I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) – Review

Off the coast of North Carolina waves crash into the shore as winding roads roll up the mountains. A heart sick man sits upon a rock, looking at a locket of someone he is upset over. He is unhappy and clearly contemplating ending it all, and is then distracted by July 4^th fireworks above.

Meanwhile in the nearby town of Southport, it is the Croaker Beauty Pageant show and Helen Shivers (Gellar) competes, while her boyfriend Barry Cox (Phillippe) and friends Julie James (Hewitt) and Ray Bronson (Prinze Jr.) watch from the top theater overhang. Helen wins! She is the new Croaker Queen. Wooo!

Next, a live band kicks off evening festivities, and the friends drink and party. Julie’s friend Max Neurick (Galecki) tries to hit on her before everyone goes off to college, but things don’t go his way. Our crew of friends speed off down curving dark roads to continue their drinking on the beach by a fire and tell scary stories.

Eventually they take off for more fun in Barry’s BMW, speeding through the hills. At least Ray is sober and driving, however this scenario leads to disaster. As devastation sets in, the friends decide they don’t have many options in order to keep their bright futures intact. They hope no one will ever know about this event.

A year later and Julie heads home from college, only to receive threats and messages about last summer. As bodies begin to pile up, the friends realize their secret has not been contained. Someone knows, and someone is coming for them. Who will survive??

If you are looking for a July 4^th themed horror, there are probably others, but here you go. It is kind of too bad that this really decent cast wasn’t given a bit of a sharper hook to work with here. It does look slick and runs quickly pace wise, but unfortunately it will also be relatively surprise free.

Despite being based on a book, honestly the setup isn’t that great, and neither are the slasher kills. Even with those weaker elements, the film is a mostly passable horror mystery, even if the characters aren’t very sympathetic, nor intelligent. The script is also missing the humor of the much stronger Scream series, despite having that series’ writer on board for this one. It found some success due to decent actors, but don’t go in expecting to be blown away as it is mostly by the numbers.