PLOT: A group of friends are terrorised by a stalker who knows about a gruesome incident from their past.
REVIEW: Legacy sequels have been trendy ever since Halloween back in 2018, and they really haven’t slowed down. Some have managed to be fun continuations, while most feel like soulless cash grabs, intent on smacking us with more nostalgia than we know what to do with, hoping we’ll forgive their lack of quality. And given that the I Know series has never been anything more than a slasher trying to ride Scream’s coattails, my hopes weren’t high. So does I Know What You Did Last Summer buck the trend and actually give us a decent entry with the hook-handed fisherman? Well…
I Know What You Did Last Summer follows the exact same formula we’ve seen before: a group of young adults get someone killed (if you can call it that), cover it up, then someone makes them pay for it a year later. I’m not opposed to repeating plot structure, especially when it comes to horror, but how many times can this happen to a person in this same town?! There must be something in the water that breeds homicidal maniacs.
The acting is all over the place here, with performances ranging from okay to absolutely awful. There are clear parallels between the characters and those from the first film. But none of them are as likable (which is hilarious because it’s not exactly like the original group of teens who hate each other, fit the bill either), and all feel so entitled. Chase Sui Wonders is the only real saving grace, but she still feels shortchanged. As for legacy characters, Freddie Prinze Jr tries his best, but he’s constantly having to spew out the corniest lines, and Jennifer Love Hewitt is hardly in the film. It’s no wonder she signed on so late in the process. There’s definitely some alternate version without Julie James even in it, and the movie would have been unaffected by it.
Any slasher can have a so-so story and bad acting, but make up for it with the kills. The kills were decent enough but they’re over in a flash, outside of one, which ended up being the standout kill. They don’t even have the balls to go all the way with killing off certain characters either. I did like the aftermath of some of the kills, as it’s actually where it felt a little meaner. But this practically could have been PG-13.
The killer reveal (which we’ll obviously avoid spoilers for) is one of the stupidest things in a modern slasher. Any savvy viewer is probably going to guess it pretty easily (I had it pegged just from the trailer), but that doesn’t make it any less idiotic. There are cameos that made me roll my eyes and some of the dumbest killer motivations I’ve ever been witness to.
As much as I’ve always considered this franchise to be very middling, I was still shocked at how bad this ended up being. There are hardly any redeeming qualities, with this likely to be a stain on the legacy of anyone involved. Hell, it essentially ruins the first film, which is a specific level of “how did you screw this up so much?” The acting is bad, the story is nonsensical, and the dialogue feels like it was written by someone who has never heard human beings speak before. Here’s hoping this puts the final nail in the coffin of lazy legacy sequels.
I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER RELEASES TO THEATERS ON JULY 18TH, 2025.
