I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) Movie Review

Article by Fister Roboto of lefthandhorror.com

Written by Kevin Williamson

Directed by Jim Gillespie

Adaptation of Lois Duncan’s thriller about four teenagers trying to cover up a hit-and-run. Love Hewitt plays Julie, a high school senior who goes on a trip with her friends and accidentally hits a fisherman. They think he is dead and dump him into the waters. But later they get a strange letter that says “I know what you did last summer.”

HOOK me up, bro!

There was a time when the boasting “From the creator of Scream” meant something. It really doesn’t now. For some reason I thought this movie was fairly decent when I saw it at the theater. Now, it’s just kind of laughable, but in a moderately entertaining way.

Packed with actors that screamed 1997, this featured Jennifer Love Hewitt as the lead, Julie, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Ryan Phillippe are all part of the group of friends that travel down that literal dark and winding road into what becomes murder. I love how Anne Heche is cast as well. If you want to see how actual acting works, pay attention to Heche.

I Still Know You Were a Double D Last Summer

Don’t get me wrong, I Know What You Did Last Summer, is a fun flick, maybe not the way it was intended, but it’s crappy enough to make me interested. I LOVE LOVE LOVE the opening scene of the movie. The camera floats above the ocean, scanning over rocky mountains with the Type O Negative version of “Summer Breeze”. The down-tuned guitars make the song and it really sucks you in.

Then the “acting” starts. Gellar is good as usual. The fact that I was obsessed with Buffy in 1997 didn’t hurt my willingness to watch this again.

Season 8 Buffy featuring the return of Riley??? Fuck NOOOOOOOO!

In a nutshell, this is a teen slasher movie with a plot so convoluted that you really don’t care who the killer is. There are some good kills though. All hope is not lost. Well, most hope is lost. Still, it’s a great nostalgia horror flick if nothing else.

I love the sequel’s title, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Brilliant follow-up. More movies should use this model of sequel simplicity.