MovieChat Forums > Swamp Thing (1982) Discussion > Funky Arcane WEREWOLF is the best creatu...

Funky Arcane WEREWOLF is the best creature


What do you fans of "Swamp Thing" think about the funkiest monster in the movie?

My vote goes out to the cool, funky, werewolf with reptilian skin which used to be Doctor Arcane, after he inexplicably downs a goblet of the Dr. Seuss-like, glowing, green-glob mutagenic formula. Looks like something from the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles. True, it's such low-budget special effects; a stuntman wearing a monster suit. Heck, the werewolf's jaws don't even open and close It's eyes don't blink and the face doesn't show any facial muscular movements. This is nickel-and-dime special effects compared to its contemporary, "A Werewolf In London" effects. Yet, I really found the funky werewolf suit to be a real hoot.
Doctor Arcane thinks he'll morph into some kind of demi-god after slurping down the glowing green juice. He seems to have forgotten how the same potion transformed his head henchman from a 6-footer thug into a 3.5 foot-tall pigboy.
Arcane emerges out of his paper cocoon dismayed to note that he doesn't look like the hoped-for Adonis, but a second-rate wolfman mask purchased from the local party costume store.

Second vote goes out to the head hench man, BRUNO, who's unknowlingly slipped a potion in his drink on the orders of Doctor Arcane. The mutagenic potion transforms a person (victim) into a reflection of his/her true core personality. Bruno is purportedly a pig at heart and he ends up as a pig-looking, tiny midget. Actually the potion was inaccurate with Bruno. Bruno was as much predatory as Dr. Arcane, but in a baser way. Bruno should have transformed into a boar-like creature. Still, I laughed at the little Bruno. He was also another real hoot.

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I love it... just love it. I saw this movie on TV as a very little kid, and Arcane-beast was the one thing that always stood out the most in my memory. When I saw it again a few years ago it was twice as brilliant. His whole metamorphosis and the way he ripped free from his cocoon were not only EXTREMELY badass, but very exciting. I mean, you know he's gonna emerge as something bizarre, so you're just holding your breath the whole time. And the result is no letdown.

Another awesome (and thought-provoking) aspect is how the formula works... specifically on him. The serum makes you tenfold on the outside what you are on the inside so it's strange that someone as intellectual, cunning, etc. as Arcane turned into this horrendous boar-headed lizard. Maybe it's supposed to symbolize how evil/corrupt and therefore "ugly" Arcane is as a human being. Maybe it was all just a theory, with the formula's actual nature being chaotic. Maybe Wes Craven just needed a cool monster to throw in at the last minute. Who knows? It looks like something straight out of the Godzilla films, totally inhuman.


"I've been living on toxic waste for years, and I'm fine. Just ask my other heads!"

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