You might think the on-screen twists and turns of the 1998 thriller Wild Things were shocking enough. However, the behind-the-scenes story took a decidedly dark and unexpected turn. In a recent interview with Variety, Kevin Bacon shared an unsettling tale from the film’s production: the discovery of a real dead body during a night shoot in the swamp.
Bacon vividly described the scene, depicting a typical on-location shoot in the humid Florida Everglades.
A Grisly Scene
“We were out in the swamp one night — a lot of mosquitoes, wow — and we were shooting some scene, I don’t remember what it was, by kind of a river,” Bacon explained, emphasizing the challenging environment with a touch of lingering discomfort. To facilitate the late-night filming, the crew had even taken the extra step of positioning lighting equipment on a floating raft in the murky water. “They had floated a raft out there so that they could put out a light.”
It was amidst this swampy backdrop that the unsettling discovery was made.
“All of a sudden, I hear across the walkie-talkie: ‘Hey, uh, I think I just saw a floater.’ And it was a body that was floating by,” the actor recounted, the gravity of the situation still palpable even years later. The casual, almost nonchalant tone of the walkie-talkie announcement stands in stark contrast to the grim reality of the discovery.
Bacon then offered a darkly humorous observation, stating, “It was kind of indicative of the vibe of the movie.” This comment hints at the film’s own twisted and morally ambiguous narrative, where appearances are constantly deceiving and dark secrets lurk beneath a seemingly glamorous surface. The real-life discovery of a corpse mirrored the unsettling undercurrent of the fictional story they were bringing to life.
Director John McNaughton also corroborated this eerie incident in a past interview. He recalled the moment in the marshy Everglades when the crew stumbled upon the body. He noted that the production was halted as they awaited the arrival of the authorities to investigate. McNaughton mentioned that the police even took measures to ensure the body didn’t drift into the frame of their shot. It’s a bizarre intersection of real-life tragedy and the demands of filmmaking.
An Already Notorious Reputation
The fact that such a macabre event occurred while filming a thriller adds another layer of intrigue to the movie’s notorious reputation. It’s a stark reminder that sometimes, reality can be far stranger and darker than fiction.
Wild Things, directed by John McNaughton, stars Bacon, Scream actress Neve Campbell, and Denise Richards. It sees a detective (Kevin Bacon) uncover a conspiracy behind a case involving a guidance counselor accused of assault by two female students.
Watch Now
If the news has piqued your interest, you can watch Wild Things now. It’s streaming on Paramount+ and Prime Video.
In the series “The Bondsman,” Bacon’s most recent role sees him drop bodies as he works to keep himself out of Hell. The series, which we gave a rave review, is now streaming on Prime Video, and fans are already begging for more.
