I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

Directed by Jim Gillespie [Other horror films: D-Tox (2002), Venom (2005)]

Among the many slashers to crop up once Scream re-ignited the subgenre, I Know What You Did Last Summer is among the best. It’s nowhere as good as Scream, but it is a very solid movie, partially due to a combination of the story and the setting.

I’m a sucker for oceans. I’ve never personally seen an ocean, at least in living memory, so I was always fascinated by coastal communities, especially small coastal communities. And since I Know What You Did Last Summer primarily takes place in a tiny coastal community in North Carolina, it had me from hello.

Of course, most people know the plot of this one – four teenagers cause an accidental manslaughter, and once they get rid of the evidence, they make a pact to never bring it up again. Alas, a year later, at the anniversary of the incident, a killer wearing a long, black slicker and wielding a hook, hunts them down.

We know the plot, which is fun enough, but what I didn’t know is that it’s partially based on a novel by Lois Duncan, titled, believe it or not, I Know What You Did Last Summer. It’s a thriller written for young adults as opposed to a slasher (and in fact, Duncan wasn’t happy with the slasher approach to the story the film took), but the main plot is all there, which is somewhat fascinating.

I’ve always loved the design of the fisherman here. The long, black slicker, sticking up so it hides their face, that black hat, that hook – I won’t say it’s a better look than Ghostface, but it is among one of my favorite looks among slasher antagonists, and he wields a hook almost as beautifully as Candyman (albeit with less gore). The setting is great, as we see plenty of water, boats, crabs, fishing nets, as is the atmosphere, and much like the killer’s design, I’ve always loved it.

Though it’s not a gory movie, I Know What You Did Last Summer does have some very solid scenes, the tension perhaps making up for lack of blood. I think the sequence in which Sarah Michelle Gellar’s character is chased is the best, especially the attack behind the tires, just feet away from a bustling parade. That was just fantastically shot. A sequence that has the fisherman creeping into Gellar’s house, causing her to wake up the following morning with a message on her mirror, was quality also. There’s also the finale on the boat – with bodies packed in ice and hooks flying everywhere, worth seeing if nautical nonsense is something you’d wish.

Jennifer Love Hewitt was pretty decent as the more likable character of assholes. To be fair, I don’t think any of the four kids are particularly sympathetic, but Hewitt’s was occasionally the most moral. Freddie Prinze Jr., Sarah Michelle Gellar, and Ryan Phillippe all had their moments, Gellar perhaps being the strongest. Anne Heche (who I know from both Volcano and the Psycho remake) had some good scenes, and I entirely forget Johnny Galecki was in this, which means I haven’t seen this film since I started The Big Bang Theory, which shows exactly how long it’s been.

And it has been years since I’ve seen this, which is one of the reasons I was quite excited to revisit it. Unlike other post-Scream slashers that disappointed me upon rewatches (such as Urban Legend and Valentine), I Know What You Did Last Summer held up pretty well. It’s even better than another of my personal favorites, being Cherry Falls, and is overall a fun and memorable film with a good mystery and well-designed killer.

8/10