Product Description

Kyle Williams (Matt Le Nevez) thought taking the new post of Sheriff in the sleepy town of Bywater would be exactly the change of pace he needed. But the peaceful town is now what it seems. While investigating a series of gruesome murders, Kyle discovers that the locals are hiding a frightening secret. Torn between who and what to believe, the only straight answers he receives are from feisty young schoolteacher Teri (Rachel Taylor). Together they embark on a quest to unravel the truth.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #57451 in DVD
• Brand: LIONS GATE HOME ENT.
• Released on: 2005-06-14
• Rating: R (Restricted)
• Aspect ratio: 1.77:1
• Formats: Closed-captioned, Color, Dolby, DVD, Widescreen, NTSC
• Original language: English
• Number of discs: 1
• Dimensions: .25 pounds
• Running time: 97 minutes

Customer Reviews

"This is a dark corner of the world, boy."
Of all the Marvel Comics characters to get their own film adaptation, Man-Thing is probably the one I least expected, but then again, they did make that Howard the Duck movie...just a bit of history from my geek side before I review the film...some think Man-Thing was Marvel's answer to the popular Swamp Thing character, but Man-Thing actually appeared first in the pages of Astonishing Tales #12 (aka Savage Tales #1) in May of 1971 (Swamp Thing first appeared in the comic House of Secrets #92 sometime in June/July 1971). In terms of getting their own series, Swamp Thing came first beginning in 1972, while Man-Thing got his due sometime in 1974 (the Man-Thing series was short lived, lasting all of about 22 issues while the Swamp Thing series continues to thrive in one form or another). Directed by Brett Leonard (The Lawnmower Man), who is currently working on a new Highlander movie, the film stars the relatively unknown Matthew Le Nevez (Peaches), along with newcomer Rachel Taylor and Jack Thompson (Original Sin). Also appearing is Rawiri Paratene (Whale Rider), Patrick Thompson (The Seventh Floor), Steve Bastoni (The Matrix Reloaded), and Alex O'Lachlan (Oyster Farmer). Also, look for the director himself who appears in the film as the smokes-a-lot county coroner.

As the story begins we learn through narration of an area in the swamps called `the dark water', a place that basically contains the spirit of the swamp and is also the `nexus of all realities' (I think I got one of these in the basement, next to the furnace). We also learn that this place, held sacred by native locals, is being violated by greedy men in search of oil, subsequently causing much damage, as industrialist are wont to do (or so the movies tell us)...but apparently the swamp isn't one to take this defilement lying down, so it strikes back, our first victims being a young couple canoodling in a boat, giving us a great bit of breastage within the first five minutes of the movie...enjoy it boyos, because that's all there is...I bet they didn't show that on the Sci-Fi Channel...anyhoo, next we meet our hero (of sorts) in Kyle Williams (Le Nevez) as he's recently relocated to the town of Bywater, assuming the position of sheriff and learns that a large number of people have since gone missing, including the last sheriff...he also meets the local bigwig oilman Frederic Schist (Thompson) and his idiot son, while dealing with some local protesters, one of them being 3rd grade teacher Teri Richards (Taylor), whom later on develops into a love interest for Kyle, but never gets nekkid, although she does show off her midriff quite a bit more than I would have expected from a school teacher...anyway, Schist claims a mysterious swamp dweller named LaRoque (Bastoni) is responsible for the missing people, and also for the recent spate of sabotage to his equipment, so Kyle begins his, ahem, `investigation', discovering Schist may have not gotten the rights to the land on the up and up, and his eco-destructive was may have awakened a guardian creature, one bent on retribution...let the soggy, boggy, slimy, bloodletting fun begin!

Alright, Man-Thing wasn't as bad as I thought it was going to be, but it wasn't as good as it could have been, if that makes sense...the element that annoyed me the most was the how some aspects of the comic book character were preserved (like the `protector of the nexus of all realities' thing), while other, more important one, in my opinion, were deliberately left out (the whole `use what you see fit, and discard the rest' tactic). In the comic, scientist Ted Sallis was working on some super formula, eventually taking it himself and running off into the swamp, where science and magic combined to create Man-Thing (there's a lot more to it than that, but that's the gist)...now this next part is important, as it creates a clear distinction between the Man-Thing and Swamp Thing...the Man-Thing `feels' emotions of other beings, and is often drawn to them out of curiosity. Emotions like fear, hatred, and anger cause him pain, to which he produces a `fuming sulfuric acid' and attack that which causes him pain...thus his touch burns...this was completely left out of the story...and in the movie the creature kills indiscriminately...the film starts out pretty strong, but then drops off severely up until about the last twenty minutes or so. Heck, we don't even get a good view of the Man-Thing until about an hour in...I did think the CGI creature effects looked pretty cool, but, as I already mentioned, without the burning touch element, this might as well have been a Swamp Thing movie. The story itself hardly stands on its own as various lame duck characters parade across the screen (the pointless Mike Ploog character, who, by the way, was named after an artist on the comic book series) and the whole love subplot between Kyle (he's hot for teacher) and Teri was forced together for no other reason that they had to have a romantic aspect (by the way, did it seem like Teri's accent would come and go?) There's a few decent kills featuring some greasy, racist, redneck, grit sucking, swamp rat locals, but these scenes were far and few between. Thompson, who played the greedy industrialist Schist, made a pretty good villain (didn't his corporate logo look kinda like a swastika?) Or at least I thought so until the scene where he and his son are sitting in their Hummer talking about the sheriff and how he's getting close to their secrets...Schist Jr. `He keeps on digging', to which Schist Sr. replies `We'll let him dig...it's his own grave he's digging!' followed by maniacal laughter from both...oh bruther...and I have to say Le Nevez's (who looks like a transvestite...nice job make-up department) character hardly seemed like much of a hero as his role consisted of him fumbling around witnessing things but having little effect on the outcome of the story...I got the impression it would have ended they way it did with or without him. There were some pretty cool and interesting visuals, and the swamp sets looked suitably foreboding, although they seemed completely devoid of animal life like snakes, frogs, newts and other such denizens one would expect to see in the green, spongy morass.

This Lion's Gate Entertainment DVD release features a widescreen (1.85:1) picture that looks very sharp and clean. The audio, available in both 2.0 and 5.0 Dolby Digital comes though clear. There are no special features, but included is some trailers for other Lion's Gate releases like Alone in the Dark (2005), Undead (2003), The Slaughterhouse Massacre (2005), The Punisher (2004), and the really awful looking film Zombiez (2005).

Cookieman108

Not total crap...
Very, very loosely based on the Marvel comic of the same name, MAN-THING is about a shambling tree monster killing peope in a swamp because it's swamp home is being corrupted by corporate scumbags. The creatures just wanders around the swamp killing random people with tentecles that come out of it's back. There's one good kill at the end where the creature pumps oil into the human villian, causing him to puke black stuff. The other deaths are equally brutal, but that's the only one we really see.

The acting? Bad. The writing? Bad. Most of the direction? Bad. The film starts with some genuinely creepy shots of the swamp the Man-Thing resides in, and there are some neat shots later on, but other then that, the direction is bland and disorienting. The effects are good, and the monster looks very cool and real, but we never see it until the final ten minutes.

If you want to see Treebeard from LOTR go on a mad killing spree, making branches grow out of people's mouths, then watch MAN-THING. If not, avoid.

Not A Conventional Comic Flick
Okay, so it's more like three-and-a-half stars, but I was quite surprised at how good "Man-Thing" actually is. There aren't any major stars in this direct-to-DVD film, but it garnered enough attention to be produced by Avi Arad and executive produced by Stan Lee. That alone should show the viewer that this film is at least worthy of one viewing.

Since I'm only remotely familiar with the "Man-Thing" comics, I have to go on what I've seen on the screen alone. Matthew Le Nevez plays the newly appointed sheriff of a swampy Florida county who is literally dropped into a peculiar case involving multiple missing persons and a little construction site sabotage. Ever since bigwig Schist has placed his oilrig in the middle of the sacred "darkwater," people have gone missing. When the new sheriff gets to the sleepy town of Bywater, the bodies start popping up in the swamp. Le Nevez has a few leads to go on, but nothing for sure. He is assisted by the local third grade teacher, played by the attractive Rachael Taylor, who believes that what she's been told by the local indian tribe is true. She believes that a guardian spirit has been awakened due to the intrusion of the Schist oil company and is exacting his revenge on the locals.

The film rolls along at a nice pace and actually has a few jittery moments in it that caught me off guard. I really enjoyed watching the action in the dark swamp. The action sequences are rather violent at points, and the "leftovers" from each death are pretty grisly.

The acting is pretty good. The story is just good enough that the actors don't have to stretch themselves too hard to fit into their roles. The redneck characters are stereotypical of folks in the South, but they are tolerable enough. Being a Southerner myself, I wasn't offended by the idiots on the screen that Man-Thing makes quick work of.

As for the actual Man-Thing, he looks really good on the screen. The CGI creation holds up rather well considering that this flick's budget was nothing like other recent Marvel flicks like "Hulk" and "Fantastic Four." In fact, "Man-Thing" is much better than "Hulk" as far as the story is concerned. It recognizes its limits and isn't bloated into a two-plus hour film.

My only gripe with this film is that the new sheriff adapted to his swampy surroundings way too quick. Anyone with half a brain knows that people just don't haul off into a foreign swamp on their own and expect to get back in one piece. There are people here in Louisiana who've spent their entire lives in the Atchafalaya swamp and they still don't know every inch of it. Other than this small detail, this flick is well worth watching.

I will personally buy this DVD. I rented it since I missed its original airing on SciFi channel some time ago. It's worth a purchase if you love comic flicks, and it's a great rental for fans of horror or action films.

With surprise painted all over my face, I have to give "Man-Thing" a solid recommendation.