Souviens-toi... l'été dernier 2

Now that I re-watched after all these years, I can't really understand why I was a fan of it... Ryan Phillippe was replaced by Mekhi Phifer (a sex maniac, bully-type-of-person), Jennifer Love Hewitt remained the same (a little less irritating to be honest), Freddie Prinze Jr. was actually a lot better than those puppy eyes that haunted me for 1 hour and 41 minutes last night, and Brandy took the best part like Sarah Michelle Gellar did. Well yes, Julie James' best friends have the best characters in both movies. Apart from that, really poor acting, silly lines, totally unnecessary plot twist - to the verge of kitsch - and no real mysterious atmosphere.

Every time that there's a cool new movie, they just have to make a sequel. "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" pretty much repeats everything from the original, minus and plus some cast members. I just hope that they don't make another "know what you did" movie. Not only is there nothing that they can add to the concept, the title is inaccurate: it should be "two summers ago".

So, stick with the original and you won't be disappointed. At least "Scary Movie" spoofed these sorts of movies. Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Brandy Norwood, Freddy Prinze Jr., Muse Watson, Mekhi Phifer and Jeffrey Combs.

The first "I Know What You Did..." film had a plot to go with the stalking and the suspense. The follow-up film has no story, just your standard slasher stalks and kills teens....as well as anybody else in the film.

However, that said, it still was fun to watch, although maybe a little too graphic for my taste in a couple of spots. Unlike many of the other posted comments, I found Brandy's performance to be very natural and entertaining and of course Love Hewitt is nice too look at too.

The Mekhi Phifer character was too much of a boor and I kept hoping he would get the "hook" sooner than later. The surprise twist at the end did catch me off guard although others have commented that they figured it out in advance.

The movie supposedly takes place on a Bahamian island. Having visited the Bahamas many, many times, the first view of the so-called Bahamas in the movie was a little bit of a shock since these previously perfectly flat islands had now grown mountains and hills along with rock formations jutting out of the ocean. And then when I saw the "Bahamian" resort I was further shocked to see that Mexican architecture had been exported to the Bahamas.

It seems the film makers should either have gone to the Bahamas or made the location in the film be Mexico, where it was actually filmed. Of course Mexico has no remote, lightly populated islands like the Bahamas does so I guess that wouldn't have suited the story. And the Bahamian government probably wouldn't let them film there due to the potential bad impact on tourism.

Despite these quibbles, the movie held my interest and had enough eye candy to keep me watching the screen. I would rate this movie about a 7.5 on a scale of 10.

"I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" follows Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who is still suffering from the memories of her friends' murders by a vengeful fisherman who she and her friends had accidentally hit with their car and disposed of his body, thinking him to be dead. Her college friend, Karla (Brandy Norwood) wins tickets to the Bahamas via a radio station contest, so she, Karla, Karla's boyfriend, Tyrell (Mekhi Phifer), and a friend Will, head off on vacation. Meanwhile, Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Julie's ex-boyfriend, has an encounter with the fisherman again, and heads to the island to save Julie. But soon enough, bodies begin to pile up on the mostly-deserted island (which is currently in it's storm season) all around Julie and her friends, and it seems the fisherman has returned.

I considered the original "I Know What You Did Last Summer" to be a fairly good slasher movie that evolved during the late '90s. It had a nice revenge-laced premise about teenagers who had to pay the consequences for their mistakes at the hands of a psychotic fisherman, and it was very well done in comparison with most slasher movies of that era. This sequel popped up only a year later, and while it may be very unoriginal, it's still entertaining. In terms of story, the idea was well put together, and the tropical, stormy Bahaman island was the perfect setting for this film to take place, and a nice change from the gloomy coastal town the previous film was set in. I knew a sequel was coming, after the first film succeeded well with audiences, it was nearly inevitable. The violence factor is much more gratuitous in this sequel, it's gore galore for this movie, which wasn't surprising. It seems that way for a lot of horror movie sequels.

Also, being no surprise, this film is almost beyond cliché-ridden. Typical horror set-ups, scares, and character stupidity is present throughout the course of the movie. It's unrealistic a lot of the time, and there are plot holes everywhere, so in that sense, it's a bit of a mess. But on the other hand, despite all of the unrealistic events, I have to admit that this is an extremely entertaining movie. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. reprise their role, and Brandy Norwood and Mekhi Phifer play her lively friends. Jennifer Esposito (whose career hadn't quite taken off yet) also plays a worker on the island who the gang teams up with when the fisherman begins to off the island's population. The acting was nothing more than average at best, but it was tolerable (nothing too bad, I have seen much worse). But besides, what can you expect from this type of flick? The film ends with one of those "gotcha!" jump scares quite similar to the ending of the original, and puts a close on this series (unless you count the 2006 direct-to-video sequel that follow this) on a rather silly but fitting note. The entire movie is a little far-fetched, but so what?

Overall, I'd advise anyone who is tired of your run-of-the-mill slasher movies to avoid "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" like the plague, because I can guarantee that they will be sorely disappointed. But for those who enjoy some cheap horror entertainment every once and awhile, this clichéd little slasher sequel is an entertaining way to spend a couple of hours, but don't expect to take any of it seriously. 6/10.

Hewitt is in college and struggling to maintain her grades after the traumatic events that occurred the previous summer. She and her friends win an all-expenses-paid vacation to the Bahamas, but it quickly turns into a nightmare when the menacing fisherman returns with vengeance on his mind. The first film may not have been a classic, but surely it could have inspired a much better sequel; this poorly-conceived slasher film has a ridiculous setup, nonexistent plot, little suspense, and an abundance of false scares. Even worse is a multitude of one-note supporting characters, senseless violence, plus manipulative and obvious plot twists that build up to a predictable finale. With the exception of a talented cast, there isn't a single redeeming factor here. *½