Curse of the Swamp Creature
An underwater terror from another age.
Curse of the Swamp Creature is a 1968 American-made for television horror science fiction film directed by Larry Buchanan. Buchanan, who was producing low-budget 16mm color remakes of American International Pictures sci-fi movies for television at the time, claimed the film was original despite its strong similarities to the 1957 AIP film Voodoo Woman. The director later advised, 'Never make a swamp picture. Your film comes back, and it's all... strange.'
Quick Facts
- Genre
- Horror; Sci-fi
- Director
- Larry Buchanan
- Screenplay
- Tony Houston
- Music
- Ronald Stein
- Cinematography
- Ralph K. Johnson
- Company
- Azalea Pictures
- Released
- 1968
- Runtime
- 80 minutes
Facts from the source article.
Plot
In the rural swamps of Texas, the reclusive and abusive mad scientist Dr. Simond Trent experiments on local impoverished voodoo-worshiping black residents, seeking to reverse evolution and feeding failures to alligators in his covered outdoor swimming pool. When a party of oil surveyors arrives at his isolated suburban-style home, he transforms the duplicitous female leader into a grotesque, indestructible amphibious Fish Man to take revenge on the world.
Production
Despite posters promising an 'underwater terror from another age,' the creature appears only at the climax for less than five minutes, with no underwater scenes. The monster, shown in brief glimpses inside a mist-filled glass tank, has a burly physique, bald head, Spock-like ears, and protruding slit-pupiled ping pong ball-shaped eyes, created with primitive prosthetic make-up and grayish-green body paint rather than the rubber wetsuit and fish head mask used in later Buchanan films. The movie was filmed in Uncertain, Texas, where the Fly-N-Fish Lodge and Airport seen early still exists, and reuses Ronald Stein's music from It Conquered the World and Invasion of the Saucer Men.
Reception
Curse of the Swamp Creature has received predominantly negative reviews. TV Guide gave it 1/5 stars, calling it 'a typically silly effort.' Jon Condit of Dread Central awarded 1.5 out of 5, writing it is 'one of Z-grade schlockmeister Larry Buchanan’s better movies' that one can watch without falling asleep or wanting to gouge out one's eyes. AllMovie critic Robert Firsching called it a 'low-budget horror oddity' and a 'forgettable trifle' for genre completists only, while critic George Reis described Jeff Alexander's performance as 'so maniacally over the top that he’s almost fascinating to watch' and said the film 'defines schlocky cinema as an art form in every way possible.'
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