I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
Seen on 12 December 1997 for $8.75 by myself at the UA Criterion.
*I Know What You Did Last Summer* comes to us from writer Kevin Williamson, who brought us *Scream*, and of course, *Scream 2*. He has also been busy with other projects, like *Killing Mrs. Tingle*, *Texas Blood Money*, and *Halloween 7*. A new era in scary movies is upon us. One that is witty, suspenseful, and shows a love of the movies. So far, it has been very enjoyable, with half the splattering of the horror movies of the 1980s.
*I Know What You Did Last Summer* has a simple premise. On July 4th, just after graduating, four teens hit a man on a desolate cliffside road. Thinking he's dead, using horror movie logic, they decide to dump his body into the ocean. They swear never to tell anyone about what they have done.
The following year, looking very pale and nervous, the four have stopped talking to each other, and Julie (*Party of Five's* Jennifer Love Hewitt) looks particularly cadaverous. It's the eve of another holiday weekend, and strange things start happening, including an anonymous note that simply states, "I know what you did last summer."
Then, the mayhem begins.
Without giving too much more of the story away, let's just say that people disappear, get stalked, and have a lot of strange things happen to them, okay. As in *Scream*, the suspense is constant. Knowing the psychology of horror movies, Williamson and director Jim Gillespie frustrate you by not delivering the expected thumps, and blindsiding you when they do.
Another element that adds to the movie is the seaside setting in North Carolina. Crashing waves and rocky cliffsides are featured prominently in the opening credits. Also, the lower-middle class setting is a nice departure from the usual settings for these stalker/splatter films.
The actors do a good job--nothing sensational, but not lacking either. Sarah Michelle Gellar (a/k/a Buffy the Vampire Slayer) plays Helen the local beauty to the hilt. Freddie Prinze Jr. is the erstwhile boyfriend of Julie, and Ryan Phillippe, the snotty rich kid, has made a 180 degree turn from his stint as *One Life to Live*'s Billy, the sensitive gay teenager. Anne Heche is particularly good in the limited role of Missy Egan, the nervous wierdo who lives alone in the woods.
Based on a novel by Lois Duncan.
More movie reviews by Seth Bookey, with graphics, can be found at http://www.geocities.com/Athens/2679/kino.html
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