I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST
SUMMER
RATING: 7.5 / 10 --> Re-Watchable
Review Date:
April 13, 1998
Director:
Jim Gillespie
Writer:
Kevin Williamson
Producers:
Stokely Chaffin, Erik Feig, Neal H. Moritz
Actors:
Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie
James
Freddie Prinze Jr. as Ray
Bronson
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Helen Shivers
Ryan Phillippe as Barry
Cox
Genre:
Horror
Year of Release:
1997
Another chilling slasher flic from the mind of the horror-meister
himself, Kevin Williamson (writer of SCREAM (8/10) and SCREAM 2).
Hip cast, hip soundtrack, hip movie.
PLOT:
Four high-school friends accidentally run over someone with their
car and kill him. They decide to dump the body into the water,
and not tell anybody their "incident of the summer".
One year later, someone in their town mysteriously begins to
taunt them about what they "did last summer". And
that's when the haunting and scaring begins...
CRITIQUE:
Engaging horror thriller that was very reminiscent of SCREAM, and
packs a lot of thrills and chills, within its slick MTV-ized
packaged product. And even though the first hour is more mystery
than anything, don't be fooled into believing that the last half
of the film doesn't contain the many gruesome bloody murders to
which we have become accustomed. Because plenty of them do
transpire (although many less than in SCREAM).
I was never bored by this story, since it unfolded as it went,
and allowed the viewer to continually keep guessing on the
perpetrator's identity. That puzzle was fun, as was the costume
in which the murderer exterminated his victims (fisherman's
outfit, complete with hook...always seemed kind of eerie to me).
The young, hip cast was adequate, with Hewitt doing her best
Alyssa Milano impression, and Heche pulling off an excellent hick
from the boonies. I must say that I was surprised to find no
blatant T&A shots present in this movie, although the two
female stars did sport enough tight shirts to cut the circulation
in any movie-watcher's system.
The down side was that much like in SCREAM, the murderer did just
seem to be around when the main cast was present, and always
seemed to disappear (a bit too conveniently at times) when anyone
else appeared. That aside, the movie intensified as it went on,
charged through a quick 90 minutes, and left enough room for one
and all to look forward to another hip, young sequel in the
future, tentatively entitled I STILL KNOW. Warm those
nachos...here I come !!!
Little Known Facts:
Sarah Michelle Gellar studied Tae Kwon Do for five years, and now
she's taking kickboxing, boxing, street fighting and gymnastics.
Kevin Williamson was born to a fisherman and a story-telling
mother in New Bern, North Carolina. He set the film in a town
close to his boyhood home, Southport, because it seemed like the
"ideal place for the setting" (based on the book by
Lois Duncan). The movie was actually filmed there as well.
Williamson's dedication to writing is revealed in his daily
habits. Reportedly, he only gets four hours of sleep on a
"very uncomfortable couch, so I won't sleep too much,"
and then wakes at 4 am to begin writing.
(c) 1998 Berge Garabedian
Movie Reviews by Berge Garabedian