brianand-57043

"I Know What You Did Last Summer" was screenwriter Kevin Williamson's 2nd year in a row where his work was put to the big screen in order to attract horror fans. After the success of "Scream", many movie-goers were expecting another smart slasher with great characters and style. What they got was more of a microwaved generic slasher with forgettable characters. 4 friends living in the fishing town of Southport, NC (a real place i live not too far from and have visited) are taking a late night drive and accidentally hit a person with their car in the middle of the road. Alcohol is involved and the teens argue over whether they should call the police and confess they hit someone and take their chances with the law....or do they get rid of the body and make a pact to take it to their graves? Teens Julie, Ray, Barry and Helen frantically discuss their options and decide on the latter, although 'Julie' (Jennifer Love Hewitt) is extremely reluctant. Great Premise, but can the movie follow through with the rest?

The 'alpha' of the group is 'Barry' (Ryan Phillipe) a jock with a brash personality who is dating 'Helen' (Sarah Michelle Gellar) a beauty queen who had won a pageant before the car accident and plans on going to New York to pursue a career in Modeling or Acting. Julie's boyfriend, 'Ray' (Freddie Prinze Jr.) rounds out the group and is a bit of an 'everyman' but is also quite timid in comparison to Barry. The story picks back up 1 year later after the 'hit-and-run' accident and shows how the actions and consequences of that horrible night have affected the psyche's of the friends. They begin to really panic once Julie receives an anonymous letter stating "I Know What you Did Last Summer" and begin getting stalked and chased by a man in a Fisherman's coat whom carries a big hook with him.

I titled this review "Wrong Place, Wrong Time" because just like how the 4 friends were in the wrong place and time on that quiet and winding beach road, this film had premiered less than a year after "Scream" hit theaters and rewrote the entire horror/thriller genre. "Scream" introduced a newly "Meta" aspect to it's story in which the characters and killer are well aware of cliched horror movie tropes and Director Wes Craven playfully shuffles the cards of these tropes to keep the audience guessing as to who will survive if they play by certain 'rules' of the horror genre. "Scream" was a very stylish and creative thriller that breathed new life into the stale and generic 'slasher' type of horror films. "IKWYDLS" had to follow that act, but instead was more akin to a tired and stale slasher that predated "Scream". Williamson's screenplay tried it's best to reach those heights, but falls short and becomes formulaic.

I think one of the reasons it pales in comparison is the lackluster performances of Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., the story's main couple. 'Julie James' as a main/final girl just isn't at the same level of a "Sidney Prescott" who was portrayed by Neve Campbell in 'Scream'. The character just doesn't have the same depth and JLH can't replicate the vulnerability that Campbell was able to pull-off. FPJ just isn't much of an actor and his ultra 'good-guy' Ray is like vapor, a completely forgettable character. I thought Gellar and Phillipe played their parts much better, and i can't forget to mention Anne Heche who gives the best performance in the entire movie as sub-plot character. Also, a killer in a fishermen's outfit doesn't have the same charisma and uniqueness as 'Ghostface'.

The opening credits of this film are outstanding as film opens with a high-flying shot over ocean water as 'Type o' Negative's' dark and haunting cover of 'Summer Breeze' plays for a few minutes and then the camera comes upon shore on some ocean cliffs and focuses on a young man sitting high above the water....it's sort of all downhill from there.

5/10 it's ok as a cheap slasher popcorn flick, but isn't regarded as 'classic' for good reason, although now it's gotten a "retelling" in 2025 i'd bet this will now look like a classic in comparison.

I streamed this the other night when going to bed as i usually put something on to fall asleep to. Only this movie unexpectedly kept me up until the end. I had never heard of it and went into it thinking it would be some cheap bland slasher with no depth and a weak script and i'd be asleep before the 1st kill, but the atmosphere in the opening sparked my interest.

This movie is drenched with that 80's B-horror vibe in the vein of "Slumber Party Massacre" and "Sleepaway Camp" along with the grandiose raunchiness that accompanies a horror flick like those. 10 teens are having a late-night get together in an abandoned Funeral Parlor on Halloween night. After exploring the building for a bit, it's not long until the partying begins, and after a brief seance a demon joins the group and begins 'possessing' the teens. That's the gist of the plot.

This movie is very self-aware and knows what it's audience wants. In the beginning as our main girl is getting ready to be picked up by her love interest to be taken to the party, her man shows up to the house and meets her little brother who asks: Are you dating my sister because of her personality or because she has big cha-cha's"?? This scene was preceded by one where a young girl is bending over while wearing a skirt in a mini-mart so her friend can rob the place, while the male clerks are distracted by her behind. Things like this got this movie panned by critics for 'misogyny and sexism' by it's just cheap fun and this movie is in no way taking itself seriously. People need to lighten up.

The young girls in the mini-mart, 'Suzanne and Angela' are apart of the party-goers and in my opinion are the best characters in the film and also are the first 2 who get 'possessed'. 'Sal' was my favorite male character, and i thought it was Corey Haim playing him for awhile, but i was wrong. There are no 'star' actors and actresses here and Director Kevin Tenney has had a bunch of 'straight to video' credits to his name such as "Pinnochio's Revenge" which i can't believe is a real movie. This movie has no business being as compelling as it is, but the characters have some genuine great banter and witty horror lines that would impress Freddy Kreuger. Tenney also shines many times throughout the film with great direction and fantastic looking visuals, Angela's dance scene being one of the stand-outs.

7/10 A real pleasant surprise. I usually hate re-makes, but thought an updated remake of "Night of the Demons" might be a good idea since this movie doesn't get the attention it deserved. I saw there was a remake on 2009 which fans hated so idk if i will bother even watching it.

I like Brian DePalma films very much, "Dressed to Kill" and "Blow Out" are 2 of my all-time favorites. DePalma followed those hits up with "Scarface" in 1983 and then "Body Double" followed the year after with DePalma promising it to be the most shocking and violent work of his to date, setting high expectations for his audiences.

Obviously inspired by Hitchcock's "Rear Window", "Body Double" follows a struggling actor played by Craig Wasson, who has also come down with a case of claustrophobia and discovers his girlfriend cheating on him on the same day. While feeling depressed and hopeless he befriends a fellow actor played by Gregg Henry who asks him to house-sit in a lavish modern Hollywood abode, overlooking 'tinsel town', and is introduced to a not-too-distant female neighbor, who can be seen by telescope dancing and frolicking half-naked in her apartment every night.

• At this point of the film, i was fully intrigued and invested in the protagonist "Jake Scully" who garnered my support with his vulnerabilities on display.

Scully is attracted to his neighbor "Gloria Revelle", and becomes concerned with her well-being once he watches a man physically assault her in her apartment and also spots a strange looking man peeping on her as well. While driving through the neighborhood the next day, he spots Gloria driving her car while also noticing the strange looking peeper watching her from afar, then following her as she drives away.

• Here is the classic DePalma "cat and mouse" sequence wherein the heroine is either being stalked by someone, or is trying to protect someone from a stalker. Many films have this, but DePalma has his unique style and his scenes are usually long-winded compared to other filmmakers. While i don't think this scene is DePalma's best, i'm still very much engaged at this point of the film.

Scully helps Gloria evade her stalker and the two embrace. A large theme here is that "things are not exactly as they appear" and our 2 characters 'embracing' is something that will have viewers questioning if what they're witnessing is actually taking place or Scully's imagining. Honestly, this is where this film begins to lose it for me and the plot really begins to suffer. The one highlight in the 2nd half of "Body Double" is when Scully decides to try his hand in the 'adult film' industry and gets hired to perform in a 'dirty' movie so he can question his new co-star "Holly Body" (Played by Melanie Griffith) whom he feels is connected to Gloria and the "stalker". The scene in particular is a 'movie within a movie' as the audience is along for the ride as Scully gets acclimated into his first role in a porno film, with Frankie Goes to Hollywood "Relax" is performed alongside Scully as enters this new world of entertainment.

6/10 Naturally the antagonist is finally revealed and it doesn't make one iota of sense why this person chose to do their dirty deeds this particular way. The film is quintessential DePalma, but the story falls apart in the 2nd half. Critics lauded Melanie Griffith's performance, but she annoyed me here.