Wild Things *** (1998, Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon, Denise Richards, Neve Campbell) – Classic Movie Review 1520

Director John McNaughton’s extremely sexy, smart, twisting and teasing 1998 teen thriller perhaps doesn’t quite deliver the class A goods, but it does a very good job of gripping, amusing and entertaining a lot along the way. And the excellent cast makes sure it’s thoroughly enjoyable.

Matt Dillon plays Sam Lombardo, a South Florida high school guidance counsellor who is suspended after two plotting classmates Kelly and Suzie (Denise Richards, Neve Campbell) accuse him of rape. Dillon is excellent, while the two young actresses effortlessly ooze sex appeal. Bill Murray is good fun as Dillon’s sleazy attorney, Kenneth Bowden. And so is Kevin Bacon as the plodding investigating cop, Sergeant Ray Duquette, who slowly begins to suspect a conspiracy and tries to uncover the truth.

McNaughton’s stylish filming, the steamy atmosphere and screen-writer Stephen Peters’s cheeky attitudes make up for the impossibly far-fetched plot. Also starring Daphne Rubin-Vega, Theresa Russell, Robert Wagner and Carrie Snodgress.

A mediocre but watchable time-passing made-for-video sequel, Wild Things 2, followed in 2004, with a different cast headed by Susan Ward and Leila Arcieri.

Check out more reviews on http://derekwinnert.com/