I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) Review

   Have you ever revisited a film that you loved so much when it first came out, only to realize that it’s quite bad? You think to yourself, “why did I love this film so much?” Well this is the case for me with ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer”. I saw the film twice in the cinema, but looking back why would I? Well I can only think of two reasons: Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar. 

    After the success of “Scream”, screenwriter Kevin Williamson decided to create another teen slasher film titled, you guessed it, ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’. The film involves four teens played by Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Ryan Phillippe. They are involved in a hit and run late one night on July the 4th. They decide to dump the body in the water to protect themselves since alcohol was naturally involved. So after doing the logical thing by ditching the body they swear never to speak about the event again. Well a year passes by and they must all face their secret because, damn you guessed it again, someone knows what they did last summer. So naturally the caped, hook, slasher man starts killing them and people they know.

   None of the characters were likable to me. So when Jennifer Love Hewitt screams, “What are you waiting for, huh? WHAT ARE YOU WAITING FORRRRRRRRRR!?” I had to agree. Just kill them off already. Especially Ryan Phillippe’s character who in layman’s terms is an arrogant prick. The performances aren’t anything special at all really. The kills are pretty tame for an R-rated horror film. Felt more PG-13 than R. I’m still surprised that the brilliant Kevin Williamson wrote this. I mean he wrote the first ‘Scream’, its sequel, and one of my guilty pleasures ‘The Faculty’. 

  So what did I like about this film? Well I enjoyed the nostalgia. I also liked the forever-beautiful Jennifer Love Hewitt as the final girl. Well I think that’s about it actually. Just two things? I know what you’re thinking, “but Joshua there has to be more to like other than nostalgia and the forever striking Jennifer Love Hewitt?” Nope that’s it and not even those two things could save the film for me.

1 out of 5