I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) Columbia/Horror-Thriller RT: 100 minutes Rated R (intense terror violence and gore, strong language, some drug use) Director: Danny Cannon Screenplay: Trey Callaway Music: John Frizzell Cinematography: Vernon Layton Release date: November 13, 1998 (US) Cast: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., Brandy, Mekhi Phifer, Muse Watson, Bill Cobbs, Matthew Settle, Jeffrey Combs, Jennifer Esposito, John Hawkes, Benjamin Brown, Ellerine Harding, Jack Black. Box Office: $40M (US)/$84M (World)
Rating: *
The inferior sequel I Still Know What You Did Last Summer has many problems, but one of its biggest is in the title itself. Look at it closely. What’s wrong with it? Anybody with a measurable IQ can see it, but I’ll go ahead and point it out for the benefit of others. It’s set a year after the events I Know What You Did Last Summer which centered on an incident that occurred the previous summer. Therefore, shouldn’t it be called I Still Know What You Did Two Summers Ago? Better yet, why not just call it I Still Know What You Did? Even better, simply I Still Know, the words Julie saw written on the shower door in the final scene of the first movie. All of this is logical, but the makers of the sequel appear to have an aversion to logic so here we are.
Intelligence is another one of the film’s issues. That is to say, it assumes everybody watching is a complete idiot. Point in case, the plot is predicated on a character winning a radio contest by correctly answering a question about the capital of Brazil. What is it? The character replies Rio and wins the big prize, an all-expenses-paid vacation to the Bahamas. What’s wrong here? The capital of Brazil is NOT Rio, it’s Brasilia. Any 5th grader can tell you that. A college student should know this as should most people watching (theoretically). In any event, it’s a big tip-off for the audience. Altogether now, IT’S A TRAP! I don’t know about you, but I’m insulted.
Okay, rant over. It’s time to get down to the real business at hand. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer sucks. It’s a lame sequel to a fairly effective horror-thriller that did decent business the previous year. Hence, that’s why there’s a sequel. In it, Julie (Hewitt, Party of Five) is still dealing with the events of the previous two summers. She still has nightmares about the killer and the deaths of her friends. Her roommate Karla (R&B singer Brandy) tries to be supportive, but she doesn’t know the whole story. Ray (Prinze, She’s All That) is still in the picture, but he’s upset that Julie cancelled her plans to come home for July 4 at the last minute. She just can’t deal with it, not yet.
Karla is the one who wins the Bahamas trip. She invites Julie to join her along with her boyfriend Tyrell (Phifer, Clockers) and Will (Settle, Band of Brothers), a nice classmate who has a crush on Julie. They head to the island of Tower where they learn they’ve arrived just in time for off-season. This means they’re the only guests at the resort. A big storm is approach. There’s no way off the island and there are no phones. Basically, they’re stuck there. Guess who else is there? Let the next wave of killings commence.
Directed by Danny Cannon (Judge Dredd), I Still Know What You Did Last Summer has the look and feel of a sequel that was rushed into production after the original film became an unexpected success. Everything about it is lazy from the plot to the pacing. Whereas the first one kept you guessing the identity of the killer, it’s not much a challenge here. In fact, it’s easy. Just pick out the character that appears to serve the plot the least. That’s your guy! The screenplay by Trey Callaway offers no surprises. Anything that can be considered a twist can be seen coming from a mile off. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is the very definition of predictable. I even called it regarding a character’s apparent demise. They wouldn’t dare kill this particular person off. Fans would be too outraged.
Hewitt is the only one attempting a performance here and while she’s not terrible, it’s clear she’s only in it to satisfy a contractual obligation. The same goes for Prinze who, lucky for him, doesn’t get a lot of screen time. Essentially, he’s the hero that rides in to save the day in the nick of time. This after an attack by the killer puts him in the hospital in serious condition. He just gets up and leaves to rescue Julie. Is it the power of love or something? Phifer manages to get off one good line- “All I know is that this is the worst vacation of my life. I’m tired, I’m hungry, I’m fucking horny and I ain’t seen one GD psycho killer.” Let’s just say his timing is impeccable. Settle is a non-presence. He’s only in it because he’s handsome and would look good on the poster if he was a big enough star. The rest of the cast, which includes Jeffrey Combs (Re-Animator) as the rude hotel manager, are basically lambs lined up for the slaughter. An uncredited Jack Black (School of Rock) playing a dreadlocked, ganja-smoking hotel employee, takes top honors as the most obnoxious character of the whole lot. I almost cheered when his ticket got punched.
There aren’t any memorable killings nor is there any significant gore. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is as run of the mill as slasher movies get. The cinematography by Vernon Layton is supposed to atmospheric, but it’s muddy instead. Sometimes it’s too dark to see what’s happening. It doesn’t help that most of it takes place during a storm.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer commits the worst sin a horror movie can. It’s boring. It’s also stupid and pointless. The only thing that doesn’t suck is Hewitt and she’s not even all that invested in it. It looks like she’d rather be anywhere else than this pitiful excuse for a horror flick. I know exactly how she feels. I’m sure we all do.
