I Know What You Did Last Summer
Cast: Jennifer Love Hewitt -- Julie James
Sarah Michelle Gellar -- Helen Shivers
Ryan Phillippe -- Barry Cox
Freddie Prinze Jr. -- Ray Bronson
Muse Watson -- Benjamin Willis/Fisherman
Bridgette Wilson -- Elsa Shivers
Anne Heche -- Missy Egan
Directed by : Jim Gillespie Written by: Kevin Williamson
I think of I Know What You Did Last Summer as the movie that Scream and Scream 2 could have been. Mind you, though, I mean this in the worst possible way. I Know What You Did Last Summer is a typical slasher flic without the smarts of the Scream's. As a result, it's even worse than some of your better campy horror pictures (see Nightmare on Elm Street) because it thinks it's about thirty times smarter than it is.
Based on a teen book of the same name and, disappointingly, adapted by Scream scribe Kevin Williamson, I Know What You Did Last Summer begins with appropriately angsty modern rock music combined with some startling cinematography of a cliff along the ocean and an angsty sort sitting at the top. The appropriate mood being set (this is angst-horror for the 90's), we cut over to the July 4th parade in a small North Carolina town. From there, we see the blond, female protagonist, Helen Shivers (woodenly played by Sarah Michelle Geller), getting crowned Croaker Queen as the blond male "hero," Barry Cox (woodenly played by Ryan Phillipe), and matched brunette pair of protagonists, Julie James and Ray Bronson (woodenly played by Party of Five's Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., respectively) cheer her on.
After getting drunk at a party, going to a beach to wittily discuss urban legend and indulge in some foreshadowing, and having some meaningful sex (if you believe what the characters say), the four run down some guy crossing the windy cliff road at night. His face is mangled so they can't tell who it is, and they come to the decision to dump him in the ocean so as to not ruin any of their future chances for success in the world.
Cut to one year later. The lives of our protagonists have gone from annoying to bad. Main brunette female, the bright one of the bunch, has been plagued with guilt and almost failed out of college. Blond female has forfeited her dreams of starring on Guiding Light, and now works at the family store in town. Brunette male is a fisherman, living off the land. Blond male has become a complete jerk and quarterback on some college football team. Then, predictably, their past comes back to haunt them.
It all begins with an irrational murder, followed by some taunting of protagonists by the mysterious killer, bad acting by a good actress (Anne Heche), an improbable plot, bad acting by the main bad actors, some more killing, concluding in a climactic scene, mostly climactic in the relief at the end of the movie. All the while, the actors and actresses spout off bad lines, and main brunette male does his best Keanu Reeves imitation.
Not that the movie was without pleasure. Count the illogical plot twists and bad lines for some fun. Mostly, though, note the costumes of main females and how trendily unattractive they make the otherwise eye-catching pair look.
Rating: 2 / 10
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