Swimming with Alligators - The Dangerous Creatures of Wild Things

Speaking in a newly-recorded interview for the Arrow Films Blu-ray release of Wild Things, director John McNaughton mentions how each character functioned using their “reptile brains” out of pure “self-interest.” He goes on to say he purposefully placed the film’s opening credits over beautiful shots of the South Florida Everglades; the main title hangs over an alligator popping its head out of the water during a golden sunrise. Aerial shots zoom past through the swamp as we reach civilization in the port town of Blue Bay. There’s no room for subtlety here. The locale itself becomes a key part of this erotic thriller masterpiece, a genius decision from McNaughton who wanted to set it there after reading the script. What better place to set a story of deadly creatures driven by pure instinct than one with equally deadly creatures lurking in the background?

After those credits, we see one of the film’s lead characters, high school counselor Sam Lombardo (Matt Dillon), write “SEX” in big bold letters on a chalkboard in front of a student assembly. A beat passes and once the hooting and hollering die down, he writes “CRIMES'' after it. Sam, with the help of Sergeant Ray Duquette (Kevin Bacon), aims to educate the student body on sexual assault—again, subtlety is out the window here. We meet the film’s four main characters—Sam, Ray, and students Suzie Toller (Neve Campbell) and Kelly Van Ryan (Denise Richards). We get quick glimpses of who they are and how they feel about one another—but in reality, they’re not who they seem. They’re all hiding who they are beneath the surface. 

The genius of Wild Things’ script, written by Stephen Peters, is that it fools you into thinking some of these characters at certain points are “good” in the most basic sense. We inherently want to root for someone, right? Once every single big twist is revealed, though, our perceptions change. First, Sam is accused of rape by Kelly, spurring the film’s most painfully still-too-relevant moments. We see the lead-up to the incident and the film cuts away before we see what did or did not happen. He immediately becomes a pariah in the community, saying, “you never get clear of something like this.” It’s her word against his. More accusations come his way when Sergeant Duquette talks with Suzie and she reveals Sam raped her, too. At this point, watching this for the first time, you’re not entirely sure who to believe, which is a credit to not only the script but the performances of Dillon, Richards, and Campbell, too—Campbell in particular is the film’s standout, running circles around everyone else, which is fitting because of the film’s final reveal puts her at the center of the mystery.

 The court case against Sam falls apart when Suzie admits on the stand that she lied about her accusation, and Kelly’s wealthy family ends up paying 8.5 million dollars to Sam to settle for defamation. What follows is a tawdry, champagne-soaked threesome between Sam, Kelly, and Suzie in a seedy hotel room. They were in on it. Acting on top of acting, navigating perceptions of who they are to get to their innermost desires: sex and money. As Sam playfully pushes Kelly and Suzie’s heads together to kiss, we see who these three really are. Or so we think. 

There’s always more under the surface. After being thrown that curveball, we’re left searching for someone to root for. Bacon’s Sergeant Ray Duquette becomes that audience surrogate as he tries to piece together the mystery in order to nail (figuratively) the three criminals. Here is where Wild Things neo-noir elements shine. Ray becomes obsessed, risking his career by eventually tailing femme fatales Suzie and Kelly. 

Ray’s detective work leads us to that iconic pool scene as he videotapes their conversation, and ends up watching them passionately make out. Sure, at this point we’ve already seen Suzie and Kelly kiss and Richards has already gone topless in the hotel sex scene (Campbell contractually couldn’t be topless, though, since she was currently staring on the hit network show Part of Five and her “innocent” persona had to be upheld). But, a big reason this scene has stood the test of time for nearly 25 years now, beyond just how hot it is, is its marketing. The titillating image of Campbell and Richards in neck-deep water was in the trailer and on the poster. Anyone expecting sex scenes got just that when they bought a ticket, sure, but like each character in it, Wild Things has more hiding under the surface than just sex.

McNaughton, a provocateur in his own right (his first film was Henry: Portrait of a Serial Killer), knows how to push boundaries. He was clearly intent on making a sexploitation masterpiece but one made with considerably more thought than other ‘90s attempts at the genre. The voyeuristic nature of the film is made apparent here—the stunned look on Ray’s face as he’s holding the camcorder is priceless. He then shows the tape to his colleagues at the police department where they’re appalled by what they see—he’s screamed at for going on private property and “shooting a porn flick.” 

From the opening credits, McNaughton is interested in showing dangerous creatures in the most beautiful ways. The alligator floating in the water at the very beginning is as deadly as the women kissing in the most iconic scene in Wild Things. And, once more twists are revealed and characters meet their untimely ends, we find out Ray has been working with Sam all along in a moment that may be just as iconic as the pool scene. Sam opens up his shower to find a naked Ray showing, and for a brief beautiful shot, we see Kevin Bacon’s penis. Ray is a killer, a bad guy, but he’s placed on the same sexy pedestal as his co-stars. Those frames of junk were never planned to be in the film, only added because editor Elena Maganini thought it wasn’t fair that only the women were naked in the film (bless her). 

The decision to have so much nudity in Wild Things adds to its mythos, especially that full frontal male nudity that’s rarely seen in modern day film. Looking at that poster again, the literal floating heads of Campbell and Richards are above Dillion and Bacon, the two men fully clothed. Again, Wild Things is about the reveal, about what’s underneath—who saw that poster and thought Bacon would show it all too? Originally, according to Bacon, Sam was supposed to enter the shower with Ray, revealing their secret affair. That topper of a twist was cut out because, “the financiers didn’t like the idea of men making out.” It goes to show that boundaries rarely break, only bend, and they certainly bend for Wild Things, a film that remains seductive, smart, and as dangerous as those Florida alligators swimming below the surface.