'I Know What You Did Last Summer' review: Stick a hook in it

Courtesy of Sony

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It’s 1997 all over again! Or so the characters keep proclaiming throughout Jennifer Kaytin Robinson’s trope-heavy legacy sequel “I Know What You Did Last Summer.” Much like how 1995’s “Scream” jumpstarted the slasher craze that birthed the original “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (both written by Kevin Williamson), 2022’s “Scream” reboot has opened the floodgates for this latest wave of legacy sequels where the OGs return for nostalgia’s sake.

For stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr., that means dusting off their roles as Julie and Ray. And while this movie isn’t shy about why they’re back, it still tries to have it both ways. At one point Hewitt’s character deadpans, “Nostalgia is overrated.” Sure, Julie, so what are you even doing here?

It’s not like the 1997 version was all that remarkable in the first place. A rewatch will remind you that, aside from some wacky acting choices by Prinze Jr. and Ryan Phillippe, it was a fairly limp affair. One thing Robinson does improve here is the killer. The man in the slicker is back, but this time he’s vicious, intrusive, and delivers gnarlier, bloodier kills, the kind of gory fun the original sorely lacked. So hey, points for that.

Aside from the elevated brutality, though, it’s basically just a retread of the original, complete with familiar plot beats and thinner, sometimes laughable plot conveniences. The final reveal? Called it from the shoreline. If you’re even halfway paying attention, you’ll see it coming.

And really, who was asking for this? Did anyone even care about the original series of films? Sure, there was that 1998 sequel set in the Bahamas (which gets a cute wink here), but the truth is the franchise’s legacy was that it failed to carry the torch “Scream” lit. Nearly thirty years later, this feels like the studio scraping the bottom of an already worthless barrel, trying to mine cash from a stone that wasn’t valuable to begin with.

The movie stumbles out of the gate with an awkward exposition dump and zero character development. What is explained about our final girl, Ava (Chase Sui Wonders)? She’s bisexual, her mom’s dead, and… that’s about it. None of it matters to the plot anyway. The rest of the crew is equally sleight: Danica and Teddy (Madelyn Cline and Tyriq Withers), who are engaged; estranged friend Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon), whom they just so happen to run into at an engagement party; and Ava’s ex Milo (Jonah Hauer-King), who she’s very much still pining for.

Naturally, it’s the Fourth of July, and the gang decides to pull off for some fireworks, booze, and weed, which inevitably leads to them accidentally causing a car to careen off a cliff. One year later, they’re being stalked by a fisherman copycat, complete with hook, harpoon, and… a knife now? Better run before you can say the Hash-Slinging Slasher.

And with no personality among them, the group turns to the lone survivors of the Southport massacre. Enter Julie and Ray, bitterly divorced and unable to stand each other. You could cut the tension with a… well, you know.

Co-writers Robinson, Sam Lansky, and Leah McKendrick pepper in weird meta commentary about the franchise lore, treating it like sacred text, but for what? Every time the movie tries to dig deeper, it ends up tripping over itself to try and justify why a copycat killer would emerge three decades later still rocking the slicker, squeaky boots, and hook. Southport must have the worst Yelp reviews imaginable.

By the time we get to the so-called shocking reveal, the film’s already burned through any silver of goodwill it might have had. And the explanation? Don’t bother. It’s a pile of convoluted nonsense that only raises more questions than it answers. A horror podcaster somehow gets roped in, the town has rebranded itself as Northport to boost tourism (because that’ll help!). 

Don’t even get me started on the ham-fisted attempts to say something about classism or generational trauma. The movie doesn’t have the tools to explore any of it in a meaningful way. Recent slashers like “Heart Eyes” and “Thanksgiving” have had fun in the genre sandbox, leaning into their themes and carving out identities. “I Know What You Did Last Summer” has none. It’s stuck in the past, paralyzed by its own lack of imagination still fumbling around in the dark, hoping an old hook can still do the job.

Time to cut the line. This franchise is dead in the water.

Grade: D

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER is now playing in theaters.