fluid and buoyant. It’s stylized nicely and fits the movie very well. After the titles, we cut to a city apartment, and get yet more opening credits. It’s a bit distracting, having all these credits stretched across three different points. For the Bruce Dern one, I at least get why it was separated, even if it’s odd. But I see no reason why they couldn’t do all the others at once.

 

Howard’s daughter, Melanie (Cindy Sampson), gets a call from an old friend, Jimmy (Nicolas Wright). He informs her that she needs to return home because her dad is dying. Melanie and her father aren’t that close, so it takes some convincing on Jimmy’s part. Eventually she relents and heads back to Gibbington. Jimmy meets her right at the edge of town, to help her get reacquainted with the place. He then reveals the real reason he brought her back to town- Howard is being blamed for the death of the girl (and others).

 

Melanie, despite being mad at her dad for sending her away after the death of her mom twenty years ago, insists that no matter what other terrible things Howard has done, as a former sheriff, there’s no way he’d murder anybody. Jimmy is glad to hear that, and then they go to meet Jimmy’s mom, Shelley (Bronwen Mantel), who runs the local diner.

After some subtle and smart foreshadowing- there’s this great moment about how Shelley restores watches she has found in the woods back to proper working condition. Melanie goes to her father’s cabin for the night. Whilst making some tea Melanie is startled by Deputy Jolene (Allison Graham) entering the house, unaware of who Melanie is. Sheriff Nelson (James Kidnie) quickly defuses the situation, and makes sure Melanie is fully aware of the allegations against her father.

 

Jolene is stationed by the cabin all night, so it confuses the cops when Melanie insists Jimmy spent the night there, but was not seen entering, or leaving. The sheriff wants to get a head start on the angry mob that’ll be searching for Howard. Two local hunters split up, and one of them is attacked by the titular monster.

 

Nelson finally meets Jimmy, and after a brief conversation, the sheriff is attacked and killed. Jolene races to his rescue, but is too late. She encounters the swamp devil as well, but survives. Jimmy comes for Melanie and leads her into the woods, and a trap, because…

 

he transforms into the swamp devil! Yeah, it’s obvious from the get go that he is either it or controlling it, but the movie handles the reveal nicely. And, again, the foreshadowing is done well, and never got heavyhanded.

 

After a brief scuffle, our heroes- Howard, Melanie, Jolene, and hunter-out-for revenge Jones- manage to elude the creature for a short time. They regroup in the cabin, and we are given the reason this is all happening- twenty years ago, a twelve year old girl was raped and murdered. There was only circumstantial evidence against Jimmy, so Sheriff Howard and some buddies beat a confession out of him. Jimmy did confess, and stated such vile, putrid things in such graphic detail that the mob lost control and bashed him to death. They buried his body in the swamp. Shortly thereafter, Jimmy was resurrected and sought revenge, going after each member of the party that was involved (and their family members), saving Howard for last. Jimmy lured Melanie there because he can’t go past the county lines (we aren’t really given a reason why).

 

There is one more big chase/ fight sequence. Since conventional weapons don’t hurt the swamp devil, Melanie and crew devise a way to kill it- getting it to cross the barrier that ends its power. They do this by distracting it with one car, while another rams into it at high speed, sending it flying beyond the barrier point, and thus explodes apart. The final scene is of Shelley at the swamp’s edge, resurrecting Jimmy again (it’s been strongly implied throughout the movie that this isn’t just the second time she’s had to do this). Umm… huh?

 

Cindy Sampson makes for a solid lead. She is instantly relatable, and easy to root for. Her strong performance makes some of the off character moments- defending her dad so vehemently, despite their estrangement- believable and not that noticeable until you stop and think about it. Her overall arc would have been improved if she didn’t brush off the allegations so quickly. Sampson’s chemistry with Nicolas Wright is quite strong, so her trusting him right off the bat makes sense. For his part, Wright is quite excellent- believably friendly and concerned, seeming as if to actually help, but there is also something off in his mannerisms. It’s a tough role he pulls off with aplomb. The transformation scene is creepy as hell, and that’s all thanks to his performance during it; laughing like a maniac enjoying his demented power too much.

 

Bruce Dern is such a consummate professional, that even though he broke his leg during the first week of production, he was still there for all three weeks. He was either just standing, sitting, or they used a body double. But, the fact that he finished it out is impressive. As always, Dern delivers, and even though he really only figures into the third act, he is very memorable as someone who knows he isn’t crazy, despite what everyone else says.

 

James Kidnie and Allison Graham as our two main cops are fine. Kidnie brings a nice respectability to the sheriff role, that seeks real justice, and is one of a very few to not immediately assume Howard is guilty. Graham’s backstory makes the hard boiled attitude she sports more understanding, and she does a nice job of conveying the hate she harbors for Howard. Mantel’s performance as Shelley only makes sense once you know the ending, but even still, there’s so much left unexplained it doesn’t matter. Her acting is too weirdly mannered to fit tonally before the final scene, which causes her scenes to feel out of step the rest of the movie.

 

The CGI by the talented crew at Buzz Image is the best I have seen, so far, in a Maneater flick. The vines look organic and move believably. The creature has a real weight when in full view and walking around. Happily, the movie shows the creature often enough to keep things exciting. Augmenting the computer effects are the high quality make-up effects, as some of the close ups of the creature’s face and the body parts are practical. While not entirely seamless, when cutting between the two kinds of effects, they do work well together.

 

All the action sequences are exciting, and the movie keeps the kills from being too repetitive- from simply using the vines to strangle and scratch, to creating thorn hands to squash, and foot stomping a hunter’s face (my personal favorite); I mean, an Ent can only be pushed so far! The action scenes come out at a nice pace, so the audience never gets too bored.

 

So, with good performances, solid special effects, and thrilling action scenes, what’s the problem? The character of Jimmy/ Swamp Devil makes no damn sense! I get that he’s out for revenge (yes, he killed a little girl, but he’s also crazy), and understand that he wanted to lure Melanie there to make Howard watch her die. But, I don’t understand how his being resurrected imbued him with the powers of the swamp, or turned him into a monster. And yes, while the foreshadowing of the mother bringing things back to life is very well handled, it doesn’t explain how she does it.

 

I don’t need everything spoon fed, and sometimes, things being left up to the viewer is the best way to go. But here, there are no answers or explanations, which leaves huge, gaping plotholes that just counteract all the hardwork put in elsewhere in the production.

So, on top of the oddness that Howard is being blamed for the girl’s death at all (see above), and the slightly weird characterization of Melanie (if they left her unsure of her dad’s guilt until closer to the end, that’d be an amazing character arc), we are also left to deal with the creature’s existence making no sense in any way. And that’s what makes this movie’s plot so disheartening.

 

The story and character development flaws make viewing the movie a tad frustrating. But, the movie is compulsively watchable, warts and all, thanks to the actors giving their all, great effects work, and fun action. If you love Swamp Thing, and would like something in a similar vein, that while not perfect is still entertaining, I wholeheartedly recommend this.