Wild Things (1998)

In director John McNaughton's 'guilty pleasure', highly-entertaining, erotic, tasteless, neo-noirish crime-thriller, it provided many complex twists and turns - and prominent younger stars in an ensemble, involved in sexy/dirty situations in a South Florida Everglades town. A secondary theme was its satirical view of social classes - mostly the wealthy, greedy and despicable affluent upper class. Erotic thrillers of this kind were prominent in the 1990s, including films such as Basic Instinct (1992), Poison Ivy (1992), Single White Female (1992), Body of Evidence (1993), Dream Lover (1993), Sliver (1993), Color of Night (1994), The Last Seduction (1994), and Bound (1996).

The mostly-implausible, over-the-top screenplay by Stephen Peters emphasized themes including deception, greed, lust, betrayal, murder, unpredictable alliances, seductive manipulation, and backstabbing. As the film marched to its conclusion, one by one, suspicion and distrust led to a number of betrayals, double-crossing murders and unexpected events. The film's two main taglines were: "They can turn you on or turn on you," and "They're dying to play with you."

MTV Movie Awards lauded the steamy and provocative film with a nomination for Best Kiss - between Denise Richards and Neve Campbell - with Matt Dillon. The pop-song soundtrack included songs from performers such as Third Eye Blind ("Semi-Charmed Life"), Smash Mouth ("Why Can't We Be Friends"), and Sugar Ray ("Hold Your Eyes").

The trashy, exploitational cult film was also a extremely-viable, mainstream commercial, high-budget project from Mandalay Productions. On a budget of $20 million, it grossed $30.1 million in revenue. It was available in 2004 in an unrated (or uncut) extended DVD version with more explicit and lengthier scenes not included in the theatrical release. See Sex in Films for uncensored version. There were three follow-up semi-sequel films, all DTV (direct-to-video):

• Wild Things 2 (2004) (without nudity), by director Jack Perez
• Wild Things 3: Diamonds in the Rough (2005) (with nudity), by director Jay Lowi
• Wild Things: Foursome (2010) (with nudity), by director Andy Hurst

• in the film's metaphoric opening, a predatory gator prowled a swampy area of an Everglades marsh, symbolizing the dirty and savage world unseen under the water; the camera then traveled with aerial views from the uninhabited area to the nearest major housing development, and proceeded further to the upscale and wealthy Miami, FL sea-side suburb of Blue Bay, with yachts and swimming pools behind expensive homes
• at the local high school, Kelly Van Ryan (Denise Richards), a rich, popular, spoiled vixenish teen senior/socialite, sat in the auditorium audience with other classmates for a "Senior Seminar," introduced by the HS's handsome guidance counselor Sam Lombardo (Matt Dillon); he wrote the day's topic on a blackboard ("SEX CRIMES"), to be discussed by the two speakers on stage: Sgt. Ray Duquette (Kevin Bacon) and his assistant-partner Gloria Perez (Daphne Rubin-Vega); as Sgt. Duquette was being introduced, angry, disturbed, and trashy goth student Suzie Toller (Neve Campbell) abrutly rose from her seat in the back and shouted out an expletive: ("I'm outta here...This prick can kiss my ass") before leaving

Blue Bay HS Guidance Counselor Sam Lombardo (Matt Dillon)

Sgts. Perez and Duquette (Daphne Rubin-Vega and Kevin Bacon) - Guest Speakers for a Senior HS Seminar on "SEX CRIMES"

• after cheerleading practice for the Buccaneers football team, the flirtatious and sexually-provocative Kelly strolled over to the school's dock where Sam had just finished mentoring his sailing club class with Jimmy Leach (Cory Pendergast), and asked if Sam would agree to have her wash his Jeep during the weekend's Senior Car Wash event; she finagled a ride home from school with Sam to her gated country-club mansion; as they pulled up, Kelly's wealthy, slutty and widowed mother Sandra Van Ryan (Theresa Russell), a powerful real-estate heiress, appeared on the 2nd floor outer balcony in a shiny-silver bra and panties - she revealed she had been an ex-lover/acquaintance of Sam's from the past by her invitation to join her for a drink
• Sam spent all day Saturday in the Everglades wetlands (teaming with alligators) on a large air-boat propelled by an aircraft-type propeller; on Sunday as expected, Kelly and her friend Nicole (Toi Svane) arrived at Sam's home volunteering to clean Sam's mud-covered Jeep for their senior class charity fund-raising event; they had interrupted his time with pretty country-club brunette, Benz-driving Barbara Baxter (Jennifer Bini/Taylor), the daughter of powerful and influential lawyer Tom Baxter (Robert Wagner); as she was leaving, Kelly seductively asked Sam: "So where's your hose, Mr. Lombardo?"
• the two high-schoolers got to work (to the tune of Lauren Christy's "I Want What I Want"); when they finished, Nicole left to go on to the next house, as Kelly lingered (in a dripping-wet T-shirt) to collect Sam's coupon inside his house - with a knowing look

Kelly's Wet T-Shirt Outside and Inside Sam's House

• Kelly looked ready to seduce Sam inside his home, but the sequence abruptly ended with a fade to black; the outcome of the scene was truncated and raised some doubts, when the distraught Kelly (with a ripped T-shirt) left the house and ran off; had she been raped, or had she engaged in consensual sex, or had she been rebuffed? [Note: Later, it was clearly revealed what happened!]
• then, shortly later, Kelly seemed tearful and upset and reported to her widowed mother Sandra that she missed her father who had killed himself a year earlier; Sandra also expressed regret but was conflicted about his suicide: "He didn't have to kill himself, Kelly. I don't know why he did it"; Kelly told her mother that she had allegedly been raped - by Sam Lombardo, her mother's ex-lover
• the alleged rape case was reported to the authorities and soon after investigated by the two sex crimes officers: Police Sgt. Duquette with his smart assistant-partner Sgt. Perez; Kelly claimed during her videotaped deposition that although she resisted, Sam entered her with his fingers and then during intercourse urged: "Let it happen," but then he suddenly stopped and crudely assured her: "Don't worry. I didn't come.... No little girl can ever make me come"; afterwards, Sgt. Perez suggested that Kelly was acting, and only upset BECAUSE Sam didn't proceed to completion; she asked if her colleagues were hesitant about the case: "What? Are you afraid of Tom Baxter now? What are you afraid of - Sandra Van Ryan?"
• the accused Sam Lombardo was the last to learn of the accusation, and vowed to his school's principal Artie Maddox (Dennis Neal) that he was innocent; Sam found it difficult to hire a trial lawyer who could stand up to the Van Ryans, and to their attorney Tom Baxter (Robert Wagner); one of the few shameless attorneys in town who would consider taking Sam's case was free-lance, shyster, personal-injury lawyer Kenneth "Ken" Bowden (Bill Murray), wearing a neck-brace
• Sam found himself being shunned around town; at the Blue Bay Yacht Club, he was confronted by high-powered lawyer Tom Baxter, his girlfriend's father, with a warning: "You're finished in Blue Bay"
• that evening at the oceanside Smilin' Jack's Fish Camp (a bar-lounge and alligator attraction) run by Suzie's lower-class adoptive guardian Ruby (Carrie Snodgress) and her foster brother Walter (Marc Macaulay), Sam noticed the Glades Motel across the parking lot; Sam was roughed up by one of Sandra Van Ryan's lovers, Frankie Condo (Eduardo Yañez), but Sam's hired lawyer Bowden wasn't worried; he claimed that he already had lots of incriminating information on the very unstable Kelly; before the action of the film, Kelly had run away from home on the day that her father committed suicide (gun-shot); she had retreated to a hotel and was obviously addicted to snorting coke; her credibility was in question
• Sgts. Duquette and Perez visited the home of Suzie, a disturbed, outcast, and trailer inhabitant (from the wrong side of the tracks) who lived on Ruby's alligator farm; Suzie had called them to report the same allegation against Sam Lombardo - rape, and similarly during the act, "he stopped by himself" and told her: "No little bitch can ever make me come"; meanwhile, Sam was arrested and denied bail, and Bowden agreed to defend his case
• during the trial, it was revealed during cross-examination that the rape charges against Lombardo were a frame-up and completely fabricated by both of the scheming females; Suzie broke down on the witness stand and confessed that Kelly had pressured her to join her and to falsely accuse Sam of rape: ("Sam Lombardo didn't rape me. He didn't rape Kelly either. He didn't do anything...I just wanted to hurt Mr. Lombardo"); Suzie had spitefully and vengefully pressed charges against Sam, because he hadn't bailed her out of jail (on minor narcotics charges), and she had to serve 6 months in the state's correctional facility; Suzie also claimed that Kelly had angry and jealous motivations designed to double-cross her widowed mother - by getting involved with her mother's lover Sam, her own HS guidance counselor
• Sam was acquitted, and had a perfect opportunity to make counter-charges of defamation and the ruination of his life; the trial's settlement payout awarded Sam $8.5 million dollars (from Kelly's trust fund established by her mother Sandra); Kelly was upset by the decision: "You know how my Mom's paying you off? She's breaking my trust. I can't touch it until she's dead, and now she's breaking it to pay you"; [Note: Spoiler -- Sam was also in cahoots with his two accusers to share in the payout.]
• in the aftermath of the controversial case was a highly-publicized, champagne-drenched menage a trois sequence in a cheap Glades motel room between the two females (Sam's accomplices) and Sam to celebrate their newfound wealth and success - revealing the members of a conspiratorial and scheming trio; Kelly was the first to greet Sam with a kiss: "We screwed the bitch! It worked just like you said"; Suzie joined them from the shadows as she popped the cork on a champagne bottle: "So, how much is eight-and-a-half million divided by three?"
• Sam warned them to never be seen together again:
  • Sam: "After tonight, the three of us are not to be seen together again."
  • Kelly (smiling): "After tonight?"
  • Sam: "Yeah, well, we're here, aren't we?"
    (He began to undress Kelly.)
  • Sam: "So maybe one celebration is okay if we're in agreement that from here on out, you do exactly as I say"
    (He fondled Kelly's breasts under her bra and kissed her, seen in close-up. Suzie also stepped forward for a kiss from Sam. He pulled up Kelly's skirt, slipped her panties off, and placed them in his left pocket.)
  • Sam: "Guidance counselors get to find out all sorts of interesting things. Now I want you two to kiss. Come on now. Never let the sun go down on an argument"
    (After the two kissed, Sam stripped off his shirt, and let Kelly straddle him on the bed. She unhooked her bra from the front, and he nuzzled between her breasts. As she stretched back, Suzie poured champagne over her breasts which Sam then licked off. He was literally sandwiched between the two half-naked females as the scene faded to black.)

The Three Schemers Celebrating in a Motel Room

• Sam moved $5.65 million of his payout from his local Sun Trust Bank account to an off-shore Banco Del Mar account in the Caribbean, and also spent $160K on a sailboat and $327K on an island real estate property; Sgt. Duquette doubted the case's veracity, and speculated that there was a clear possibility of a conspiracy between Sam and the two females: ("He went to work on these two girls, using them to set up Sandra Van Ryan")
• Kelly exited a school swimming pool - filmed in sensuous slow-motion to the tune of Morphine's "I Had My Chance" (lyrics: "I had my chance and I let it go, I had my chance and I let it go, Well if I ever have myself another chance like that, I'm going to grab it and I won't look back"); she was confronted by suspicious Sgt. Duquette who was keeping the two females under surveillance; he complimented her: "Nice stroke"; she jokingly asked if he was interested in improving his "breast stroke"
• Sgt. Duquette questioned Kelly about a possible conspiracy between the two females to reveal the scam that they had extorted Kelly's mother: ("It's hard enough for one person to keep a secret, let alone three. Especially when two of 'em are in love"); he suspected that Kelly's and Sam's intentions were to get rid of Suzie ("pill-head") ("Sam sell you on the idea right up front of whackin' Suzie?") and take off for the Caribbean now that Sam had been awarded the settlement money
• Duquette also visited with Suzie to create more of a wedge between the two females; he sarcastically reminded her about how he had been involved in the death of her boyfriend Davy years earlier; he also suggested that she was in jeopardy because Sam and Kelly were planning on abandoning her and escaping to a Caribbean island (where Sam had transferred most of the payoff); he raised her fears: "You don't think Kelly and Sam are gonna share that money with you, do you?"
• after having set-up Suzie, Sgt. Duquette followed her to Kelly's home, where he observed as Kelly and Suzie both spoke to Sam on the phone - who cautioned them to be calm and not give away their guilt; Sam realized that Suzie was becoming a threat to the threesome's happiness due to her fears that she would be eliminated
• Suzie accused Kelly of class discrimination: "That's what I am to you, swamp trash just like my mom"; that comment led to them entering into a vicious catfight in the pool, with Kelly attempting to drown Suzie; the sexually-confused Kelly then unexpectedly celebrated lesbianism with Suzie in the pool (extended in the uncut version); Suzie untied the straps of Kelly's bikini top, as they kissed, and soon they were both topless and in each other's arms - while the perverted Ray watched from the shadows videotaping their escapades [Note: Due to the later revelation that Suzie was Sandra's half-sister and Kelly's aunt, their relationship in the pool could be deemed incestuous.]
• as Sgt. Duquette had forecast, to remove Suzie from sharing in the profits, Sam and Kelly conspired to confront a drunken Suzie at a seaside beach; there, while Kelly was back at the car, Sam bludgeoned Suzie in the head with a wine bottle (off-screen), and the two worked together to drag her plastic-wrapped body into the back of Kelly's car before Sam by himself disposed of her body in the swamp; Kelly's only regret: "My mom would kill me if she knew I took the Rover"
• during the next day's investigation by Sgts. Duquette and Perez into her disappearance, Suzie's guardian Ruby told how she was planning to go to LA, but her clothes were still there; while snooping around at the swamp's edge with Jimmy, Sgt. Duquette located blood stains and two extracted teeth; he advised with the film's most important statement to Jimmy: "People aren't always what they appear to be. Don't forget that"; Daphne had also located Suzie's abandoned car at the bus terminal; Duquette suspected Lombardo was her killer, and suspected that Kelly was next

The Investigation Into Suzie's Death
Blood Stains	Two Extracted Teeth	Duquette: "People aren't always what they appear to be..."

• although Sam realized he was a probable murder suspect in Suzie's death, he showed Kelly's school file to Gloria with evidence of Kelly's mental instability (due to her father's suicide) and how she was "an angry, sexually confused girl"; his goal was to show how Suzie's death could easily be blamed on Kelly
• Sgt. Duquette visited Kelly's home, and his motives appeared mixed: he was there to either protect Kelly from Sam's wrath, or to frame her for Suzie's murder, or to deliberately eliminate her; when he entered the guest house where she was, she attempted to flee from him; in a shootout (two rounds were heard off-screen, and then a third delayed shot and his reaction); after the shooting, Kelly's mother Sandra witnessed the aftermath of the murder - she found Suzie dead and Duquette with a left upper arm wound
• during questioning, the duplicitous and corrupt Duquette argued - contrary to the sound of gunshots, that Kelly shot him in the shoulder, and then he returned gun fire (two shots) and killed her in self-defense; as a result, Sgt. Duquette was discharged from the police force for disobedience and ignoring advice of his superiors; at the same official hearing, it was determined (due to Suzie's blood evidence at the beach and in the Van Ryan's Range Rover) that Kelly had murdered Suzie

Ray Duquette - Shot in the Upper Left Arm

Sam at a Caribbean Resort

Ray Collaborating with Sam

• now that both Kelly and Suzie were dead, and Kelly had been blamed for Suzie's death, Sam was in the clear, and he didn't have to split the money with anyone; Sam departed for a tropical resort, where he unexpectedly found Sgt. Ray Duquette greeting him in his bungalow's shower; Duquette provided a full-frontal view of himself nude in the shower - one of the film's more titillating aspects
• another unexpected revelation occurred - Ray greeted Sam with the words: "Howdy, pardner"; both he and Sam were secretly working together and had insidiously masterminded everything; their original scheme was to frame Kelly for Suzie's murder, so that they could split the money evenly between them (however, Duquette went ahead and killed Kelly on his own, something that slightly upset Sam: "Kelly wasn't supposed to die, Ray"); it was also Duquette's intention to get fired; it would be two days before a bank transfer would allow the two of them to split the money and part ways with "no loose ends"
• with time to kill while awaiting a bank transfer for the money, Sam invited Ray onto his sailboat named HELIOS; out on the water, Sam attempted to kill Ray, who was deliberately thrown overboard when Sam jerked the steering, but Ray climbed back onboard and struck Sam with the winch handle; he was ultimately finished off by Suzie - who miraculously appeared ALIVE - she was now a bleached blonde pixie hair cut after her staged murder); she fired two shots from a spear gun - and Ray was propelled backwards into the water where he drowned; Suzie killed Duquette to retaliate against him for two murders: (1) the killing of Kelly, and (2) the wrongful killing of Davy

Ray Climbing Back on Board	First Spear Gun Wound in Ray's Left Leg	Miraculous Appearance of Suzie With a Spear Gun
Time To Celebrate
	Sam's Doctored Drink: "P-oison"

• (in reality, Sam and Suzie had conspired together to fake her death; Suzie revealed herself to be a double-crosser when she appeared to side with Sam against Ray; Suzie was very motivated to get back at Sgt. Duquette - for his previous mistreatment of her when her Seminole boyfriend Davy was killed in the Glades; Sam was also upset for Ray's murder of Kelly)
• in the midst of double-crosses on the sailboat, Daphne questioned Ruby about Suzie's background; in the past, Suzie and her boyfriend Davy had witnessed Duquette beating up his whore; when Davy intervened, Duquette killed him, and then falsely claimed self-defense; to prevent Suzie from testifying against him, he put her away in a correctional facility after busting her for drugs
• back on the sailboat, Suzie congratulated Sam ("We won. Sam, it's over"), but then Sam paused when she handed him a drink; he was paranoid, but she convinced him that she had no idea how to sail the boat back to shore; after he took a drink, she revealed that she had poisoned Sam with a doctored drink - and hinted to him about what she had done - she never intended to be on Sam's side; she gave him a multiple-choice pop quiz: ("Before Medea sailed away on the Helios she killed king Creon and the princess, with what? A: A rock. B: Spear-gun or C: A bit of Poison"); Sam was right when he guessed choice C - poison; Suzie released the sailboat's rigging-boom and knocked him overboard; Suzie was left as the only survivor
• as Daphne was leaving the alligator farm, she struck up a conversation with Suzie's foster-brother Walter, who was driving a nice new Dodge truck, and hauling away Suzie's small sailboat (Suzie was an accomplished sailor and easily returned to the dock!); he revealed that Suzie had a high IQ of 200 ("That girl could do just about anything she put her mind to"), although she had always been underestimated for her abilities due to her lowly upbringing, poverty, and lack of education
• the film formally ended with "THE END"
• but then additional scenes during the end credits (and in the unrated version) showed off-screen sequences (some of which were explained above) and other details - rewinding the film to show scenes that hadn't been shown earlier in the film to further explain the plot; Suzie was the plot's mastermind and had planned the entire vengeful scheme, beginning with the rape allegations and the trial, to make it look like Sam was the mastermind, and to set up Kelly for her own murder; she was a masterful manipulator who had orchestrated three murders, and ended up with the pay-off money:
  • Suzie had originally blackmailed Sam into joining the scheme with Kelly; Suzie entered Sam's school office with incriminating photos of him having underaged, X-rated sex with Kelly; their sexual relationship began long before the rape allegations - and therefore Sam could be accused of statutory rape of Kelly, but they were in cahoots with each other; Suzie used the photos to draw Sam into her ultimate plot - the fake-rape charges with Kelly and her, and Sam's defamation suit to obtain the payout; she visually described the photos to Sam: "I can't describe what came out better. That little straw up Kelly's nose, or that dog collar you got wrapped around your neck" - the second part of the line was raunchier in the unrated version
  • Suzie and Sam had earlier surveilled Sgt. Duquette and knew that he was "dirty" - and could easily be fooled and vengefully tricked; Suzie remarked: "The guy's dirty. He'll love it. Especially the part about killing me"
  • during the faked staging of Suzie's death with Sam, Suzie used pliers to remove two of her own teeth when Sam balked; they would be left as evidence to cleverly convince Duquette that Suzie had been murdered by Kelly
  • in the pool guest house, Sgt. Duquette struggled with Kelly, before breaking into her gun case to take one of the Van Ryan guns (held with a handkerchief); he then shot her dead with two rounds from his own gun, and then inflicted a left arm wound on himself to make it look like Kelly shot him (with the gun in her hand)
• in the unrated version, Suzie sought revenge against Kelly's wealthy mother for scorning and abandoning her - Sandra was revealed to be Suzie's illegitimate, older step-sister (or half-sister), meaning that Kelly was Suzie's niece, and that Suzie was Kelly's aunt; Suzie was the 'love-child' of Sandra's father with another woman, but then the young girl and the baby had been abandoned by him; Sandra was then born and was able to live a high-class life, while Suzie was relegated to poverty; it was also revealed that Suzie's mother died from alcohol abuse

The Film's Epilogue: The Pay-Off Scene
Suzie's Goodbye Kiss	Bowden: "Suzie, be good"

• the film's epilogue was at a beach where Sam's unscrupulous lawyer Kenneth Bowden handed sole surviving Suzie the payoff - a case loaded with cash and a separate check in an envelope: "Cash is just walkin'-around money. The check is the balance of the numbered account minus the million we set aside for Ruby and Walter, less my usual fee. Case closed"; she kissed him and then strolled off with the briefcase; he murmured to himself: "Suzie, be good"