I Know What You Did Last Summer
review by Bobby Blakey
The I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise held its own for years with three feature films and a TV series. The series seemingly was officially over, but with the success of returning franchises like Scream and Halloween, it no doubt paved the way for them to finally bring the fisherman back to the big screen for the latest chapter simply titled I Know What You Did Last Summer that is bringing back series regulars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinz Jr., along with Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Gabbriette Bechtel, Austin Nichols, Lola Tung and Nicholas Alexander Chavez with Thor: Love & Thunder co-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson taking the director’s chair.
The next chapter of I Know What You Did Last Summer follows five friends who inadvertently cause a deadly car accident, cover up their involvement and make a pact to keep it a secret rather than face the consequences. A year later, their past comes back to haunt them and they’re forced to confront a horrifying truth: someone knows what they did last summer…and is hell-bent on revenge. As one by one the friends are stalked by a killer, they discover this has happened before, and they turn to two survivors of the legendary Southport Massacre of 1997 for help.
I know that this series wasn’t nearly as popular as Scream, but I have always been a fan of the first two films. Let’s just pretend that the third film never happened. Getting back for a reboot of sorts was fine by me, but made it all the more appealing with the return of Hewitt and Prinze Jr. returning had me all in. Story wise it is pretty much the same set up as expected with just enough
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twists and turns as you try to figure out how it connects of the mysterious fisherman to deliver the goods.
The young group of young people are initially annoying in the opening moments of the film, but thankfully as it jumps ahead, they mellow a bit. They are all cliched characters that we have seen a thousand times but work exactly as the film is expected. Even the accident leaves you initially scratching your head as to why they handle it the way they do but does play into the rest of it the film and its big reveal. Once we get into the meat of it all the film kicks into gear and brings the carnage. Sure, it’s a by the numbers slasher flick, but that is exactly what I was here for.
Within this new story they do a great job tying it all back to the original film and paying homage to other characters in the original film along with Hewitt and Prinze Jr. Neither of them are in the film a ton, but both play an important pivotal role and handle in a way that works well. I think this film brings some of the best bloody kills of the franchise further stepping things up in this new hopeful start to the franchise. This was an entertaining return to the classic slasher film bringing the new and old together and even set up some stuff for future installments in numerous ways should it be successful.
Stick through the credits for a great mid-credit scene that will please the hardcore fans and set up even more possible awesomeness in the series should we be so lucky. In addition to the film this release offers bonus content including outtakes & bloopers, deleted & extended scenes, featurettes and more.
Witness the return of the Fisherman when I Know What You Did Last Summer available now on digital (as well as the 2-movie collection featuring the original film) and then on 4K, Blu-ray and DVD on October 7th from Sony Home Entertainment.
