(SPECIAL NOTE: Capsule version of the review is available here.)
Following the success of Scream in 1996, Hollywood studios tried to cash in on the new popularity of teen horror. However, in the case of I Know What You Did Last Summer, this effort wasn't successful due to a misreading of the original Scream formula. Wes Craven's film worked because it was both an updated version and parody of 1980s teen horror films. In the case of I Know What You Did Last Summer, the whole "parody" part of the formula was ejected, with predictable results.
The script, based on the 1972 novel by Lois Duncan, is written by Kevin Williamson, best known for his work on Scream and the teen-themed TV show Dawson's Creek. The plot, set in a small North Carolina fishing town, begins with four arrogant teenagers celebrating the Fourth of July with a night trip to the beach. While returning, they hit a bystander with a car and, fearing that the incident might destroy their careers and future lives, decide to dump the still living man into the sea. One year later, they start receiving letters with the words "I know what you did last summer" and it becomes apparent that they are being stalked by a homicidal maniac who wants to kill them one by one.
I Know What You Did Last Summer was one of the rare 1990s horror films based on a literary source, and because of that, Kevin Williamson's script at times gave the impression of being something more than a cheap excuse for having pretty teenagers slashed on screen. In those brief moments, this film looks more like a serious drama of growing up and the way life quickly destroys young people's dreams and ambitions. Those moments are brief and almost unnoticeable - for most of the time, I Know What You Did Last Summer is a textbook example of the clichés so cleverly mocked in Scream. Here, those clichés aren't mocked - they are taken seriously, and the film lacks humour on any level. Even those less familiar with the rules of the horror genre won't have much trouble in determining the ending. Director Jim Gillespie, on the other hand, creates a few interesting scenes, but he can't compensate for script flaws, and on-screen butchering soon becomes repetitive and boring. I Know What You Did Last Summer is, in essence, a standard 1980s teen horror film which, nevertheless, lacks some of the genre ingredients - the gore is toned down, and nudity, one of the 1980s standards, is absent. On the other hand, the young cast - Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr. and Ryan Phillippe - does its best while trying to put some life into one-dimensional and not particularly believable characters; their efforts are overshadowed by Anne Heche in a small but very creepy supporting role. In the end, I Know What You Did Last Summer could be recommended only to the most fanatical genre aficionados.
(Note: The text in its original form was posted in Usenet newsgroup rec.arts.film.reviews on December 4th 2003)
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Movie URL: https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/3597-i-know-what-you-did-last-summer
Critic: A
