I Know What You Did Last Summer

1997 was a wild year. Jennifer Love Hewitt and her pals in Southport, North Carolina, committed flat-out murder-and somehow managed to build a franchise out of what should've been a one-and-done slasher flick. Now, 27 years later, we're back with the worst-kept secret in horror history. What began with four friends has evolved into a new generation mirroring those same moments.

I'm all for paying homage and drawing inspiration from the original, but this film felt like callback central. Reference after reference. A loosely connected series of events that kind of made since... maybe. Its a legacy sequel so yeah expect some nostalgia, however the script seemed very rush and the film suffered because of it.

The connection between the original cast and the new generation was half-baked at best. I was glad to see Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., but their presence felt forced, like the film just wanted the audience to just go along with it.

As for the new stars there were some decent performances, a couple of laughs, however nothing truly stood out. I didn't feel invested in any of the characters and the film didn't give a reason why I should.

The film opens with upbeat, trendy music that instantly sets a Scream VI vibe-never a good sign if you're hoping for originality. From the start, it's clear this isn't going to break new ground. We follow a group of American "teens": conventionally attractive girls paired with alpha-male archetypes, with Jonah Hauer-King oddly miscast and feeling out of place.

The premise hasn't evolved since the 1997 original: a group of friends covers up a death, only to be stalked one year later by the iconic fisherman in his rain slicker. He picks them off one by one, sometimes extending his vengeance to their loved ones. That's it. There's little substance beyond this familiar formula. Legacy characters from the original film return, but rather than adding emotional depth or clever twists, their presence feels like a shallow callback. Freddie Prinze Jr., in particular, gives a performance that weirdly channels Dermot Mulroney from Scream VI; not exactly flattering.

Several sequences simply don't make sense. In one, Teddy tries to fix the sliding doors on his boat, even though we can clearly see someone lurking at the end of the corridor. His behavior makes it seem as if he's conspiring with the killer rather than in danger. When he eventually fights the fisherman, the scene plays more like roughhousing with a buddy than a desperate struggle for survival. Later, Teddy's father mourns his son while heavy footsteps of the killer are blatantly audible in the background. Yet the father never reacts. It's sloppy staging, and moments like these kill any suspense.

Acting quality is inconsistent at best. Characters flip from panic to casual nonchalance within minutes, destroying any sense of tension. For a slasher from 1997, some of these choices might have slid by unnoticed, but for a 2025 release they feel outdated and careless.

Ultimately, this revival offers nothing fresh: no new angle, no genuine scares, and no compelling performances. It's a reheated version of a story that was already thin, relying on nostalgia rather than creativity.

It started out so promising, I actually liked the characters and so fun to see characters from the previous movies. But god can't imagine any real fans being happy with this movie? Very obvious who the killer is which is fine. That how it usually is. But the ending, common? Shockingly bad! So unnecessary and stupid, made no sense and they spent no time explaining why?

Honestly the movie was okay until the last part of the movie, I would have wanted longer death scenes, with more chase, more drama and excitement but it kinda felt rushed unlike in the other movies. This could have been such a good movie, just disappointed.

Five friends become responsible for a tragic car accident that results in a man's death. They decide to cover it up and swear never to speak of it again. But exactly one year later, the nightmare returns: a mysterious killer wielding a hook begins hunting down those involved. To stop the maniac, the group turns to the only people who've survived something similar - the victims of the 1997 Southport massacre.

As a fan of classic slashers like Scream and Urban Legend, I'll be blunt: if the filmmakers' goal was to make a straightforward remake with a new cast but no real changes to the script, the result is a missed opportunity. If they were aiming for the meta-approach of the later Scream sequels, referencing the original while updating the formula - it's not quite enough.

On the plus side: solid direction, a couple of effective jump scares, and decent visuals. But everything else feels derivative and predictable.

The film may spark nostalgia for fans of the genre, but it doesn't breathe new life into the franchise. If you've been missing slashers, it's worth a watch. If you were hoping for something more - unfortunately, this isn't it.

This movie felt very reminiscent to the first I know what you did last summer, except a little bit worse in the overall picture. The movie does have its good moments where its really good, but it also have moments that made me scratch my head. The movie clings very heavily to the formula of the first movie which sometimes makes it feel more like a copy of the original movie rather than a sequel.

Starting with the good stuff I gotta say that the tension is very much there. The movie keeps you on toes and the kills are well done. The cast also delivers solid performances and it was nice to see the original characters return for this one. The movie does a good job at not getting boring or slow down too much which makes the movie have a nice pace.

As for the bad, the movie has the same problem as the first one had with who the killer was. I found the reveal in the first movie unsatisfying and a little lazy, but the reveal in this one literally makes no logical sense to me. The movie doesn't spend any time into the why the killer does what they do. It establishes no real reason to what linked the killer to the why. The characters in the movie are also ridiculously stupid in the movie to the point where their actions or reasons why they split up makes absolutely no sense. I'm fine with a character being written as stupid, this was characters written as being in defense mode doing absolutely everything not to be in a safe place. With that the movie also doesn't feel like its own movie as it constantly follows the tracks of the first movie, to the point where the movie almost holds the audience's hand just to say, "Oh do you recognize this from the old movie?"

Overall, I did have a good time watching the movie, but I also recognize that the movie doesn't try to do anything to make it stand on its own merit.