Wes Craven’s 1982 feature film adaptation of Swamp Thing is getting a 4K remaster, and I couldn’t be more excited! I love this movie! This is one of the movies that I saw when I was super young, and I as grew up there were certain visuals of the film that would pop into my mind from time to time and I didn’t know where those visuals came from.
When I was around 14 years old Swamp Thing popped up on TV, and as I watched, I started recognizing all of this crazy imagery that started matching up with visuals that I had in my head since I was a kid. It was like the mystery of those visuals had been solved! That was a pretty wild and cool day!
Now, 41 years after the film was originally released, the movie is getting the 4K treatment. MVD Visual will release the remastered Swamp Thing as a 4K Ultra HD collector’s edition on August 8th, marking the first time Craven’s cult classic is available in the enhanced format.
The two-disc set includes a 16-bit scan of the original camera negative, restoring both the US theatrical PG cut and the unrated international version in 4K, and a new HD restoration of both versions presented in the original 1.85:1 aspect ratio on Blu-ray. Pre-orders are available on Amazon now.
The official synopsis: “Deep in Florida’s darkest everglades, a brilliant scientist, Dr. Alec Holland (Ray Wise, Robocop) and a sexy government agent, Alice Cable (Adrienne Barbeau, John Carpenter’s The Fog) have developed a secret formula that could end world hunger and change civilization forever. Little do they know, however, that their arch nemesis, Arcane (Louis Jourdan, Octopussy) is plotting to steal the serum for his own selfish schemes. Looting the lab and kidnapping Cable, Arcane douses Holland with the chemicals and leaves him for dead in the swamp. Mutated by his own formula, Holland becomes ‘Swamp Thing’ — a half human/half plant superhero who will stop at nothing to rescue the beautiful Cable and defeat the evil Arcane… even if it costs him his life.”