Man-Thing (2005)

Well this is excrement. It's supposedly about the Marvel Comics character Man-Thing but, in reality, it's a cheap little TV-quality grade-Z horror movie that has very little in common with the comics. Even then, there could be some value in this if it had even the slightest bit of talent behind it. But it doesn't and it sucks. The writing, acting, directing, special effects, music, and pretty much every single other thing you could think of is generic and cheap. The basic plot is that there's a creature in the swamp killing horny teenagers so the town's new sheriff investigates. This guy's the clichéd "big city cop turned country sheriff" character that has appeared in about ten thousand movies. He looks like a cross between Ed Westwick and a young Peter Deluise, so you can imagine what a commanding presence he has. He shows up in the bayou wearing a leather jacket and shades while toothless yokels say things like "You city boys shore are funny." Please. Honestly, just don't with this. It's garbage in every way. If you enjoy shitty made-for-TV/DVD horror movies then go right ahead and poison yourself with this stuff. I'd rather find something more productive to do with my time, like staring at the sun. Oh and Rachael Taylor's in this. Because it was made in Australia. Because that looks just like Louisiana. Because we're all idiots.

Fmovies: There are reviews out there that claim this movie is horrid. um, you expected what exactly from a movie called "MAN-thing"? I'm familiar with the comic and sure, they've changed things like they did for the Blade character in his movies. Honestly I don't know what else they could of done without making this a goofy teen comedy about some ones "man thing" (ok now that penis joke is out of my system!!) This is B movie, pure and simple. Its a slasher/monster flick and when u view it as just that, not some citizen kane like master piece, then you'll enjoy it. It has some good Cheap scares and a monster tree that goes around butchering people. Did I mention that there is a lot of gore and plenty of violent deaths that would make a Friday the 13th fan happy? Graphic Tree tentacle/root impalings are the order of the day. The special effects are fine, the story does the job for this sort of movie, and its probably the bloodiest Marvel movie yet (I kid u not) The only thing that got to me was some of the casting. Now I know a lot of no name Australian Actors were cast for this movie and well... Aussies cant pull a southern accent off for crap. Its not a major problem, 15 minutes into it and you don't really notice (in between all the tree branch impalings!!) But I have to say that Jack Thompson and the female lead are the worst offenders in this regard. The rest of the cast do a decent job. Oh, and I've read some reviews on certain sites that the ManThing monster is hardly shown. Thats BS. The director takes the jaws route at the start of the movie, showing very little of the monster but by the last half hour u get to see plenty of him. And for a low budget flick, the monster effects are pretty cool - better than say - the monster effects in StarShip troopers 2, another low budget direct to video flick. Overall for a Direct to video movie, ManThing does the job. It would have been a misfire to release this theatrically, but for a sci fi channel/Direct to DVD movie this one is much much better than some of the other Direct to video movies (Boa Vs Python, dragon slayer etc etc) Worth a watch if ur into B movies or slasher or monster flicks with lotsa gore. 6/10

When I first saw "Man-Thing" on the shelf in the local video store, I was definitely intrigued by the cover; enough to read the back, anyway. After reading the case, I thought it sounded good, but the movie happened to be already checked out. The video store did, however, have a copy of the DVD to purchase for $4.95. I was a little hesitant at first, but after seeing that it was based on a Marvel comic book, I figured it couldn't be too bad.

I rented about six or seven other movies that night, and when I got back to my dorm room, I immediately looked them up on IMDb. I must say, I was a little disappointed to see that "Man-Thing" was only given an average rating of 4.0 out of 10.0. Thinking that I might just have blown five dollars, I put the movie on my shelf and forgot about it.

A few nights later, I was having trouble sleeping, and decided to throw the movie in. The opening scene was like that out of any typical horror film, but after the first few minutes, I was hooked. The plot was well thought out, the characters were both interesting and relatable, and it kept showing you just enough of the monster to keep you watching. In fact, you don't see very much of it until the last fifteen minutes of the movie.

I'm not saying that "Man-Thing" was the best movie I've ever seen, but for putting a movie in at 3:30am, I wasn't tempted to go to sleep once. All I can say is that I'm glad I didn't check the rating on here before I decided to rent/buy this DVD. I got lucky...which is more than I can say for a lot of the characters in this movie. "Man-Thing" was definitely enough of a scare to keep me away from swamps for a while.

This movie is a great addition to my collection. But unless you find a great deal like I did, I would rent this movie first...just to make sure you like it.

Man-Thing fmovies. An interesting choice for Marvel to adapt to the big screen (or in most cases, the small screen), but don't go expecting "X-Men", "X-2" or "Spider-Man". What we have here is a fairly good horror movie, with a great location and likable cast who all look like they are having fun. Matthew Le Nevez and Alex O'Lachlan (the Sheriff and the Deputy) are two hotties who make the film even more worthwhile, and Rachael Taylor was pretty good too. The special effects were decent, and the swamp looked real (but then again, I'm no swamp expert), it was creepy and looked just right to have a serious case of missing-persons. I applaud Marvel for an interesting take on the villain also - not Man-Thing, but the concept of the destruction of the environment. This environmental destruction takes a human form in Jake Schist, played by Pat Thompson, and his cronies. The horror aspect of the film wasn't over-played, nor under-played, but subtle, and the cinematography used when Le Nevez and Taylor enter the "Dark Water" is excellent. My only major complaint with the film was that it was a little slow-paced in some places, and it would have been nice to see a little more romance between Le Nevez and Taylor's characters. Otherwise, a decent watch.

The Schist oil company is polluting the Bywater swamp and the locals are up in arms about it – but that is nothing compared to how the guardian of the swamp, Man-Thing, feels. Man-thing will not rest until the drilling platform has gone, and until then he will kill anyone he can get his branches on.

New sheriff in the town, Kyle Williams, and sexy third grade school teacher, Teri, embark on a quest to put an end to the death and destruction.

Brett Leonard's adaptation of the Marvel comic books is an enjoyable and schlocky monster flick that never gets ideas above its station and is savvy enough to give its core audience exactly what they want; we get moderate gore, a smattering of nudity, a pretty decent monster and a plot that doesn't exactly tax the old grey matter.

The swamp locations are a sufficiently creepy setting for the tale. Swimming in mist and bathed in a spooky green glow, they allow Leonard to use shadows and light for maximum effect - at times concealing the horror and at others, revealing it in its full gory glory.

The effects – both the gore and the creature – are also pretty impressive. When Man-Thing gets busy on his victims, he doesn't hold back and we get a range of gruesome body parts splashed across the screen during its 105 minute running time.

In fact, the only thing that really lets this film down is its pacing. The film is too long (by about 20 minutes) and too much time is spent with characters either chatting or wandering aimlessly through the swamp. If there had been a little less talk and a little more action, I'd have rated it higher.

Something evil is living in a swamp, something that kills all that enter its territory, the "dark waters". As more people are killed, the local town sheriff learns that a swamp-monster of Indian legend is responsible. Can he stop the creature before it can continue killing? "Man-Thing" has gotten primarily bad reviews here on IMDb, but I thought it was…not terrible. Not great either, loaded with clichés, yes, but I've seen much worse films released courtesy of the Sci-fi channel. Any of you ever seen of "Boa Vs. Python"?!?!? There's plenty of stuff to like here. The swamp photography is beautiful. The shades of greens gave the film a very nice look, and the swamp is setting is effectively creepy. Director Brett Leonard—who you may remember as the guy behind 1992's "Lawn Mower Man"—gives the film good atmosphere, and there were even a couple of creepy moments towards the finale. The monster was scary and looked very, very impressive, to say the least. There was some pretty weak CG used for its tentacles among other things but thankfully the creature itself is a good old-fashioned man-in-a-suit creation, and a darn good one at that. Kudos to the effects team on this memorable, nasty-looking beast. Oh, there's the abundant gore too, which is certainly a plus. I won't give away what happens in the film, but I will say gore fans will be very happy. I also liked Roger Mason's creepy, atmospheric score.

Problems begin with two things: The script and the actors. The screenplay offers lots of typical horror conventions: Throwaway monster victims, cheap pop scares, greedy and unrealistic bad guys, wise Indians who know about the monster, and so on. If you know the genre, you're probably familiar with this set-up by now, and it can be very tiring. The actors are mostly weak (Save for lead actor Matthew Le Nevez who wasn't bad), and those "southern" accents sure sound Australian if you ask me!

"Man Thing" is flawed and offers a familiar set-up, but if you can overlook that you'll be treated to a gory, creepy monster movie. Better than most made-for-TV horror films I've seen, and I've seen a lot.

6/10.