I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) Review by Larry McGillicuddy Copyright Larry McGillicuddy
**** (out of 4) Directed by Jim Gillespie Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillipe, Freddie Prinze Jr., Anne Heche, Johnny Galecki
The slasher movie was reborn last year with the success of Scream, a clever self aware thriller written by Kevin Williamson. Scream was notable for it's characters commenting on the very cliches that they found themselves placed in. But I think the reason it was so good and so successful was that it didn't insult the intelligence of it's audience. When the slasher movie began to die out in the late 80's (remember Jason Takes Manhattan?), it was because they had hit rock bottom in terms of acting, writing, and production values Kevin Williamson understands that his audience is smarter than that. His follow up to Scream is a smart and terrifying horror movie that works on nearly every level.
I Know What You Did Last Summer tells the tale of four teenagers who party a little too hard one summer night and accidentally hit a stranger with their car. Since one of them is drunk, they don't want to tell the police. Instead, they decide to dump the body in a lake and make a pact to keep it a secret amongst them.
Suddenly it's one year later, and Julie (Hewitt) has come home from college. One of the things that makes this movie work is that it creates actual characters and gives them a few scenes of development. It's alot scarier when a character you care about is in danger. Most of this occurs here, as the movie depicts how the characters have grown apart and never recovered from the incident. Anyways, when she arrives home, Julie gets a note that says you know what.
Suddenly, they are all being stalked by an unknown man in a fisherman outfit. The lighting and camera work, which hide his face, are extremely effective in making this figure very frightening. The screenplay throws in numerous suspects, trying to fool the viewer as to the identity of the killer. But this is not a whodunit. It's a slaher flick, and it is the best possible example of that genre.
The acting is top notch across the board. Jennifer Love Hewitt (Scott Wolf is awaiting the next Williamson script) is just as good as her Party of 5 co-star Neve Campbell was in Scream. Sarah Michelle Gellar, from TV's highly entertaining Buffy the Vampire Slayer, has a terrific screen presence and is a star in the making. And Anne Heche has a creepy cameo as the demented sister of the accident victim. First time director Jim Gillespie seems like a pro the way he creates a spooky atmosphere and hits the viewer with one scare after another.
In the old days of slasher movies, they hired actors based on who could scream the loudest and who had the biggest breasts. During this rebirth, they find talented actresses from quality tv shows and seem to actually be auditioning for the supporting characters. This movie is told pretty straight, and makes no excuses for being a slasher movie. This is a good thing, because I am a fan of this genre and it's about time talented people started to work in it again.
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