A One Mann’s Movies review of “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (2025).
As if taunting critics to ‘make it so’, one character says to another in the finale of this film “This whole experience is, like, zero out of ten. Like zero stars”. Frankly, in rating “”I Know What You Did Last Summer”, I was severely tempted! But…
“I Know What You Did Last Summer” Plot:
28 Years Later (LOL), after the horrific events in Southport, North Carolina, the locals have erased all history of the grisly murders of 1997 in order to promote tourism. But when five young people make another stupid mistake on a dark highway, the same hooded figure wearing fisherman’s slickers returns and starts to wield the hook again.
Certification:
UK: 15; US: R. (From the BBFC web site: “Strong bloody violence, injury detail, threat, sex, very strong language”.)
Talent:
Starring: Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Gabbriette, Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar.
Directed by: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson.
Written by: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson & Sam Lansky. (Based on a story by Leah McKendrick & Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and characters created by Lois Duncan).
Running Time: 1h 51m.
“I Know What You Did Last Summer” Summary:
Positives:
- For those who just want a truly predictable and by-the-books slasher horror-lite, you will not be disappointed.
- For nostalgia freaks, there are a couple of good cameos.
Negatives:
- Even for a film in this genre, the plot is utterly preposterous.
- The jump scares are lame.
Review of “I Know What You Did Last Summer”:
(I really can’t be bothered with putting much effort into this review!)
The plot puts the “lame” in “lamentable”.
Everything about this film’s plot is so utterly ludicrous I found my eyes were in a continual rolling motion. When revealed, the person responsible and the whole rationale for the events depicted is a “WTF??” moment.
Characters put themselves into the most ridiculous situations, which I KNOW is par for the course in these types of films, but this takes stupidity to a whole new level. When any jump scares happen, I didn’t jump once.
Everything is just so predictable that there were no surprises to be found in the whole movie: everywhere you thought “the fisherman bloke” would be, he was. And given, in these films, the adversary is known to be a human being (think, caretaker in Scooby Doo), rather than some spirit-creature, the abuse they get meted out (particularly by beefy jock Teddy Spencer (Tyriq Withers)) would be more than enough to send them to, if not the hospital, then definitely the dentist.
Acting.
Acting-wise, the actor making the biggest impression was Chase Sui Wonders in the lead role of Ava, most familiar to me from the under-rated “Bodies, Bodies, Bodies“. Everyone else is passable, in a running and screaming sort of way.
Monkeys
Yes, there is a mid-credit monkey, with an as yet IMDB-uncredited cameo (no spoilers here). This implies that perhaps (subject I guess to this film’s performance) there might be a follow on “I Still Know…” sequel to follow. God help us!
Summary Thoughts on “I Know What You Did Last Summer”
Critics have piled onto Disney for the “pointless” live-action remakes of films like “The Lion King” and (most recently) “Lilo and Stitch” and last month Dreamworks got on that same bandwagon with “How to Train Your Dragon“. But this film should be a target for equal derision. For although it is not a remake of the 1997 film, in many ways it really is. It brings absolutely nothing new to the table, it is lazily plotted, has a ludicrous story and doesn’t deliver on horror thrills. (It’s truly ironic that one of the production companies is “Original Film”!) I view it as something of a waste of celluloid.
Where to watch it?
Trailer for “I Know What You Did Last Summer”:
The trailer is here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IceTkSOSNJI.
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