Critics Scoreboard
All critic scores are converted to a 100-point scale. If a critic does not indicate a score, we assign a score based on the general impression given by the text of the review. Learn more...
Average Critic Score:
52
(20 sources)
52
(20 sources)
-
80
Salon.com
One reason Wild Things works so well is that director John McNaughton sustains a darkly comic tone throughout the film without letting it degenerate into farce. Read Full Review » -
80
Los Angeles Times
The movie has more twists than Chubby Checker, and as soon as you think Stephen Peters' script has used up every conceivable opportunity, it twists again. Read Full Review » -
80
Variety
Not only is it highly unusual, but the picture is chock-full of surprise and unexpected humor to leaven its thriller trappings. Read Full Review » -
75
-
75
Entertainment Weekly
A tricky-bordering-on-gimmicky film noir with a glaze of soft-core kink. Read Full Review » -
75
Chicago Sun-Times
It's like a three-way collision between a softcore sex film, a soap opera and a B-grade noir. I liked it. Read Full Review » -
70
Washington Post
A passionate murder mystery with more twists than a thrashing alligator. Read Full Review » -
70
Washington Post
The movie is as tawdry as someone else's lingerie, yet not without a certain prurient watchability. Read Full Review » -
67
Austin Chronicle
The fun of Wild Things -- and there's a lot of it -- is in its never-ending game of cross and double cross. Read Full Review » -
60
The New York Times
Predicated on two ideas -- that human nature is rife with perfidy and that it's important to get the cast into hot cars or bathing suits whenever possible -- Mr. McNaughton and the cinematographer Jeffrey L. Kimball (''Top Gun,'' ''True Romance'') give a decadent gloss to this far-fetched, quintuple-crossing tale. Read Full Review » -
60
TV Guide
A sleazy, seamy, flashy, steamy, vulgar exploitation thriller that revels in every minute of its own trashiness and delivers some pretty solid -- if prurient -- entertainment before strangling in a one-twist-too-many ending. Read Full Review » -
50
Christian Science Monitor
Contains extremely graphic sex and many twists that are unpredictable but not very compelling. Read Full Review » -
50
-
50
The Onion (A.V. Club)
The film almost redeems itself with what may be the longest, most elaborate post-film/pre-credits sequence in film history, but it will still disappoint anyone expecting more than watchable trash. Read Full Review » -
40
Empire
As double-cross becomes triple-cross becomes quadruple cross, it all gets awfully trying. Read Full Review » -
38
ReelViews
This is film noir for the MTV generation: fast-paced, slick, flashy, gleefully mindless, and hollow to the core. Read Full Review » -
30
New York Magazine
Wild Things, which was written by Stephen Peters and directed by John McNaughton, lacks fantasy and flamboyance, that it lacks, precisely, wild things, and that most of it is just flat. Read Full Review » -
25
The Globe and Mail (Toronto)
This picture breaks through the limits and goes way beyond the pale -- it seems to enjoy irking us for the sheer hell of it. Read Full Review » -
20
Chicago Reader
Despite the cast -- Kevin Bacon, Matt Dillon, Neve Campbell, Denise Richards, Daphne Rubin-Vega, Theresa Russell, Robert Wagner, and Bill Murray -- I found it preposterous. Read Full Review » -
10
Dallas Observer
Wild Things reaches such dizzying heights of wretched dialogue, creaky contrivances, and panting performances, you're forced to wonder if the filmmakers realized how bad their script was and switched gears into pure camp at some point during the shoot. Read Full Review »
You Say
click on a star to rate
