Wild Things

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Wild Things

Cover of the movie's unrated edition DVD
Directed by John McNaughton
Produced by Kevin Bacon (executive)
Steven Brown (line)
Steven A. Jones
Rodney Liber
Written by Stephen Peters
Starring Matt Dillon
Kevin Bacon
Denise Richards
Neve Campbell
Bill Murray
Music by George S. Clinton
Distributed by Columbia Pictures
Release date(s) March 20, 1998
Running time 108 min.
Language English
Budget $20,000,000 (estimated)
Followed by Wild Things 2 (2004)
Wild Things 3 (2005)
IMDb profile
For the EP by British duo The Creatures, see Wild Things (EP).

Wild Things is a 1998 erotic crime film starring Matt Dillon, Kevin Bacon, Denise Richards, Neve Campbell and Bill Murray. It was directed by John McNaughton. In some countries the film was released as Sex Crimes. An uncut version of the movie, adding seven minutes to its runtime, was released on DVD in 2004.

Contents

[edit] Plot

Spoiler warning: Plot and/or ending details follow.

Two female students—wealthy, popular Kelly Van Ryan (Denise Richards) and goth trailer dweller Suzie Toller (Neve Campbell)—accuse Sam Lombardo (Matt Dillon), a high school guidance counsellor, of rape. During the trial, Suzie reveals that Mr. Lombardo did not rape her and that Kelly fabricated the charges because she was in love with him and angry he slept with her mother. The trial humiliates Van Ryan and her entire family, and Lombardo receives a generous settlement, which he uses to retire peacefully. It is then revealed that Sam, Kelly, and Suzie orchestrated the scandal with the aim of taking the money from the trial.

As police sergeant Ray Duquette (Kevin Bacon) becomes suspicious, Suzie becomes increasingly nervous and Sam worries that she will undermine their plan. After Kelly has an affair with Suzie, Sam and Kelly take her to the seaside, where Sam appears to murder Suzie with a wine bottle. This incident frightens Kelly, who did not expect murder as part of their plan. In the investigation into Suzie's disappearance, police find her blood and teeth by the ocean. Ray discovers Sam is the killer and goes to Kelly's house to protect Kelly from Sam. Kelly shoots at Ray, forcing him to return fire and kill her. Ray is discharged from the police force following this incident, while Sam spends time at a tropical resort. Sam goes to his room and finds Ray there — Ray and Sam had been collaborating the whole time.

They later go cruising in Sam's boat in the ocean, where Sam knocks Ray overboard. When Ray climbs back onboard, Suzie — alive and now with blonde hair — shoots him with a spear gun and Ray disappears into the surf. As Sam relaxes, Suzie gives him a drink laced with poison and knocks him overboard. She sails the boat back to shore by herself.

A series of flashbacks explains the story. Suzie devised the plan, in which she wished to receive the money from the trial and kill Ray in revenge for his killing her boyfriend some time ago. She manipulated all the characters in the plot, making Sam seem the mastermind and faking her own death. She was underestimated because of her delinquency and poor background. Those who knew her say her IQ was around 200 and, if she put her mind to it, "she could do anything."

[edit] Cast

[edit] Filming locations

Almost all the high school sequences, including many pool scenes, were filmed at Ransom Everglades school in Coconut Grove, Florida.

[edit] Sequels

The sequel to the movie, 2004's Wild Things 2, never saw release in the theatres and went straight to video, as did a third film called Wild Things: Diamonds in the Rough (2005). The sequels recycle much of the plot, dialogue, and direction of the first film, albeit with different actors.

In February 2006, it was announced that Campbell and Richards will appear in another installment of the film, Backstabbers, and producers are trying to get more of the original's cast to star as well.[1]

[edit] References

  1. ^ Richards and Campbell Re-Team for 'Wild Things'. Retrieved on March 8, 2006.

[edit] External links

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