Filming water scenes in Swamp Thing (1982) destroyed the creature's costume
"By the time we got to the end of the film, the costumes were literally just falling apart," said director Wes Craven.
They say you can lead a monster to water, but you can’t make it go in!
Fine, they don’t actually say that. However, the cast and crew of Swamp Thing (1982) had a difficult time when it was time for their water monster to take a dip during filming.
Director Wes Craven explained that when it came time to film water sequences during production, the swamp monster’s costume proved to be less than durable.
“We found the first time we put the monster into the waters of the swamp that the waters had so much tannic acid in them that the costume started dissolving immediately,” said Craven during an interview with the Simi Valley Star.
“We only had a budget for two full costumes. By the time we got to the end of the film, the costumes were literally just falling apart. We had to have two special assistants who just sewed him up between takes.”
The film, based on a DC Comics character, was marketed as a horror feature. However, Craven argued that underneath the fear, there was genuine human emotion.
“There was love between a woman and the monster,” said the director. “I think that was one of the most daring things in the film. They have a love scene. There was a real feeling between the two. He felt for her and she was horrified by him; she didn’t know what he was.”
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