The Swallow is a muddy, muddy creature feature and not much else

Grace Van Dien as Ziggy - Image courtesy of Prodigy Public Relations

Writers/directors Dennis Widmyer and Kevin Kölsch made a name for themselves with their breakout hit Starry Eyes and then the more recent Pet Semetary remake. Their latest, The Swallow, is a creature feature with special effects that harken back to the likes of The Ruins and The Blob.

To be blunt, The Swallow certainly isn't the best horror movie of the year, but as a creature feature, it's entertaining, and sometimes, that's enough and perfectly fine. The movie stars Grace Van Dien as Ziggy. She goes on camping trip deep in the Oregon woods with her friends, and for the most part, they act like typical teens/early 20-somethings. They drink. They smoke. Sometimes, they gossip about each other. They also sneak through a hole in a fence and encounter, well, killer mud. Yes, you read that right. Killer mud.

Before that point, however, the movie has a hell of a cold opening featuring a couple. One of them has to chop off the arm of the other because it's infected with slugs, or something that resembles slugs. The only problem is that one or two whacks with a machete isn't enough. After that gruesome scene, we then cut to Ziggy and her friends. Here's one major flaw with the movie. The characterization is utterly flat. Even Ziggy as the lead isn't all the memorable. There's nothing distinct about any of these characters. You have the relaxed stoner Vince (Kalama Epstein), for example, but most of the cast feels like cardboard cutouts with some slight drama among them tossed into the mix.

However, if viewers go into this movie hungry for a creature feature with gnarly looking effects, well, then it'll be an enjoyable experience. The mud creeps and crawls along, stalking one victim after the other, again, like The Blob, before it sucks victims under. Tony Gardner, who handled the effects for the 1988 Blob remake, created the effects for The Swallow, and that explains why they look so damn good. The mud is the real highlight of the movie, and there are moments that resemble "The Raft" entry in Creepshow 2, at least in terms of how the mud consumes and swallows its victims, or how they'll stretch out an arm, crying for help, before it's too late. There's also a great scene when Ziggy reaches the vehicle to escape, but the mud oozes and seeps through the doors and windows. It's a well-crafted, high-tension moment, and there are a few more equally thrilling scenes. The ending, like Starry Eyes, will likely be a shocker.

The Swallow follows a bunch of friends who venture into the woods and encounter a monster in the form of quicksand-like mud. There's not much more to the movie than that. However, for those who like creature features with solid practical effects, then give this movie a watch, but maybe wait for streaming. The Swallow offers a mud monster, awesome practical effects, characters that are mostly fodder, but not much else.

The Swallow just screened at Beyond Fest.