I feel a certain sense of loyalty to I Know What You Did Last Summer; after all, much of it was filmed in my current home state. While there are quite a few horror movies that filmed scenes in the area—some of those locations I’ve visited already—I Know What You Did Last Summer takes place in a fictionalized version of Southport, NC. While it does a great job of showcasing the spirit of the town, how well does it hold up at a horror movie, and as a slasher?
- Directed by: Jim Gillespie
- Written by: Kevin Williamson. Lois Duncan
- Starring: Jennifer Love Hewitt. Sarah Michelle Gellar. Anne Heche
The Obvious Comparison
To get it out of the way, I Know What You Did Last Summer was never the critical success that its writer’s previous film was. There’s a pretty good reason for that: it’s not very good. Now before I get ahead of myself, there’s nothing offensively wrong with it. It has some flaws with its Final Girl and issues with the killer’s motive. These may not have been quite so obvious had Scream not just come out. Turns out, when you make an entire move highlighting the issues with slashers, following it up with a weak, “by the number’s” slasher, it’s not the best idea.
The real irony is had Scream not reignited the public’s appetite for slashers, I Know What You Did Last Summer may never have been greenlit.
Review and Recap
Loosely based on a book by Lois Duncan, mixed with the urban legend “The Hook”, I Know What You Did Last Summer follows four teens as they deal with the fallout from trying to cover up what they thought was a deadly hit-and-run accident. Some menacing letters and a few deaths later, they find out they are being stalked by a menacing fisherman wielding a hook for a weapon. Hilarity ensues.
Most of the movie focuses on Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Final Girl, Julie, trying to figure out who they killed, and who is killing her friends and acquaintances. The movie makes a token effort at introducing some potential suspects. Freddie Prinze Jr., one of the group, is floated as a possible killer. His life hasn’t been great since the accident, and he was the driver; maybe guilt has pushed him over the edge. Max, one of their classmates, seems creepily into Jennifer Love Hewitt, and drove by the group the night of the incident. Sadly, he dies pretty quickly, so it’s not him.
The Killer
Then, there is the body itself. After some mistaken identity shenanigans, Julie uncovers the truth. They ran over Ben Willis, who was out on the road that night killing the man who killed his daughter in a car accident. Ben Willis is now after them because…he’s mad they ran him over? Now, they did leave him for dead, which is a bad idea. So, he’s already displaying poor impulse control. Still, as far as motives for mass murder goes, it’s not a great one. Especially when you consider the amount of effort he puts into the notes, stalking, and harassing. A more direct line between the kids who almost killed him and the kid who killed his daughter might have helped, but overall, he’s one of the weaker killers in terms of motivation.
His Kills
I Know What You Did Last Summer is a fairly bloodless slasher. The death count is low, and most of the action takes place in shadows or out of the line of sight of the camera. While this isn’t my favorite approach to the genre, I understand how it may be appealing to wider audiences. The focus on tension and suspense over blood and guts was a smart decision; not because of the overall quality of the film, but because of the audience attracted by the cast.
The Victims
Out of the four leads, Jennifer Love Hewitt (Julie), and Sarah Michelle Gellar (Helen), were the most recognizable, with Hewitt appearing on the successful teen drama Party of Five. It probably goes without out saying how audiences were familiar with Gellar, but if you’re new here, she’s Buffy the Vampire Slayer. The TV show was a huge cult hit and no, it hasn’t aged as well as we would like. That’s a rant for another day.
Regardless, casting stars from shows attracted an audience that may have been more interested in the character-driven elements of horror and less into the blood and guts. The movie was financially successful, even if it lacked elements that hard core enthusiasts were looking for.
As for the boys, Ryan Phillipe and Freddie Prinze Jr.’s biggest hits were still ahead of them. They fit their archetypes well, and certainly delivered on the “good-looking teens in trouble” part of the genre.
Where the script really falls apart is in building its characters. It wants to be about the relationships and how they fell apart in the aftermath of the accident.
Best Boy Ray
There are some hints about Ray, Freddie Prinze Jr.’s character, being from a different economic or social class than the rest of his friends. It’s possible that his father being a fisherman would create the divide. But as far as worldbuilding or tangible signs of this, it’s a lot of dialogue with little action to back it up. A good example of this: right after the accident, Ray makes a comment about his family not being able to get him out of trouble like the others. In Barry’s, Ryan Phillipe, case, we know he’s a rich kid. We see his house, he drives a fancy car, and wears cable knit sweaters in summer. Ray doesn’t get that much background info.
I’m not sure why the focus on class differences bothers me, maybe because fishing looks to be a large driver of the economy of this version of Southport. Certainly, more so than the Shivers’ department store.
Helen
Which brings us to Helen Shivers. She’s probably one of my favorite characters because of the development she gets from one year to the next. Helen’s family owns a local department store, but her dream is to go to New York and become a serious actress. After the accident, she attempts this but fails and returns home to work at the perfume counter. Thanks to Geller, Helen feels like the small-town girl who underestimated the reality of the world. She makes sense in this story, even if I’m not sure how she plays into the class struggle they are trying to highlight.
What we see of her background and the Shivers’ home life is modest. Their house isn’t anything on the scale of Barry’s. It’s a lovely house; I’ve been there. It’s not a “buy my kid out of a hit-and-run” kind of house though.
Julie
Julie is even harder to figure out, because for her being the lead, we end up knowing the least about her. She wants to be a lawyer, and her father passed away. She’s got a strong moral compass, but ultimately went along with her friends very questionable decisions. She’s also pretty useless in a physical fight.
Julie is unfortunately one of my least favorite Final Girls, mostly due to her lack of impactful actions in the final encounter. She’s a great screamer, but if I’m being honest, Ray did all the heavy lifting on this one.
As much as I dislike Julie, I do kinda dig Ray as our Final Guy. He puts up with a lot of crap from Julie and the others. At one point, he’s even their number one suspect for being the killer. He still comes to the rescue, climbing nets and ripping off hands. He’s even smart enough to dispatch Ben Willis in a way that perfectly sets up the sequel.
The Sequels
It’s not a good as the original, but thanks to the success of I Know What You Did Last Summer, I Still Know…was greenlit. It takes the cast from the beautiful Southport to a resort in Mexico pretending to be a Caribbean island. Ray gets his own B-plot and again, shows up in time to save Julie. If I’m being fair, she gets more to do in this one. There is a third movie; it was direct-to-video and has nothing to do with these two. Don’t watch it.
In 2025, there will be a fourth, more directly connected to the originals. Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt are returning to help a new generation of careless teens. I’m here for it.
Final Thoughts
I Know What You Did Last Summer is classic teen horror. Its focus on the character over the kills didn’t always pay off in the way that I think the filmmakers imagined, but I can appreciate the effort. I love the town of Southport, and the locations they showcase in the film. Honestly, the location for Shivers department store (actually in Burgaw, NC; about an hour north of Southport) is a gorgeous building, and it breaks my heart that it’s currently not being used. I love that both towns are proud of their part in this movie and advertises their place in horror history. Not every location does, I think that says something.
I Know What You Did Last Summer. is available on streaming
Read other slasher reviews here:
Leave a Reply