I Know What You Did Last Summer

It's hard to believe 'I know what you did last summer' was made over two decades ago. This classic teenage slasher is still one of the most memorable movies in the genre.

Although a slasher, the film has substance. The very idea of what these teenagers are going through, makes one wonder: what would I have done if I were in that situation? The event leading to the revenge killings can so easily happen to anyone of us. Its believable and quite honestly a daunting thought. What would you have done?

What happens after the accident, off course is pure slasher material, but it still has substance. 'I know what you did last summer' is a creepy film with well crafted suspense. Naturally, there are a number of false scares and some credibility issues and coincidences, but in general this was thoroughly enjoyable. The performances were very good and the film itself has style and from the opening moments just felt memorable. The title alone is enough to make you want to watch it out of curiosity.

Some might say this movie was released about 12 years too late, others that this was a cheap copycat of Scream(also a Kevin Williamson movie), the truth is that it's all a matter of taste, and what you expect. The people who were expecting something better or on the same level of Scream(which is a modern horror classic), probably left the cinema disappointed. On the other hand, those who went to see a typical, by-the-numbers dumb teen slasher movie, probably had a great time at the cinema. If you're willing to suspend your disbelief and turn your brain off for 1h45min, you'll be able to appreciate "I Know..." for what it is. With the remake recently coming out, i thought it would be cool to finally check out this successfull 90s Slasher, and it was pretty much what i expected it: Very dumb, with lots of plot holes, weird contrivances, and some ridiculous performances. All these shortcomings would be enough to categorize any movie as bad, but again, this is a teen slasher movie we are talking, all these flaws don't diminish the enjoyment for the movie, but it's actually part of the charm. Scream set the bar way too high for any slasher movie that would come after it, so high that not even Williamson himself would manage to deliver another work on the same level, and only a year later. However, we still get a reasonably interesting and coherent story, brought to life by a(mostly) talented and charismatic cast of young actors who were all coming in hot at the time. Jennifer Love Hewitt is the lead, and she did the best she could with the material she was given, sure, she's not a great actress by any means, but she managed to carry the movie with a lot of charm and sincerity, and MY GOD WAS SHE BEAUTIFUL... The rest of the main cast was... Fine i guess? Ryan Phillippe and Sarah Michelle Geller didn't had a lot of chemistry as a couple, and it was hard to care about Phillippe's character since he was written as a complete prick with no redeeming qualities. Geller at least had some good dramatic scenes with Hewitt, and the final moments of her character near the end were by far the best moments in the entire movie. Freddie Prinze Jr. Undoubtedly delivered the worst performance of the four, and it didn't helped the fact that his character was just plain boring, i didn't believed a second that he was the killer despite the movie trying so hard to manipulate me into thinking that, since his acting was shoddy and totally unambiguous. The killer's backstory was kinda interesting and had a lot of dramatic potential, but unfortunately they wasted all the good premise and setup in favour of a quicker, more rushed and chaotic conclusion that spoiled all the tension it could have built. A huge element in any Slasher is the kills, and whether they are well made, and im happy to say that most of the killing in the movie was pretty entertaining, not very gory and creative, but still, reasonably well choreographed and visually impactful. Overall, "I Know..." is not nearly as good or iconic as Williamson's finest work, but it still managed to entertain hardcore slasher fans with a comfortably clichéd palette of dumb characters, gory killings, and teenage drama. If you watched this movie with your friends back in the day and had a great time with it, you'll probably enjoy just as much today, with nostalgia playing a big role. Curious to see how much they improved (or ruined) in the remake...

So I might not like this movie as much if I were watching today for the first time. My opinion is biased by the fact that seeing this in the theater was just about the most fun I've had at a movie. That nostalgia is part of what I enjoy about it, but there are other good elements as well. For one, I like Jennifer Love Hewitt as a scream queen. Actually, that might be it. It's not big on story, the performances aren't anything special, and the kills are pretty tame. I'm giving it a seven based on my personal enjoyment of it, but I'm not recommending it for horror fans for the reasons stated above.

I haven't seen a whole lot of teen slasher movies. In fact this may be the only one I have seen, and it is a fitting tribute of the genre for our birthday girl, Sarah Michelle Geller.

Writer Kevin Williamson follows up Scream with a serious example of just how effective these movies can be if they're well-written, directed and acted.

Sarah Michelle Geller (Buffy, TMNT) and Jenniver Love Hewitt (Ghost Whisperer) fit perfectly together and are supported by Ryan Phillippe (Crash, Breach, Flags of Our Fathers) and Freddie Prinze Jr. Why does that sentence sound naughty? If I had to watch one film of this type, I'm glad this was it.

During the 4th of July holidays, four teens Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Barry William Cox (Ryan Phillippe) and Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr.) are driving after drinking on the beach. Barry distracts Ray as he runs over a guy on a desolate road in the middle of the night. They argue convincing Ray to dump the body. Max (Johnny Galecki) drives by but Julie lies to him. The body has a hook for a hand but he's not actually dead as he makes a final grab at Helen. The friends agree to keep it a secret after dumping him in the harbor. Then one year later, Julia comes back to town from college and she gets a note with "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER!" Helen is working for her sister Elsa and broken up with the jerk Barry. Barry suspects Max as the one who wrote the note. Ray is now a fisherman following his father's footsteps.

The movie has some of the best young actors of Hollywood at the time. Kevin Williamson works over the script. It's a pretty simple teen slasher movie. It has some psychological aspects and mystery of the note. In the end, it's slash and splat. It works well and gets a couple of passable scares. It never really gets truly gritty or realistic. It's just an old fashion slasher flick. It's all about the old fashion 80s kills.