‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ Review: A Slicker Legacy Sequel Worth Waiting For [B+]
The Golden Age of Slashers in the late 1970s to mid-1980s saw films like The Texas Chain Saw Massacre (1974), Prom Night (1980), and A Nightmare on Elm Street (1984) captivate and terrify audiences in exciting, new ways. The genre declined in the following years due to oversaturation and repetition but was revitalized in the mid-to-late 1990s with I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) and Scream, its successful sister film released the year prior. Decades later, their stories still continue on as parallel “requels,” a portmanteau of remake and sequel, defined in Scream (2022) as a “meta slasher whodunit” that maintains some continuity with the original story and where legacy characters return to pass the trauma torch on to a new generation. It is immediately apparent that both original movies were born from the same mind—writer Kevin Williamson—whereas their recent installments also function in nearly identical ways. Though helmed by a completely new team except for producer Neal H. Moritz, this third sequel feels like the series’ best because there’s comfort in the familiar setting, yet plenty of room to continue to surprise and horrify fans.
Sequels or reboots can often feel repetitive and lazy when the same setups or devices are repurposed for a similar end result. Fear not, for this is not the case with I Know What You Did Last Summer. Writer-director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (Do Revenge) and co-writers (who both make cameos) Sam Lansky (books The Gilded Razor, The Woman in Me) and Leah McKendrick (Scrambled) revamp the original with plenty of unexpected twists, gratifying comic relief, and a seemingly infinite list of Easter eggs that never feels inappropriately placed or annoyingly flashy.
Like the original, the film opens on Southport’s dramatic coastal cliffs, establishing the dangerously winding roads that eventually lead to an accidental yet fatal car accident. Coinciding with the Fourth of July is Danica and Teddy’s engagement party (guests are welcomed by a large, formidable banner stating “Danica and Teddy Get Hooked”), an apt scenario for a friendly high school reunion. Ava (Chase Sui Wonders, The Studio) comes home, awkwardly reacquainted with her ex, Milo (Jonah Hauer-King, The Little Mermaid); together they mirror the more easygoing couple and only returning survivors of the 1997 massacre, Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.). Madelyn Cline (Outer Banks) makes for the newest scream queen with quite a flair for comedy as Danica, another Southport Croaker Queen like Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar). Tyriq Withers (the upcoming Him) channels the hot-headed alcoholic Barry (Ryan Phillippe) as Teddy, son of town real estate mogul Grant Spencer (Billy Campbell, Once and Again). As the group leaves, they invite Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon, The Wilds), an old friend who helped cater the event, to join them (partly out of pity and partly in solidarity) to watch fireworks from the most magical spot in town. What transpires is a night they’ll never forget and one that will eventually get each of them hunted.
Southport has gotten a major facelift over the past few decades- cheekily referred to as “gentrifislaytion”- in hopes of overcoming its haunted past and keeping the town on the map. Spencer Group has even turned the store at which Helen and her sister Elsa (Bridgette Wilson-Sampras) worked—the one with the creepy mannequins covered in plastic now in the attic—into a SoHo House-type private club. However, the town’s dark history is far from forgotten. Tyler (Gabbriette, lead vocalist of Nasty Cherry), host of the “Live, Laugh, Slaughter” podcast and another mark of the modern infatuation with true crime, makes a pilgrimage to Southport to commemorate the tragedy’s anniversary. The group eventually enlists her help and that of Julie, who now teaches college psychology, and Ray in relating the original killer’s motives to their own situation, but only after they begin to process their trauma, something the original group never did, and for which they ultimately paid the price. Danica and Teddy follow in Helen and Barry’s footsteps after she suffers from nightmares and stress-induced alopecia and he becomes an alcoholic recluse. Thankfully, Ava partially copes with her guilt unlike Julie, who fell into a deep depression that affected her relationships and schoolwork.
A year after the incident, Danica receives the foreboding, titular letter at her bridal shower. At first, she comically brushes the situation off as taking too much Adderall that morning, but it doesn’t take long for the bodies to start piling up. The fisherman’s creepy slicker and sharp hook are back and more gruesome than ever, slicing and stabbing every target like softened butter. And, as spotted in the trailer during another Scream shoutout, they’ve upgraded with a grappling hook gun, too. Prepare to remain on the edge of your seat with plenty of jump scares and surprises that will either keep you screaming or smiling until the very end.
I Know What You Did Last Summer thanks its fans by honoring the original’s success and updating certain aspects to reflect the modern world. It makes self-referential jabs to keep from taking itself too seriously, a clumsy situation in which other recent reboots or sequels frequently find themselves. Fans of the recent Scream sequels will find similarities here in structure and in how Julie and Ray reprise their legacy roles; however, it never feels reductive. Come for the gruesome kills and a fun, gory walk down memory lane, but stay for the laughs and an end credits scene to die for.
Grade: B+
Sony Pictures will release I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) only in theaters on July 18.
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