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1[[quoteright:305:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/91c9ca11e1e3d826e9ebb33ff835ad86.jpg]]
2
3->''[[OnceUponATime Once upon a time]]... ''
4->''...in the Swamp.''
5
6''The Return of Swamp Thing'', is a 1989 sequel to ''Film/SwampThing''. It is directed by Jim Wynorski with the screenplay by Neil Cuthbert and Grant Morris. It was released on May 12, 1989.
7
8Dr. Alec Holland, or rather Swamp Thing, is still living in the swamp, avoiding Dr. Arcane's men and helping people when needed to. Anton Arcane (Creator/LouisJourdan) himself has managed to regain his humanity, thanks to his current assistants Dr. Rochelle and Zurell (Creator/SarahDouglas), and is still searching for Swamp Thing in hopes of gaining immortality from his DNA. He has invited his stepdaughter Abigail (Creator/HeatherLocklear) to his mansion, as he needs her DNA as well for the operation. Ignorant to his motivation, Abigail agrees to visit him in hoping that she'll learn what happened to her late mother. Later on she meets up with Swamp Thing, and a romance develops between the two as he fights it out with Arcane's men and mutants.
9----
10!!''The Return'' has the additional examples:
11
12* ActorAllusion:
13** When [[CaringGardener Abby]] is leaving her plants in a friend's care at the beginning of the movie, she notes that [[TalkingToPlants they enjoy watching]] that show "T. J. What's-his-name." Heather Locklear was a principal character on Series/TJHooker.
14** Poinsettia got one of her scars at a Music/MotleyCrue concert -- where Locklear's husband Tommy Lee would have performed.
15* AlliterativeName: Anton Arcane and his stepdaughter Abigail "Abby" Arcane.
16* AttemptedRape: When Abby runs across two {{Hillbilly Moonshiner}}s who haven't seen a woman so long that they have forgotten what one looks like, they attempt to rape her.
17%%* AxeBeforeEntering
18* BatterUp: Darryl brings a baseball bat to his and Omar's short journey to find Swamp Thing. Once they are captured by Gunn and his men, Swamp Thing uses Darryl's bat to beat up the bad guys before posing for photos.
19* BattleInTheRain: Swamp Thing's second battle with the Leech Man happens on a rainy and thunderous night.
20* BigEater: Darryll. When he and Omar are searching for Swamp Thing, he ends up eating all of their food, except for two apples.
21* BlindWithoutEm: Dugan in the beginning falls down while running away from Leech Man, losing his glasses. He then starts blindly fumbling around, searching for them. He finds Leech Man instead, but just when it seems that he is a goner for sure, Swamp Thing [[BigDamnHeroes steps in to rescue him]]. Afterwards, Swampy hands his glasses back to him and introduces himself.
22* BodyHorror: Dr. Rochelle's studies has resulted in a "zoo full of misshapen monstrosities", as Arcane puts it.
23* BreastAttack: Poinsettia got one of her breasts bitten during a Music/MotleyCrue tour. We aren't told the details, we just see the scar.
24* {{Camp}}: Oh yes. You wouldn't guess that this is the sequel to a Creator/WesCraven movie.
25* CarCushion: Swamp Thing throws Leech Man into a car, breaking its windshield.
26* ChainsawGood: Gunn wields a chainsaw during his last attempt at Swamp Thing's life, which he easily knocks aside before finishing off Gunn with a well-placed grenade.
27* ChairmanOfTheBrawl: Swamp Thing throws a chair at Arcane when he sees that Abby is dead.
28* CradlingYourKill: Arcane does this to Lana after he shoots her and lays her down carefully.
29* CurbStompBattle: Every battle between Swamp Thing and Gunn. First time Gunn isn't aware of Swamp Thing when he is knocked out with a baseball bat, the second time he is knocked out with the jeep he is on with a grenade, and for the last time, his chainsaw is useless as he is blown up by an another grenade.
30** The mutated Dr. Rochelle puts up very little fight, limiting his offense to goofy yells while Swamp Thing tosses him around and whales on him.
31* DamselInDistress: Dr. Arcane kidnaps Abby from Swamp Thing's care, forcing him to storm his mansion in order to rescue her.
32* DeadHatShot: After Leech Man captures Morty (of the office workers looking for the moonshine distillery in the opening) offscreen, his hat is found floating in the swamp, signifying that he is dead.
33* DefeatEqualsExplosion: After being set on fire from an exploding RV, the [[ManOnFire burning Leech Man]] runs to a bog and promptly explodes upon contact.
34* DoomedExpedition: The office workers' search for the moonshiners in the opening. Two of them are killed by the Leech Man, and other two are tranquilized by Poinsettia and used as guinea pigs by Dr. Rochelle. One survives, telling the papers about Swamp Thing.
35* DramaticThunder: Used gratuitously when the camera is panning over Arcane's mansion in a scene after Abby's arrival. This goes as far as showing Arcane's portrayal, which shows skeletal features on each lightning strike (which are accompanied with Instant Thunder).
36* ExplosiveOverclocking: Dr. Rochelle's death in the incinerator reserved for mutants causes a chain reaction which makes Arcane's mansion to blow up.
37* EyepatchOfPower: One of Arcane's mooks wears an eyepatch.
38* {{Flatline}}: Abby's energy is completely drained to restore her stepfather, which is signified by the equipment attached to her showing a flatline.
39* ForTheEvulz: The two {{Hillbilly Moonshiner}}s whom Abby comes across claim to enjoy stealing cars, running over animals, rape, etc.
40* GroinAttack: When Gunn is trying to come on to her, Abby gives him a swift knee to the groin which is then followed by [[GrievousBottleyHarm a beaker]] to the head.
41* HealingHands: After Abby's death at Dr. Arcane's experiments, Swamp Thing carries her to his home and uses his green glowing hands to restore her back to life.
42* HeelFaceTurn: Dr. Zurell ends up working against Arcane once she hears him tell Dr. Rochelle "to do whatever is necessary" after learning that her DNA can be used to help his condition.
43* HighlyConspicuousUniform: Arcane's {{Mooks}} wear orange. No wonder that they have never managed to locate Swamp Thing.
44* HoistByHisOwnPetard: Dr. Rochelle dies in the incineration chamber which was reserved for his failed experiments.
45* HollywoodSilencer: Miss Poinsettia uses one to deal with two office workers who run across them in the opening, with one silent shot for each.
46* ImmortalityImmorality: Anton Arcane's motivation to get DNA samples from Holland and Abby is to gain immortality.
47* ImpendingDoomPOV: Used during the scene of infiltrating the bad guy compound.
48* InnocentlyInsensitive: At one point, Swamp Thing points out that the swamp where he makes his home used to be slave quarters. She then blithely responds with "I can't imagine anyone being sad in this place!" The line understandably may cause viewers to throw her quite a large side eye as a result.
49* KissingDiscretionShot: Used when Swamp Thing and Abby are about to start their MentalAffair.
50* {{Leitmotif}}: Swamp Thing's appearances are accompanied by a short heroic tune.
51* MadScientistLaboratory: The villains are holed up in one that looks like all the other stock laboratories, with bubbling colorful liquids and beakers.
52* MentalAffair: Thanks to biting on some plant that grows on Swamp Thing, he and Abby have some mental sex, which makes him appear human for her pleasure.
53-->'''Abby:''' Was it real?
54-->'''Swamp Thing:''' As real, as you want it to be.
55* MomentKiller: When Gunn's and Poinsettia's ScarSurvey are about to culminate with a kiss, one of the mooks interrupt them.
56-->'''Gunn:''' Doesn't anybody ''knock'' around here? *DopeSlap*
57* MookLieutenant: Gunn leads Arcane's orange-clad gunmen. One brief scene indicates that his assistant Ms. Poinsettia leads [[AmazonBrigade the female side]] of the mooks.
58* MyBrainIsBig: Mutated Dr. Rochelle sports a big cranium, but he doesn't show any gained extra intelligence as he fights Swamp Thing.
59* NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast: Anton Arcane and Mr. Gunn.
60* NerdyInhaler: Dr. Rochelle carries one with him, which he uses occasionally. After turning into a mutant, he throws it away after using it for the final time.
61* OutOfTheInferno: Swamp Thing casually strolls out of the fire that destroyed the Leech Man, and is given thumbs up by Darryl and Omar. He returns the favour.
62* PornStash: Omar and Darryll are about to dwell into one when Leech Man knocks on the door and attacks.
63* PullingThemselvesTogether: After being blown to bits by a grenade, Swamp Thing's remains travel to Arcane's mansion and regenerates himself in a bathtub meant for Dr. Zurell.
64* RecklessGunUsage: The group of men in the opening constantly point loaded guns at each other while talking.
65* RedEyesTakeWarning: Leech Man has red irises.
66* RedemptionEqualsDeath: On a critical moment on her boss' rejuvenation, Dr. Zurell switches samples out of pity for Abby. After learning about it, Dr. Arcane leads her to believe that everything is all right before shooting her.
67* RescueRomance: Develops between Abby and Swamp Thing.
68* RevengeOfTheSequel
69* ScarSurvey: An argument between Poinsettia and Gunn on about being the next official MookLieutenant come to a halt when they find out that they are both covered in scars and start comparing them with each other.
70* ScreamingWoman: Abby screams a ''lot'' in her role as the DamselInDistress.
71* SecretPath: Arcane has a hidden elevator to the laboratories below his mansion, which accessible by turning a certain candlestick on the wall.
72* SequelEscalation: ''The Return'' contains more mutants, action scenes and explosions than the first film.
73* ShoutOut: Gunn calls Swamp thing "Toys/MrPotatoHead", and later "[[AdvertisingCampaigns Jolly Green Giant]]".
74* StrappedToAnOperatingTable: Abby, who the bad guys want to use to leech off her life essence.
75* StuffBlowingUp: Swamp Thing's fight with the Leech Man causes an RV to blow up, with various cars in the close proximity following the suit.
76* SwordSparks: It's not sparks that fly when Swamp Thing and Leech Man are fighting with metal poles, the fight creates ''sword lightning''.
77* TalkingToPlants: Abby talks to her plants, and she even has names for them. Before leaving, she instructs her co-worker Eunice to read to them ("especially the sports section") and to leave television on at all times.
78* TapOnTheHead: Most of the opponents that Swamp Thing physically fights in the film are defeated with taps on the head. However, they're a lot luckier than the Mooks in the finale who get shot with automatic weapons, run over, or blown up.
79* TestedOnHumans: Dr. Rochelle's method of conducting experiments is to splice DNA with human subjects, resulting in many grotesque exhibits behind bars.
80* ThereIsAGod: Exclaimed by the moonshiner Gurdell, when he and his buddy hear Abby's voice, just after talking about how neither of them has seen a woman ([[BestialityIsDepraved or a sheep]]) in months.
81-->'''Gurdell:''' Who says there ain't God?
82* ThirdTimesTheCharm: It takes three times before Swamp Thing gets rid of Gunn for good.
83* ThisIsGonnaSuck: Gunn's hilarious reaction when Swamp Thing pulls the pin on one of his grenades and stuffs it down Gunn's pants:
84--> ''Aw '''shit''', man!''
85* ThoseTwoGuys: Omar and Darryll, the two bumbling PluckyComicRelief kids.
86* TouchOfTheMonster: The poster is pretty obviously designed to parody more typical uses of the "monster carrying a girl" imagery.
87* TwoFaced: Two of the caged mutants in Dr. Rochelle's laboratory, who are results of his DNA-splicing methods. One has a reptilian right half and other has an entire elephant face covering his left half.
88* UseYourHead: Abby uses a headbutt against Gunn. Turns out that ten years of karate study in Okinawa has nothing against a two day vacation in east LA!
89* VideoCredits: The end credits start with displaying characters with the text indicating their actors.
90* WeaponizedCar: Gunn tries to take Swamp Thing out with an armed jeep.
91* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Poinsettia disappears from the movie after her ScarSurvey with Gunn.
92* WickedStepmother: Arcane only sees his stepdaughter as a mean to gain immortality.
93* YoureInsane: Abby says this to Anton in the halfway point and near the end. In the latter instance, he notes that he has never felt saner.

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