As a lifetime B-movie fan, I find myself compelled to watch things even when my better judgement tells me I shouldn't. If it's a DTV sequel, T&A movie, low-budget action flick (including all the Seagal and Van Damme ones that seem to come out every three months) or, as is the case here, a Sci-Fi Channel monster movie, I'm there. Even though afterwards I usually feel like I might have wasted another ninety-minutes-or-so of my life, I watch them anyway. Which is why I wasn't at all surprised I instantly hit 'record' on my PVR when I saw Swamp Devil in the listings.

The locale for this round of giant, rampaging CGI created monster mayhem is Giddington, Vermont where the residents have been plagued for the last seventeen-years by attacks from a beast that dwells in the nearby swamp. In fact, the movie opens with such an attack as a young girl sees her mother dragged away by the creature. Now, all these years later, our little girl has grown into independent woman Melanie (Cindy Sampson) who finds herself being called back to Giddington when she receives a phone call that her father (Bruce Dern) has fallen ill. She arrives back in town and is greeted by Jimmy (Nicolas Wright), who had a crush on her in high school and comes across as weird mannered from the get-go. Melanie learns from Jimmy that her dad isn't actually sick but is currently wanted for the murder of one of the local's daughter.

From here Melanie sets-out to clear her dad's name and also finds out the deaths have been the work of a swamp dwelling monster - the first appearance of which is actually not too bad as the CG mass of vines and vegetation that makes it up doesn't look half bad for a Sci-Fi flick, though the effects do get worse as it goes on. The remainder of the flick has various attack scenes mixed in with dull scenes of dialogue between Melanie and Jimmy. The script by Garry L. Dauberman and Ethlie Ann Vare also sloppily tries to build suspicion on the character of Jimmy (who we, as the viewer, know is quite obviously the title beast in human disguise early on - I'm not spoiling this for you as it's pretty much spelled out for you) by having none of the locals aware of seeing him in the past as the character drifts in and out of the story as needed.

It's all the talkiness shoehorned between the monster attacks that drags Swamp Devil down. As mentioned above, we already know the apparent "mystery" of the murders, so everything involving characters flapping their gums is nothing more than bland and boring. And the fact they've given veteran actor Dern top-billing and we only glimpse him once in the first half of the movie is disappointing since he has such cult classics as The Trip, Bloody Mama, and World Gone Wild on his extensive resume - perhaps if they'd of given his wild-eyed, white-haired "Man Who Cried Swamp Devil" character more screen time I'd of been more forgiving of its formulaic plot.

As for the rest of the cast, Sampson comes across as a fairly cute lead actress even if her performance is as flavourless as the movie. I found Wright's turn as Jimmy to be way too telegraphed, while Alison Graham seems to be trying much too hard to be the tough-girl deputy, Jolene. It's a pretty poor state of affairs when pretty much all the actors are upstaged by the CGI effects, especially when you consider that most of them (case in point being a scene where our angry, veggie monster is trying to put is claws through a car window) are pretty weak.

I've read elsewhere people calling Swamp Devil a rip-off of Swamp Thing due to the fact they both share the same setting and a similarly made-up monster. But that's really the only true comparisons between the two and I'd much rather spend my time with Wes Craven's comic book adaptation (and Adrienne Barbeau's topless scene) than what amounts to yet another mediocre, and passable, Sci-Fi Channel effort - you should do the same. (Chris Hartley, 12/1/09)

Directed By: David Winning.
Written By: Gary L. Dauberman, Ethlie Ann Vare.

Starring: Bruce Dern, Cindy Sampson, Nicholas Wright, Allison Graham.