Summer Lovin'
( I recently discovered a wonderful store in NYC called Entertainment Outlet. I am still in mourning over the demise of Tower Records. Anyway, I got four videos for about $6.00. You can't beat it! One of the treasures is a copy of a great horror flick- I Know What You Did Last Summer. In fact, one of the things I did last summer is write a review of the second sequel, the rather awkwardly-monikered I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. While I rewatch the original with the less-cumbersome title, here is my review of the third part of the series that launched Jennifer Love Hewitt into scream queen stardom:)
"I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer"
You may be surprised to learn that this is a sequel to a film by the name of I Know What You Did Last Summer. The original movie was based on a novel by Lois Duncan, and cast with attractive young actors like Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar. J-Love headlined the follow-up I STILL Know What You Did Last Summer. Since all the good horror movie holidays were already taken with Halloween and Friday the 13th, the Summer series is set on July the 4th. Always. Each story in the franchise revolves around teens who accidentally cause a death, make a group pact to hide the truth, and then face a vengeful killer with a hook-for-a-hand one year later. (Those secrets will kill ya.) This is the plot. Always.
I suppose we can consider this the concluding chapter of the trilogy. Sort of like Return of the Jedi. But wait a minute! Jennifer Love Hewitt is nowhere to be found! Well, we know what she DIDN’T do last summer. A ”Summer” film without J-Love is like Gone with the Wind without Scarlett O’Hara. So we follow a whole new group of fresh meat /characters with a deep dark secret. A July the 4th prank-gone-wrong kills one of their friends (no, it did not involve firecrackers). The foursome vow that they will take the secret to their graves. If they only knew what we knew. (If J-Love were around, she could fill them in.)
One year later, we see how the guilt has eaten away at their souls. One of the girls has gone all goth and dyed her hair black, and one of the guys has a dead-end job repairing ski lifts(!) Jennifer Love Hewitt- I mean, Brooke Nevin has fared the best, returning home for the summer after a year at college. One by one our kids begin receiving ominous notes proclaiming, ”I(’ll always?) Know What You Did Last Summer“. Da dum dum.
Now the fun begins, as we see the various and creative ways the cast is disposed of. Of course, a few of the peripheral bit players are killed as a warm-up. Who is the killer with a hook-for-a-hand? Is it the brother of the victim from last summer? Is it Barney Fife/the town deputy? Or is it one of the four kids, who has cracked under the pressure? I STILL don’t know. I’ll go back and watch it again- it may have been deliberately ambiguous, which would leave the door open for another sequel. I REALLY REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER? I KNOW WHAT YOU DID ON SPRING BREAK?
As I indicated, the plot points are secondary. The fun part of these movies is in the chase and kill. And Jennifer Love Hewitt’s /Brooke Nevin’s trademark “wifebeater” t-shirts. I must say, though, I was SHOCKED that the ski lift guy wasn’t killed by a ski chair gone amok. A+, but get J-Love back for Part 4.
( I recently discovered a wonderful store in NYC called Entertainment Outlet. I am still in mourning over the demise of Tower Records. Anyway, I got four videos for about $6.00. You can't beat it! One of the treasures is a copy of a great horror flick- I Know What You Did Last Summer. In fact, one of the things I did last summer is write a review of the second sequel, the rather awkwardly-monikered I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. While I rewatch the original with the less-cumbersome title, here is my review of the third part of the series that launched Jennifer Love Hewitt into scream queen stardom:)
"I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer"
You may be surprised to learn that this is a sequel to a film by the name of I Know What You Did Last Summer. The original movie was based on a novel by Lois Duncan, and cast with attractive young actors like Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar. J-Love headlined the follow-up I STILL Know What You Did Last Summer. Since all the good horror movie holidays were already taken with Halloween and Friday the 13th, the Summer series is set on July the 4th. Always. Each story in the franchise revolves around teens who accidentally cause a death, make a group pact to hide the truth, and then face a vengeful killer with a hook-for-a-hand one year later. (Those secrets will kill ya.) This is the plot. Always.
I suppose we can consider this the concluding chapter of the trilogy. Sort of like Return of the Jedi. But wait a minute! Jennifer Love Hewitt is nowhere to be found! Well, we know what she DIDN’T do last summer. A ”Summer” film without J-Love is like Gone with the Wind without Scarlett O’Hara. So we follow a whole new group of fresh meat /characters with a deep dark secret. A July the 4th prank-gone-wrong kills one of their friends (no, it did not involve firecrackers). The foursome vow that they will take the secret to their graves. If they only knew what we knew. (If J-Love were around, she could fill them in.)
One year later, we see how the guilt has eaten away at their souls. One of the girls has gone all goth and dyed her hair black, and one of the guys has a dead-end job repairing ski lifts(!) Jennifer Love Hewitt- I mean, Brooke Nevin has fared the best, returning home for the summer after a year at college. One by one our kids begin receiving ominous notes proclaiming, ”I(’ll always?) Know What You Did Last Summer“. Da dum dum.
Now the fun begins, as we see the various and creative ways the cast is disposed of. Of course, a few of the peripheral bit players are killed as a warm-up. Who is the killer with a hook-for-a-hand? Is it the brother of the victim from last summer? Is it Barney Fife/the town deputy? Or is it one of the four kids, who has cracked under the pressure? I STILL don’t know. I’ll go back and watch it again- it may have been deliberately ambiguous, which would leave the door open for another sequel. I REALLY REALLY KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER? I KNOW WHAT YOU DID ON SPRING BREAK?
As I indicated, the plot points are secondary. The fun part of these movies is in the chase and kill. And Jennifer Love Hewitt’s /Brooke Nevin’s trademark “wifebeater” t-shirts. I must say, though, I was SHOCKED that the ski lift guy wasn’t killed by a ski chair gone amok. A+, but get J-Love back for Part 4.
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