Kevin Bacon recounted an unsettling experience from the set of his 1998 film, “Wild Things,” during a recent memory test conducted with *Variety*.
Prompted by a line from the movie, Bacon shared a bizarre incident that occurred while filming. “We were out in the swamp one night—a swarm of mosquitoes, believe me—shooting a scene near a river,” he recalled. “To illuminate the area, they had positioned a raft and a light nearby.”
Suddenly, over the walkie-talkie, someone announced, ‘Hey, uh, I think I just saw a floater.’ It turned out to be a body drifting past.” Bacon chuckled as he relayed the story, adding that it seemed to capture the film’s overall atmosphere.
“Wild Things,” directed by John McNaughton, centers around Matt Dillon’s character attempting an extortion scheme involving high school students portrayed by Neve Campbell and Denise Richards, initially unbeknownst to Bacon’s police detective. However, a surprising twist reveals that Dillon and Bacon are actually working together.
McNaughton first described the incident to *Entertainment Weekly* nearly three decades ago.
“We called the police, and they swiftly intervened, retrieving the body before it could interfere with our filming,” he stated at the time.
The production also faced another challenge when a tornado narrowly missed two trailers on set.
Bacon, who served as an executive producer for the film, initially reacted to the script with skepticism. “When I first read it, I thought, ‘Oh my God, this is the trashiest piece of crap I’ve ever read.’ But then, every few pages, I’d stumble upon another layer, another surprise.”
- “Wild Things” grossed $30 million during its theatrical release.
- The film spawned several direct-to-video sequels.
Despite being initially dismissed as “trash” by many critics, “Wild Things” has since gained a dedicated following and earned recognition as a cult classic.
