Write a commentThis entire review will reveal plot points from the third act of this film. If you do not want it ruined for you, read no further.
Frankly, you might be better off reading what happens so you don't waste your time like I did.
It was bound to happen. After the success of "Halloween" (2018) and "Scream" (2022), no franchise is safe from being rebooted. I hear there's even an 'Urban Legend" reboot in the works at the moment. If those movies, why not "I Know What You Did Last Summer"? If anyone has been keeping up with my reviews, you know that I have a strained relationship with this franchise. Even the original, which is head and shoulders above the rest of the franchise, is difficult to full fledged like considering the glaring flaws and weird pacing towards the end. As stated before, movies in general, but especially horror movies, are supposed to ramp up to a conclusion, not stall in second gear. Or first. I don't know cars. Let's just stick with stall.
I was willing to give it a chance. They got Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze, Jr. back. That means the script is of high quality. They wouldn't come back just for a paycheck, right?
Right?
Even in the previews of this movie, I was confused how it was even going to work. If you've seen the other parts of the franchise and/or read my previous reviews, you'll know that The Slicker Man was motivated by his own vengeance towards Julie and her friends. But, Julie isn't the main character in this one. So, does that mean Slicker Man is just going after a random group of people? Isn't he dead? Didn't stop him for the last one. Does that mean he's a zombie/ghost/whatever in this one as well?
Wait. Does he come back from the dead only to get hit by another car? What would be the chances of that, and what kind of prankster fate must be to allow someone to come back from the dead only to have the same thing happen again? Is Slicker Man in purgatory?
Another group of friends go on the same road as the original group and cause a car to go off the road. They attempt to save the driver only for the car to careen down the embankment and roll into a body of water. They promise to never talk about it. Then a year passes. People get notes and others start dying.
First thing's first: is it scary? No. Many of the murder set pieces are just that. There's not a lot of buildup to them. They just kinda happen, someone gets killed in one way or the other and then the scene ends. There's plenty of gore, but it almost feels like the purpose of the viscera is to distract from the complete unoriginality of the kills. For sure I've seen a lot of movies and I've certainly seen a lot of horror movies so maybe I'm a little desensitized to it. Maybe.
That brings up another question: who is this film for? Is it for the fans of the series or is it for a new audience to discover it? Most reboots straddle that line. They want a little from both and, hopefully, the box office reflects that. Watching the movie, I didn't see a lot of appeal for any newcomers to the franchise? Some of the cast have been in previous films and television and have proven at least partially capable of both walking and talking. None really command the screen. Say what you will about Jennifer Love Hewitt's acting skills, she had that "It" factor. Same thing for Freddie Prinze, Jr. The new cast is so boring and bland that you keep waiting for the original cast members to show up. If you look at "Scream" (2022), they gave you enough about the new characters to make you care about them. When the three main characters from the four previous entries arrived, they were a welcome sight, but not integral to the plot.
This is where I will be getting into more major spoilers. Two warnings? I know, right?
The biggest problem I've had with reboots is how many of them disrespect the characters from the original films. "Halloween" (2018) was the exception to this. "Scream" (2022) killed off Dewey, which was an enormous mistake. Many of the characters in these films deserve their happy ending. Most of the reboots throw them back into turmoil and, more often than not, kill them for cheap emotions. "I Know What You Did Last Summer" is no exception.
Julie is brought back from her job (as a college professor teaching about trauma?!) to help deal with what's happening in the main plot and Ray (Prinze, Jr.) is still in town. Julie and Ray didn't stay together and they went their separate ways. Julie and Ray, while obviously not Han and Leia or any other countless cinematic couples, deserved their happy ending. Instead, they're divorced and, guess what, Ray's a killer.
Yep. Ray, the dude that fought The Slicker Man in two previous installments, decided to become The Slicker Man himself, making this movie make no sense. Sure, Ray has a last ditch explanation as to why he did it all, but it's too little, too late. Ray turning into the killer is possibly one of the most cynical and stupid things this movie could have done. It sucks all the fun out of the movie, what little there was to be had to begin with, and is such an intense eye roll moment that I almost couldn't believe it.
I watched a few behind the scenes things about the film before the release. The cast and crew all seemed to be huge fans of the original. To me, this seems impossible. Any person in their right mind would have read the script, seen what they did to Ray and been like, "Nope. This makes no sense." This isn't me being a fanboy or gatekeeper. It's just cheap "gotcha!" screenwriting. The fact that the director was in the behind the scenes stuff, talking so highly about working with Sarah Michelle Gellar (who has a small, worthless fan service cameo) and how her character was such a huge deal pretty much showed me all I needed to see. She seemed incredibly smug and very out of touch with how to make the movie anything but nostalgia bait.
Many people see what they want to see and twist themselves into pretzels in order for it to make sense.
So, where are we at? Will there be another one of these things? As much as the movie really wants you to think there will be a sequel, I can't imagine there will be. The movie was not only poorly received critically, but it also didn't make much money at the box office. Maybe now that Ray is "dead", he can come back for the sequel. "Ha ha, you thought I was dead. I was just faking being both dead, but also the valiant hero of the other two movies I was in! Fooled you again!"
There comes a time where a movie can't be 100% fan service. It has to be able to stand on its own two feet and not use the previous entries of the franchise as crutches to hobble past the creative finish line. We are well past due for original content. The constant intellectual property mining is giving everyone major fatigue, even most of the actors.
My hope is that, yes, even The Slicker Man is allowed to stay dead and rest in peace. No more zombies, no more ghosts, no more former teen heartthrobs donning the slicker to take up his mantle. Just dead and gone forever.
A guy can wish, can't he?
I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)
Directed by: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson
Cast: Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze, Jr.
Runtime: 111 minutes
MPAA Rating: R (for bloody horror violence, language throughout, some sexual content and brief drug use)
Rating (out of ****): *1/2
"I Know What You Did Last Summer" (2025) is available on all major platforms to purchase or rent.
