I just recently picked up this TV series, not knowing that this comic-book series had one. Anyhow I enjoyed the original movie feature by Wes Craven and it got me interested in checking out the live-action TV serial. "The Emerald Heart" is the very first episode of Season One, where virtually it gets straight in to the story as the young lad Jim while paddling through the swamp taking pictures comes across a midget tied upside down and releases him. However Dr Anton Arcan's henchman is waiting for the midget, but Swamp Thing comes to the rescue. The midget flees, while Jim meets the Swamp Thing. In town Dr. Anton Arcan has become interested in Jim's mother Tressa, but the interest isn't shared. Also while in town Arcan comes across his midget friend who just happened to escape his laboratory of genetic mutations, so unwillingly he takes him back. Tressa had been sick of Jim's made-up stories that she was prepared to see him leave, but there's a sudden change of heart which sees him staying. A simple episode that lays out just how important the surroundings are, where the bayou takes on a life of its own. As Swamp Thing states "I am the swamp". The sequence when the swamp thing takes on a henchman is memorable for its strikingly creative aftermath. What I like is that it does have a dark undertone within its atmospheric make-up. For its low-budget the make-up FX work is simply outstanding, from the Swamp-thing to Arcan's creations. They're detailed and illustratively engineered designs. Here the swamp thing watches on, seamlessly taking a back step to the other characters and you could see Mark Lindsay Chapman's sly performance as Dr. Arcan getting a lot more air time. A slow episode, but it nicely sets every thing up.
"Strange things here."
"Strange things here."
