Wild Things
WILD THINGS (18)
D: John McNaughton
Columbia/Mandalay (Rodney Liber & Steven A.
Jones)
US 1998
108 mins
Thriller
W: Stephen Peters
DP: Jeffrey L. Kimball
Ed: Elena Maganini
Mus: George S. Clinton
Matt Dillon (Sam Lombardo), Neve Campbell (Suzie Toller),
Denise Richards (Kelly Van Ryan), Kevin Bacon (Sgt. Ray Duquette), Theresa Russell (Sandra Van Ryan), Bill Murray (Kenneth Bowden)
***Spoiler Warning***
Almost everything about Wild Things smacks of a cheesy,
tacky softcore skin flick. The publicity poster, the marketing trailer, even the title itself.
The film itself is a huge surprise contrary to its
marketing, with direction and screenwriting that provides an effective thriller, albeit with some sex scenes. Still, it's best that you know very little about the film prior to watching,
so if you've yet to see it, stop reading now.
Matt Dillon plays a school guidance counsellor accused
of rape by one of his students (Denise Richards), a posh girl whose accusations hold no weight until a second accuser, trailer trash Neve Campbell collaborates with the
story.
It turns out the accusations are fabricated, but with
his career in tatters Dillon's counter-lawsuit earns him a nice little windfall. All this occurs in the first 30-45 minutes, setting up a second half full of double-crossing,
back-stabbing, even a ménage a trois, while a corrupt police detective (Kevin Bacon) aims to get to the bottom of it all.
It could be easily describe as Double Indemnity for an
MTV audience, but it's a little smarter than that, full of twists which continue to surprise even as the end credits begin to roll.
Its only pitfalls are that, by explaining everything,
it leaves nothing to the imagination.
Three straight-to-DVD sequels followed.
6/10
