I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) Review

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) boasts more substance than simply relying on gore, but neither element truly manages to take center stage.

One year later, Julie receives an anonymous letter saying “I know what you did last summer,” implying someone knows of their crime and is haunting them for it. Soon after, a figure in a raincoat and a hook starts stalking them and killing them off one by one.

I Know What You Did Last Summer is somewhat a cult classic, often credited with revitalizing the slasher genre in the 1990s. However, that was a reason I approached this movie with some caution. I generally find slashers more of a guilty pleasure than anything else; they’re gory, filled with disposable characters, and their enjoyment often comes from seeing awful teens played by clearly adult actors getting their dues by the latest murderer.

Yet I was initially surprised by how well I Know What You Did Last Summer paced its initial premise. We don’t immediately jump to the car accident and the crime. Instead, the first ten or so minutes are spent with the four main characters, showing their happy lives, more intimate interactions, and bits of their flaws as well. It’s not revolutionary character writing, but it sets them up as relatable everyman characters, and I appreciate the film putting in effort to make me want to see them make it at least past the first thirty minutes.

The actual crime and the characters’ stances on it are given ample time as well. Each character reacts to it differently, and they don’t immediately all decide the body must be disposed of. Some of them take a more moral stance, while others try to avoid making any clear decisions. This makes the scene feel more real and tense, as it once again portrays them as normal people caught up in a very abnormal situation. I Know What You Did Last Summer’s setup isn’t particularly scary, but it’s intriguing and immersive.

However, it is after the first thirty to forty minutes, when the premise is done and Julie receives the threat mail, that I Know What You Did Last Summer starts to falter a bit. For one, despite showing each character’s initial reaction to hitting the pedestrian in great detail, the film fails to properly explore how that incident affected them afterwards. We get bits of it; all of them haven’t been pursuing jobs or schools they wanted, and their relationship has become fractured because of it. Yet all those are mentioned rather than shown.

This also hinders the movie’s attempt at a moral dilemma. It’s clear these four people aren’t saints. They did a clearly reprehensible act that night. At the same time, it wasn’t out of complete malice either. Do they truly deserve what’s coming to them, or are they just a victim of unfortunate happenstance? Again, the film touches upon this a little bit, but doesn’t fully commit, which is a shame because that dilemma could have added genuine depth to the characters and made me more invested.

Sadly, the themes aren’t the only things I Know What You Did Last Summer doesn’t fully commit to. Despite being a slasher movie, the premise and plot is more of a mystery than anything else. Who could have seen them that night, and why do they want them dead and not arrested? The film follows the characters going after clues and suspects, but the process is laid out in a very linear manner. One clear red herring shows up after another, with no other suspects or curveballs to make the audience keep guessing. When the actual killer is revealed, although it makes logical sense, it doesn’t feel like much was set up for that reveal.

For being the film that revitalized the slasher genre, I Know What You Did Last Summer doesn’t boast much in terms of scares or creative kills either. There’s one pretty creepy visual involving a car, but most of the time, the film resorts to shadows in the background or sudden jumpscare for its scary moments. The actual murders are surprisingly tame. At times it almost feels like this could pass for a PG-13 film instead of rated  R. I suppose there’s only so much a guy with a hook can do, but still, if the movie can’t be properly suspenseful, it could at least show entertaining splashes of blood.

The final issue I take has to do with implausibility. Characters acting a little dumb in horror movies is nothing new; after all, you can’t expect people to act 100% logically correct when someone is trying to hang their intestines as Christmas decorations. However, when those odd behaviors don’t feel based on actual character and instead come across as excuses to feed victims to the slasher, it starts threatening my immersion.

I Know What You Did Last Summer unfortunately has a couple of those moments. For instance, in the climax Julie finds a character in a standoff with the killer. She then screams out to that character, visibly distracting them so that they take their eyes off the killer and look at her instead, which leads them to getting knocked down by the killer. Again, I don’t expect AI-levels of logical thinking, but there is a line where fright doesn’t excuse a scene from getting implausible.

I know I just spent most of the review listing off flaws, but I wouldn’t call I Know What You Did Last Summer a terrible time. The first act being paced so well does wonders to make audiences invested enough to want to see the story through. It’s not like other elements of the film were done poorly either; they were just either mediocre or underdeveloped. I was still mildly happy to see the survivors get through the ordeal. However, when you tell me next July that you know what I watched last summer, I would struggle to recall what you are talking about.

I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) is now available to watch on digital and on demand.

Loud and Clear Reviews has an affiliate partnership with Apple, so we receive a share of the revenue from your purchase or streaming of the films when you click on some of the links on this page. This won’t affect how much you pay for them and helps us keep the site free for everyone.