I Know What You Did Last Summer

Image credit: Wikipedia

While it’s fun to go back to the good movies from a bygone era, there is a joy to be had in watching the bad movies from a bygone era – especially the ‘90s slasher flick. Considering that the Scream franchise is up to its seventh movie, Chucky slashed up screens for over two decades, and I Know What You Did Last Summer got a reboot last year, there’s clearly something appealing about this eerie little subgenre. So, eager for some smooth-brained suspense this evening, Partner and I curled up and went back to 1997 with the original I Know What You Did Last Summer.

In a small fishing town, after a 4^th of July parade, a group of teenaged friends have a bit too much fun on the beach and accidentally hit a man on the drive home. Terrified that going to the cops will ruin their futures, they agree to dump the body in the harbour and take the secret to their grave. One year later, they are reunited and their guilt comes back to haunt them, as they begin getting mysterious letters and a strange figure with an angler’s hook starts stalking them. They soon realise that someone knows what they did last year… and they’re not going to let them forget it!

While it lacks the charisma of Ghostface or the suspense of Michael Myers, this classic ‘90s slasher is not without its charm. Arguably a modern take on The Tell-Tale Heart by Edgar Allen Poe, the real horror of I Know What You Did Last Summer is actually manufactured by the protagonists/victims themselves, each one trying to process their guilt and post-traumatic stress…unsuccessfully.

The arrival of the first mysterious note sends them down a rabbit hole of trying to find out about the person they killed, thus hoping to find leads as to who the stalker might be. As they find more clues, discover new truths, and get closer to achieving closure, that’s when the tantalising torment turns violent and fear, paranoia, and grief start to overwhelm them: strengthening the allegorical slasher.

The performances are a little shaky, unless someone is yelling in anger or screaming in fear, and the mystery portion of the story itself is pretty flimsy. The enjoyment of this film definitely comes from its stoic adherence to horror rules despite providing some tongue-in-cheek meta about the genre at the beginning. It’s always fun to just groan when the helpless girl runs in the opposite direction of where she should be going or calling which character will be killed next and how. And simple tricks like narrative misdirection and jump scares still serve to make us flinch and exclaim in mild surprise when the ‘twist’ happens.

Image credit: Medium

I Know What You Did Last Summer is by no means amazing, but it’s a film that does have some intriguing layers to it, making it a perfectly enjoyable Friday night popcorn movie.

Director: Jim Gillespie, 1997

Cast: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Ryan Phillippe, Anne Heche, Johnny Galecki, Bridgette Wilson-Sampras, & Muse Watson