No man can stand against it alone. Something is out there... waiting.

Since this weekend was Midsummer Scream: Awaken The Spirits AND I was able to find my Pumpkin Spice scented candles at the store, I thought it would be a good idea to commence Images of Fright Film Festival XII.  We've been doing this thing for over a decade now and it's kind of hard to believe my baby is turning twelve.   For the first screening of this pre-teen year, I originally wanted to exhibit a different movie but it was not available so instead, I chose something a little more low-key; Man-Thing.

Man-Thing is a Marvel character and this is technically a Marvel film, although you have probably not heard of it and more than likely have not seen it.  This is one of the last Marvel films to come out in partnership with another studio (like Blade  and Daredevil) before Marvel Studios collected the infinity stones and gained immense power and success with  Iron Man in 2008.  The character of Man-Thing has been around since 1971 and has been fairly popular and recognizable among fans.  He has been in current comic books (Legion of Monsters) and some animated series (Guardians of the Galaxy) which have introduced him to a younger generation. He is often compared to DC's Swamp Thing because they both live in a swamp, are plant based (before it was cool) and have similar fighting styles.  

After reading that background information on the character, you may be wondering how the movie holds up and I am here to tell you that it holds up about as good as a drunk freshman in line for food at a diner at 2:33AM.  This was originally supposed to be a straight to video release and after a while ended up airing on Syfy in 2005, three years before Tony Stark would come and Make Marvel Great Again.  This film was shot in a studio on Australia and two of the leads have a poorly disguised Australian accent even though the story takes place in Louisiana.  Wacky Cajuns and their gators.  This is categorized as a horror move but it is more of a crime thriller with some dead bodies and a couple phone ringing scares in between. Towards the end, we see some kills/murders but we don't really see a good shot of Man-Thing until after an hour and the movie is an hour and 37 minutes long.  Imagine Marvel today making a movie on a character like Gambit and then not showing him until a couple of minutes before the movie ends.  So many Twitter comments.  In this case, I am assuming the CGI used to make Man-Thing look as good as he did cost a lot in 2005.  The plot is also as murky as the swamp water with Native American rituals, hillbillies, an oil company and a sheriff that falls for a renegade third grade teacher in record time.  We also keep seeing the POV of Man-Thing every now and then in shots that are reminiscent of Predator but not as effective because again, we don't fully get to see this creature until almost the end of the movie.   

When we do however, he does not look bad, considering this was filmed in 2003/2004.  He has branches or vines on top of his head for some reason but overall, he is pretty comic-book accurate.   Granted, I am not the biggest Man-Thing comic fan and maybe there is an issue where he appears that way but I googled it and could not find anything so shut up.  Lastly, this is the only Marvel film that I have ever seen that has nudity.  Within the first five minutes we see a young couple fornicating in the swamp and the girl gets blood all over her bare chest, oh no!  If that doesn't want to make you watch this movie then skip it, otherwise, enjoy perverts.