Spring Break
Ian reviews B-rate movies: Man-Thing!
Your guide to a Stan Lee instant classic, or, so we had hoped
Ian Grogan
Issue date: 1/16/09 Section: Diversions
If you're looking for a good B-movie and don't know where to start, it's always a good place to begin your search in the horror section. Why is it that a lot of B-movies are of the horror persuasion? I am not sure.
Maybe because it is so easy to create a horror film. I mean, the equation for a scary movie is easy: think of a monster, have it kill a few people and you're golden. Man-Thing is no exception.
The first step to finding a B-movie is to find one with the most ridiculous name. That part was easy; a title like Man-Thing just screamed "rent me!"
The box claimed it was based on a Marvel comic, and that it was produced by Lions Gate Films. I wasn't expecting a Spiderman/Saw experience, but I was hoping it would be close. What I got was something completely the opposite.
Despite the hurricanes and rednecks, the south comes equipped with even more terrifying things: swamp beasts. The Florida Everglades are something of a mystery; according to the movie they have beautiful normal swamps and then they have evil dark swamps. The kinds of swamps you see Bear Grylls tackle, biting the heads off of coral snakes and discarding the remains to move on to his next prey. Sadly, Bear did not make an appearence in this film.
The movie starts out with your stereotypical teens partying where they shouldn't be (in the dark swamp) and a couple who run off to do the nasty are killed. It's similar to the beginning of the Jason series, but sadly it misses that mark. But you are already noticing the trend, aren't you? The next day we are introduced to Kyle Williams (Matthew Le Nevez), the new sheriff to town. He is a city slicker, so the rednecks and Native Americans who live in the area don't take much of a liking to him.
His first action is to stop a few protestors on an oil rig, trying to stop the massive drilling going on in the swamp (yes I know, liberals living in the middle of a southern swamp confused me too, but I am along for the ride and I hope you are willing to have the same open mind Stan Lee had when he envisioned this masterpiece).
Maybe because it is so easy to create a horror film. I mean, the equation for a scary movie is easy: think of a monster, have it kill a few people and you're golden. Man-Thing is no exception.
The first step to finding a B-movie is to find one with the most ridiculous name. That part was easy; a title like Man-Thing just screamed "rent me!"
The box claimed it was based on a Marvel comic, and that it was produced by Lions Gate Films. I wasn't expecting a Spiderman/Saw experience, but I was hoping it would be close. What I got was something completely the opposite.
Despite the hurricanes and rednecks, the south comes equipped with even more terrifying things: swamp beasts. The Florida Everglades are something of a mystery; according to the movie they have beautiful normal swamps and then they have evil dark swamps. The kinds of swamps you see Bear Grylls tackle, biting the heads off of coral snakes and discarding the remains to move on to his next prey. Sadly, Bear did not make an appearence in this film.
The movie starts out with your stereotypical teens partying where they shouldn't be (in the dark swamp) and a couple who run off to do the nasty are killed. It's similar to the beginning of the Jason series, but sadly it misses that mark. But you are already noticing the trend, aren't you? The next day we are introduced to Kyle Williams (Matthew Le Nevez), the new sheriff to town. He is a city slicker, so the rednecks and Native Americans who live in the area don't take much of a liking to him.
His first action is to stop a few protestors on an oil rig, trying to stop the massive drilling going on in the swamp (yes I know, liberals living in the middle of a southern swamp confused me too, but I am along for the ride and I hope you are willing to have the same open mind Stan Lee had when he envisioned this masterpiece).
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