I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER by DeWyNGaLe * * * *
I Know What You Did Last Summer was a mystery written by Lois Duncan in the seventies. It was about four kids who hit a boy in the middle of the street and now someone knows and comes to make sure they have paid for what they have done. The movie adaption is pretty much the same, only it is a grown man in the middle of the street and the plot is a little more complicated. They are spoilers though, so I won't reveal them.
Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) is competing for the beauty pageant at the 4th of July parade in Southport, South Carolina. Her friends, Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr.), and Barry Cox (Ryan Phillippe). She wins, of course, and then the four of them go to celebrate on Dawson's Beach. On the way back, Ray runs into something. The four of them get out of the car and look down the road, revealing a dead body. They take him to a fishing place, where they can put his body in the water and no one will find out about what happened that summer. They make a pact to never tell anyone what went on that year. No one every did, either. Then how come someone knows?
In the past year, Julie James's life has been terrible. She feels awful for what she has done and doesn't want to tell anyone, in fear. Her grades have slipped, her relationship with her mother has vanished, and she is losing friends. One year after the incident on the road, she gets a letter. In bold black print it reads Julie James, followed by her address. She opens the letter to a small slip of paper reading I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. Julie is terrified. They were so careful, weren't they? Who could know?
She takes the letter to Ray, Helen, and Barry to show them what has gone on. Now, the terror is happening to all four of them. Barry gets run over. Julie gets a body in a truck. Helen gets her hair chopped off. Ray gets another letter. Pretty freaky, huh? Now, they are seeing the killer. He wears a fisherman's coat, with a hat so you cannot see his/her face. They go to David Egan's (the man they ran over) house in hopes they could find out some information. All they find is the suspicious Missy Egan. (played terrifically by Anne Heche) They suspect it is someone named Billy Blue, a man that Missy named stopped by the house shortly after David died. After some more twists and sightings, the climax comes when the fisherman is ready to kill all four of them with his long, sharp fishing hook.
I Know What You Did Last Summer was written by Kevin Williamson, and if it weren't for him, this movie probably wouldn't have been as good. Jennifer Love Hewitt proves herself to be a good actress, as well as the rest of the cast. Sarah Michelle Gellar shows us she can do more than be a mean daughter on a soap opera. Ryan Phillippe shows us that he can act great. Overall, the movie is wonderful, although a few elements are difficult to understand. This movie and the second Scream are sitting on top of the world. For now, anyway. Perhaps another great movie will come and bump this one off. But, considering how eerie and scary it is, it is almost impossible.
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