Directed by: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Written by: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and Sam Lansky
Run Time: 1 hour 51 mins

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With both Halloween (2018) and Scream (2022) generating healthy box office returns and positive audience reactions, the market for horror legacy sequels quickly became undeniable. Keen to make a killing and capitalise on this popular new trend, many other genre staples have since tried their luck too, with varying levels of success – the less said about The Exorcist: Believer (2023) the better. Nevertheless, the nostalgia train is still full steam ahead, and next stop is Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s creatively titled I Know What You Did Last Summer.

Taking audiences straight back to Southport, Robinson’s film follows Ava (Chase Sui Wonders) as she travels home to attend the engagement party of her friends Danica (Madelyn Cline) and Teddy (Tyriq Withers), but while there, her group becomes involved in a tragic accident. Then, one year later while hosting her bridal shower, Danica receives an anonymous message reading “I know what you did last summer” and subsequently, a violent killing spree begins.

Other than sharing the same location as Jim Gillespie’s original 1997 slasher of the same name, I Know What You Did Last Summer begins more like a remake than a sequel. As it continues to unfold, it does so in strikingly similar fashion to the first film – a group of friends involved in a late night car accident – and seems almost too similar to be a sequel, but it is. One character explains this particular stretch of road is notorious for accidents, but this coincidental detail is simply the first indication of the film’s lack of ideas and over-reliance on the original.

It isn’t until the first kill that this version puts its own sinister stamp on the franchise, admittedly delivering one of the most memorable murders this series has ever seen. It’s a shame then, that after such a shocking start, the film’s kills become so lazy and uninspired. They too mostly retread the pattern of the original film by revisiting key locations and reusing moments from classic chase sequences. But if nostalgia is as “overrated” as Jennifer Love Hewitt’s original final girl Julia James proclaims so, it seems contradictory for Robinson to so blatantly indulge in it at almost every single turn.

I Know What You Did Last Summer doesn’t just copy its own series though, it borrows ideas from other horror titles too. Its July 4th panic, combined with its central slasher whodunnit mystery creates this curious Jaws (1975) meets Scream (1996) amalgamation – at one point two of the victims are even strung up by the harbour like sharks. A subtle homage to either or both films would have been a most welcome tip of the hat between fellow genre titles, but the failure to create its own identity aside from these inspirations means that it never creates a good enough reason to exist in its own right.

It’s unfortunate as the fresh cast of characters assembled to rejuvenate this franchise aren’t bad company. As Ava, Chase Sui Wonders presents a capable protagonist, while both Madelyn Cline and Tyriq Withers offer entertaining performances as the more stereotypical one part ditsy, one part himbo slasher couple. Elsewhere, Gabbriette Bechtel is good fun as ‘Live, Laugh, Slaughter’ podcast host Tyler – even if her addition to the cast feels like more metatextual mimicry from further afield.

And of course you can’t have a legacy sequel without legacy characters. Although in this case, there aren’t a whole lot left to choose from. As would be expected Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. reprise their roles as Julie and Ray, but regrettably neither deliver performances worthy enough of resurrecting either character. Instead, their weak portrayals render this legacy sequel dead on arrival, only encouraging the notion that a remake would have worked far better.

As while this sequel’s attempts at some camp callbacks are at times effective, its efforts to provide a more serious, straight-faced take on trauma alongside them are just too conflicting. Especially when the script falls off the wrong side of silly, in turn imploding into self-parody and farce. Now, what little credibility I Know What You Did Last Summer had to begin with is all but a distant memory of cinematic seasons long past.

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Star Rating: ★ ★

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