Amazon.com video review:
I Know What You Did Last Summer
As they celebrate their high school graduation, four friends are involved
in a hit-and-run accident when their car hits--and apparently kills--a
pedestrian on an isolated roadway. They dispose of the body and vow to keep
the incident a secret, but a year later somebody starts sending them
letters bearing the warning "I Know What You Did Last Summer." At that
point the panicked foursome becomes the target of an elusive serial killer
whose disguise consists of a fisherman's slicker and a lethal ice hook.
Part mystery and part slasher flick, this thriller was heavily hyped as a
follow-up to Scream by screenwriter Kevin Williamson (who later created the
TV series Dawson's Creek), and like Scream it's a showcase
for a teenage cast including Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle
Gellar. And while this shocker isn't as inspired as its predecessor, it's guaranteed
to give its target audience a few good thrills as it dives toward a routine
climax of mayhem and murder. Based (rather loosely) on the popular novel by
Lois Duncan. --Jeff Shannon
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
There was so much story left to tell after I Know What You Did Last
Summer that the filmmakers brought back all the beloved, surviving
characters from the first film for this sequel. Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.),
Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), and Julie's white tank top (Jennifer Love
Hewitt's white tank top) return to once again face a hook-wielding maniac.
Not satisfied merely to repeat a theme, director Danny Cannon and
screenwriter Trey Callaway add variation by introducing Karla (Brandy) as
Julie's best friend in the whole wide world. Karla and Julie have won a
summer trip to the Bahamas with their current infatuations but find that
they've arrived at the start of the storm season and that their hotel
"Do Not Disturb" signs should flip to say "R.I.P." One can only hope to
hang just such a sign on this repetitive, tedious franchise, especially
since this version is less scary than the price of beer in those little
hotel-room refrigerators. Definite contender for Gratuitous T&A Shot of the
Year (it's of Hewitt and that's not meant as a recommendation). --Keith
Simanton
Amazon.com video review: As they celebrate their high school graduation, four friends are involved in a hit-and-run accident when their car hits--and apparently kills--a pedestrian on an isolated roadway. They dispose of the body and vow to keep the incident a secret, but a year later somebody starts sending them letters bearing the warning "I Know What You Did Last Summer." At that point the panicked foursome becomes the target of an elusive serial killer whose disguise consists of a fisherman's slicker and a lethal ice hook. Part mystery and part slasher flick, this thriller was heavily hyped as a follow-up to Scream by screenwriter Kevin Williamson (who later created the TV series Dawson's Creek), and like Scream it's a showcase for a teenage cast including Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar. And while this shocker isn't as inspired as Scream, it's guaranteed to give its target audience a few good thrills as it dives toward a routine climax of mayhem and murder. Based (rather loosely) on the popular novel by Lois Duncan. --Jeff Shannon
Amazon.com video review: Just what the world needs, another riff on that post-Psycho horror cliché: the slasher movie. In this version, which considerably dumbs down the Lois Duncan book, the bad guy chases naughty teenagers with a hook, all the while dressed as a dark version of the Gorton's fisherman. They seem to have killed someone in a car accident while out partying, and a price must be paid. Nothing new is added to the genre, though it would be unfair not to note that this does have some scary moments. That is about all it has, because as much as this wanted to be another Scream, it hasn't the heart or the script. It does, however, have the requisite cast of small-screen stars (including Party of Five's Jennifer Love Hewitt and Buffy herself, Sarah Michelle Gellar) to have snagged box-office success, spawning a sequel. --Rochelle O'Gorman