A Look Back: I Know What You Did Last Summer

[Mitch Henessey]

I always enjoyed watching the first two films of this series as a kid, I saw the third film of this series a while ago, and I hated it. But It’s been a long time since I’ve seen the first two films of this series, and I noticed the I Know What You Did Last Summer Collection at Wal-Mart, but this set also included the third film, unfortunately. Still, the entire set was only $9.99, so I thought this wouldn’t be a bad purchase. These films were based on the novel written by Lois Duncan. Let’s take a look back at the I Know What You Did Last Summer film series.

The first film starts off with the main cast of characters accidentally hitting someone with their car on July 4th. One of the happy teens(Ryan Phillippe) was drunk, and they were afraid of what a potential vehicular manslaughter charge would do to their futures, so of course they decide to dump the body into the ocean. The corpse put up a little fight, but the teens managed to hide their BIG secret. One year later, the main character( Jennifer Love Hewitt) receives a note that reads “I know What You Did Last Summer.” Hewitt’s character freaks out, and the chase to unravel the mystery begins! The teens try to quietly solve the mystery of the person who knows their secret, but as they do this, a mysterious fisherman wearing a slicker begins to appear. He uses a hook as his weapon of choice, and he begins to stalk the group of scared teens. The Fisherman‘s big moment will come on July 4th…

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) 7/10- This was a fun little slasher film. The acting here was solid, and Jennifer Love Hewitt wasn’t bad as the leading lady here. Although, when it comes to the acting, Ryan Phillippe stole the show in this film. He was hilarious as he played this cocky quarterback/rich kid. There were some nice spook moments in this film, and I always enjoy watching the twist at the end, as the mysterious fisherman killer is revealed. Oh, and Sarah Michelle Gellar still looks gorgeous in this film.

The only thing that bothers me about this film is the silly ending….

Spoiler

Julie is taking a shower in the locker room. She sees the words “I STILL KNOW” written on the shower door, and Ben Willis/The Fisherman bursts through the glass, he attacks Julie, and the film ends. Yeah, I would’ve been okay with this if I Know What You Did Last Summer ended with ONE film, but they decided to continue the series, and they never explained how Julie escaped from The Fisherman in the second film, and they never mention this attack in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. Are we just supposed to forget about The Fisherman attacking Julie at the end of this film?

Cast Of Main Characters

Jennifer Love Hewitt- Julie James
Muse Watson- Ben Willis
Ryan Phillippe- Barry William Cox
Freddie Prinze, Jr.- Ray Bronson
Sarah Michelle Gellar- Helen Shivers
Johnny Galecki- Max Neurick
Anne Heche- Missy Egan
Bridgette Wilson- Elsa Shivers

Characters Killed Off In This Film

Spoiler

Barry William Cox
Helen Shivers
Max Neurick
Elsa Shivers

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) 5/10- I thought this film was kind of weak, and the story was a little far fetched, but there was a nice little twist at the end, and we do learn more about The Fisherman killer in this film. Julie and her new friend Karla Wilson(Brandy) are suckered into winning a trip to the Bahamas, and of course, The Fisherman has returned to finish what he started. The acting is pretty decent in this film. Hewitt still does a nice job with the lead role, and Mekhi Phifer replaces Ryan Phillippe as the jerk in this film, but he wasn’t as good as Phillippe. Although, I did LOVE Jack Black’s performance as the wacky pothead poolboy. He was funny, and I do think he was one of the more entertaining characters in this film. Jeffery Combs also had his moments, as he played the rude and bitter hotel manager. He was a mean guy, but this character was portrayed in a comical way, so you could laugh at him. This film doesn’t have too many spook moments, and all of the kills are kind of lame. I also wish we could’ve seen more of John Hawkes in this film.

Cast Of Main Characters

Jennifer Love Hewitt- Julie James
Brandy Norwood- Karla Wilson
Mekhi Phifer- Tyrell Martin
Muse Watson- Ben Willis
Freddy Prinze, Jr.- Ray Bronson
Matthew Settle- Will Benson
Jack Black- Titus Telesco
John Hawkes- Dave
Jeffery Combs- Mr. Brooks
Jennifer Esposito- Nancy
Bill Cobbs-Estes
Benjamin Brown-Darick The Dockhand
Ellerine Harding-Olga

Characters Killed Off In This Film

Spoiler

Will Benson
Titus Telesco
Mr. Brooks
Nancy
Estes
Darick The Dockhand
Tyrell Martin
Olga
Julie James?
Ray Bronson?
Ben Willis?

?- Towards the end of the film, The Fisherman accidentally kills Will Benson. Julie is able to grab a gun and shot The Fisherman/Ben Willis. He appears to die, as he falls into the grave that was intended for Hewitt’s character. At the very end of the film, Freddie Prinze, Jr. and Hewitt have reconnected, and they are living together. Ray is brushing his teeth, and Julie closes an open window, but she doesn’t recognize the muddy footprints on the floor. Ray is fascinated by his electric toothbrush, and Julie decides to take a seat on the bed alone. The Fisherman appears out of nowhere, and he snatches her underneath the bed. Julie screams, and the film ends. It really wasn’t clear if Ray and Julie actually died here. The Fisherman could’ve actually been there, or this could’ve been one of Julie’s nightmares. I guess we’ll never know.

I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006) 0/10- I watched this film a while ago, I hated it, and now I remember why. It took me three days to finish this film. I couldn’t bare to watch the entire film at once, so I just had to stop every now and then. The acting from everyone is shit, the majority of the kills are lame, there isn’t any suspense here, The Fisherman has turned into a zombie killer who can’t die, the ending was terrible, and I have a big problem with this being an I Know What You Did Last Summer film, because this film HAS NOTHING TO DO WITH THE PREVIOUS FILMS!!!!! Sure, one of the teens alludes to The Fisherman killer at the beginning of the film by telling the story of how he killed the other kids, but this cast of characters don’t have any history with The Fisherman. A prank on July 4th goes horribly wrong, and one of the teens dies. The group of friends swear to keep the botched prank a secret, and one year later The Fisherman returns to punish the teens who tried to hold on to the horrible secret, and of course, the big showdown occurs on July 4th. So to sum things up, The Fisherman has turned into a zombie bogeyman who kills teens for doing bad things on July 4th, and the main characters have become so stupid and annoying in this film. Usually there’s a good chance you’ll see some good eye candy in a crappy American horror film. The first film had Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Love Hewitt, and Hewitt still looked good in the second film, but this film managed to fail with the eye candy. Brooke Nevin just didn’t do it for me. Seriously, if you’re going to make a shit horror film, at least have the decency to find some attractive women.

Cast Of Main Characters

Don Shanks-The Fisherman
David Paketkau- Colby Patterson
Brooke Nevin- Amber Williams
Torrey DeVitto- Zoe
Ben Easter- Lance
K.C. Clyde- Sheriff John Hafner
Michael Flynn- Sheriff Davis
Seth Packard- Roger
Star LaPoint- Kelly
Brittanie Nicole Leary- Kim
Clay Taylor- P.J. Davis

Characters Killed Off In This Film

Spoiler

Zoe
Sheriff Davis
Sheriff Hafner
Colby
P.J.
Roger
Amber?

?- At the end of the film, one of Amber’s tires blows out while she’s driving across the desert. She’s talking to Lance on her cell phone, and The Fisherman appears out of no where. We hear the hook cut into Amber, but the screen fades to black as this happens. Hopefully her character was killed off, because Brooke Nevin was just terrible in this film, and if she did die in the desert, then we won’t ever have to see her character again. Also, how in the fuck did The Fisherman make it to the desert? Before this scene, The Fisherman was seemingly mangled to death by a threshing machine, so how in the hell was he able to return in one piece? I usually don’t like to nitpick too much, but this film just pissed me off.

Lois Duncan wasn't allowed on set for the first film. Duncan has also voiced her displeasure about the first movie. Apparently, she didn't like seeing her adult novel transform into a mainstream slasher film. Well if she had some disdain for the first film, then she probably contemplated suicide if she watched I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer.

The first film of this series is pretty fun to watch, but the second film is kind of disappointing. Jeniffer Love Hewitt was solid as the leading lady for the first two films, Ryan Phillippe was awesome in the first film, and the rest of the casts for the first two films were decent enough. The Fisherman was an okay horror villain. He was this menacing and mysterious killer, but I wouldn’t put him in the same league as other famous horror icons. Also, killing people with a hook does become lame after a while. Once you see it so many times, you just start to have this overwhelming “meh” feeling. They try to get more creative with kills in the second and third films of this series, but the deaths just don’t have that shocking feel to them.

You could have a fun time watching I Know What You Did Last Summer, and if you curious to see how the story unfolds, then you’ll probably want to check out the second film of this series, but please, please avoid I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, because it is by far one of the worst movies I have ever seen, and this one truly deserved to be a direct-to-DVD release. This film is one big pile of horseshit, and this film doesn’t have anything to do with the first two films. I might give I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer a pass if it was a decent or solid film, but it’s not. Brooke Nevin did a terrible job with the lead role. They tried to make her character similar to Julie, but her acting was so bad. I don’t think Hewitt is a great actress, but she was far better than Nevin.

There have been talks of bringing back some of the original characters(I’m guessing it would be Julie, Karla, The Fisherman, and Ray) for a fourth film. I would watch this, and I would love to see Hewitt return, but I just hope they don’t allude to anything that happened in the third film, because I don‘t want to be reminded of that shitfest.

 

[INDYjon22]

The first one was rather entertaining. It was definitely trying to cash in on the rejuvenated slasher genre that Scream influenced and did a good job capturing that market. Not nearly as great as Scream but nevertheless it is a recognizable title from the 90's. I remember watching it and absolutely loving Jennifer Love Hewitt. I also thought the fisherman killer was pretty impressive as the killer. Other then in Texas Chainsaw I had never really seen a hook utilized.

The second film was alright but not something I would ever go out of my way to watch. Once again, JLH was the main driving force for me to watch it. However, Jack Black almost made the film unbearable to watch. He was incredibly annoying, even for his standards. The ending was a tad confusing and congested, but with enough violence I can get past that.

I never had any interest in seeing the new one. I have only heard bad things and your analysis of it Mitch makes me not want to watch it all that more.

Overall I enjoyed the first two films. No way were they on the same level as Scream but for a film series that was very similar I thought it did a commendable job. It had a great sex symbol in Love Hewitt and a somewhat iconic horror character in the Fisherman killer. The casts for the most part were solid and I can't complain to much about the stories, there were little things, but nothing major to influence me into never watching the first two films again.