31 Days of Horror Day 20 I Know What You Did Last Summer

Title-I Know What You Did Last Summer
Source-Sony Pictures Triple Feature DVD

Roughly 21 years ago the first film in the I Know What You Did Last Summer was released. Not sure why but I never saw it. At the time I was seeing most horror films that got a major theatrical release.  But somehow I didn't see it until today.Sometime in late 2017 I found a triple feature DVD set at Dollar General. It was all 3 IKWYDLS movies and only cost 7 bucks. My plan at the time was to cover all 3 films in 2017's 31 Days of Horror. Then I just never got around to watching them,

After having breakfast today I wanted a horror movie I had never seen to watch. I like slashers and saw this triple feature pack sitting on my shelf. When I started the movie I only knew a few things about it. One was that it is based on a novel from the 70s.Secondly it was based on a script by Kevin Williamson. Back when he was still hot off Scream. Thirdly was the cast was a decent mixture of young stars that were just starting to get known. And finally that the killer used a giant hook to kill people.

Let's take a look at the cast. We got Jennifer Love Hewitt as the lead.

This was back when she was mega popular cause of Party of Five.Before this I had only seen her in comedies and she is good at comedy. But this movie showed me she can do drama also. And seems to have all the skills she needed to become a modern Scream Queen. Sadly as of this writing she has only done the two IKWYDLS films and no other horror films.

 Freddie Prinze Jr is the male lead. I have never found him to be a great actor. But he is much better in this film than he has been in the other films I have seen him in.

 Sarah Michelle Geller,and this was months before Buffy the Vampire Slayer TV show started,is decent as the prom queen archtype.Now I have said many times that on the show Buffy I loved pretty much everybody but Sarah Michelle Gellar. I was shocked that she was damn good in I Know What You Did Last Summer. She is great playing the self absorbed rich girl.

Ryan Phillippe is great as the rich asshole kid. You know the type. The kid that got a sports car the day he turned 15. The kid that was a dick but cause he had money people were friends with him.

That is our main four, but there are two others that stand out to me.

Up first is Johnny Galecki.Before this I just knew Johnny as the guy that always plays nerds and wimps. He was David on Roseanne,the nerd of Big Bang Theory and the son in Xmas Vacation. I was a bit shocked at how well he is at playing against type in this movie. You believe that he is a tough guy. And don't think of the wimps he normally plays.

Bridgette Wilson plays the older sister of Sarah Michelle Gellar. I do wonder why a actress with the talent Ms Wilson has why she doesn't do more movies. Hell I bet if you asked 10 people maybe 2 of them tops would even know who Bridgette Wilson is.

The  plot is fairly simple. Our 4 leads are out partying on 4th of July 1996. Freddie ends up driving Ryan's car. Because Ryan is shitfaced. They are going down a twisting road right by the ocean. Ryan is standing up halfway out the sunroof. And they end up hitting someone who appears out of nowhere. They decide to toss the body into the ocean.But right before they do this they find out the person is still alive.


Skip ahead a year. Jennifer Love Hewitt is home from college for the summer. And she receives a note that says I Know What You Did Last Summer. So she gathers the other 3 and they try to figure out who sent the note and why.

So while the movie is a slasher it is also a mystery. After going  thru a few red herrings we finally get the reveal on who the killer is.  Now I have seen piles of horror movies and read bunches of horror novels. And I didn't manage to guess who the killer is. And of course the final scene sets up the sequel.

I am shocked at how much I enjoyed the movie. I figured going into it I was gonna get a Scream ripoff. And the best part of the film would be seeing JLH in tight tops,and seeing her in tight tops is a nice added bonus of the movie. So I was majorly surprised at how well written and acted the movie is. It is almost as good as the original Scream.

The DVD has a few extras. The best of which is a commentary. Which is packed with info. This triple feature set has each film on  it's own DVD. I am guessing this is just a repacking of unsold copies of original releases.  I might before the month is over watch at least the second film. From what I have read the third film is barely related to the first 2 and was made years after them and went DTV.

I Know What You Did Last Summer gets a B+.