| Product: |
I Know What You Did Last Summer (DVD) |
| Date: |
01.10.01 (37 review reads) |
| Rating: |
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Advantages: Hewitt
Disadvantages: Idiotic plot twists
I Know What You Did Last Summer was the first horror film written by Kevin Williamson after the success of the genre-redefining Scream (unless youre like me and Dawson's Creek gives you nightmares).
The film is based on the book of the same name. I haven't read the book myself but I know someone who enjoyed it thoroughly and said that it was much better than the film it spawned, which is often the case when Hollywood starts running low on ideas and has to go through the days pop literature to continue raking in the dollars.
Anyway, back to the film. The basic story is that four kids hit and kill a fisherman while celebrating the fourth of July, and one year later he returns to reap his revenge. The main problem with this film is the hype surrounding Williamson's name. While Scream was considered a masterpiece of 90s cinema, I Know fell into the very clichés that the writer had parodied one year earlier while trying to follow his own footsteps.
The movie stars Sarah Michelle Gellar (doing the rounds in numerous horror films to promote the Buffy series), Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Phillippe and Freddy Prinze Jr. as a group of very unlikeable teens who get what they basically have coming to them. There are many times in this film when I find myself rooting for the Fisherman (not exactly as menacing sounding as the Shape, is it?), which can only be a bad thing as the basis of any slasher film is that we empathise the prey and hope that they can overcome the evil force. Just goes to show what's happening to kids today.
The acting ranged from good to terrible. Hewitt and Gellar both put a good performance in, appearing ditzy and showing enough cleavage between them to keep most males in their seats for the duration of the film. Phillippe did a good job as the stereotypical asshole of the group, but the only problem was with Prinze Jr. who could have been upstaged by Pinocchio.
I enjoy watching f
ilms that make the audience think, and this film was successful in that attempt up until about the last twenty minutes. The current trend in twist endings turned what could have been a great film into a bumbling, confusing mess. The ending makes no sense and we are left with a very strong feeling of disappointment as the credits roll. And the very end sequence? Don't even get me started.
The main problem this film has had to contend with is that it was released so soon after Scream that it became a laughing stock. A year earlier and it may just have been considered another teen slasher flick on the same level as Friday the 13th, though unfortunately with mush less sex.
Summary:
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