The Movie: Swamp
Thing (1982)
What Is It?: Wes
Craven’s goofy adaptation of a comic book about a monstrous professor haunting
the swamps of Louisiana was an afternoon HBO staple when I was a kid. Yes, it’s
dumb. Yes, Adrienne Barbeau’s potentially interesting character is sacrificed
to the creature’s need for a damsel to constantly rescue. Still, it isn’t
boring and the creature has a definite Frankenstein-Monster charm.
Why Today?: On
this day in 1804, the two-day ceremony in honor of
the U.S.’s purchase of Louisiana from France begins.
