The Film (4/5)

    Jim Wynorski is truly one of the great directors of 80's pop cinema. He made his directorial debut with 1984's the Lost Empire, before making a string of amazing camp classics such as Chopping Mall, Deathstalker II, and the Roger Corman remake Not of this Earth. In the midst of this string of awesomeness, he helmed the sequel to Wes Craven's 1981 comic adaptation Swamp Thing in the form of The Return of Swamp Thing.

    The Return of Swamp Thing essentially rewrites the ending of the original film leaving the villainous mad scientist Anton Arcane still alive and living in his swamp adjacent mansion. He is now working on a formula to prevent aging. Into this scenario comes his daughter Abby (Heather Locklear, who unfairly won a Razzie for this). She is against the Doctor's evil ways and has come to stand up to him, and gets captured in the process. Of course, she meets Swamp Thing who works to save her from the evil Arcane.  There is also a subplot with another swamp creature, and a couple of kids who are determined to get Swamp Thing's photo so they can sell it to a magazine.

    The Return of Swamp Thing much like Wynorski's other work from the period does not take itself seriously at all. As the comic book could be quite serious some may have found this approach not at all what they wanted in a Swamp Thing film, but it works wonders here.  Wynorski was a master of blending his camp sensibilities with whatever genre he was working in, and here he does with the superhero and action genres seamlessly. Also, he keeps the film reasonably paced, and never dull for even a moment. Allowing the audience to have solid character moments, comedy, and action in equal measure.

Audio/Video (4/5)

     MVD Rewind presents The Return of Swamp Thing in a 1:85:1 1080p AVC encoded transfer that preserves the original OAR. Everything here looks quite solid.  Colors are nicely reproduced, detail is excellent, I have never seen this film look quite so good.

    Audio is handled by DTS-HD 5.1 and LPCM 2.0 tracks in English. Everything sounds quite solid with dialogue and score coming through crisp and clear with no discernible issues.

Extras (3.5/5)

    MVD Rewind has put together a pretty loaded disc for Return of Swamp Thing. There are 4 on camera interviews with the cast and crew. We get 2 commentaries one from 2003 with Wynorski, and another new commentary with Wynorski, Chuck Cirino, and Leslie Rosenthal. There is also a behind the scenes slideshow, TV Spots, Trailer, and much much more.

Overall

    The Return of Swamp Thing is a worthy follow up to Wes Craven's original Swamp Thing. The Blu-ray looks and sounds excellent, and comes with a nice swath of bonus features.  HIGHLY RECOMMENDED.