I Still Know What You Did Last Summer

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

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.

Ermmm, exsqueeze me? Baking powder? I would like to know exactly when and where the usually rock solid formula for producing a simple but entertaining slasher flick got lost? Or is it just that Danny Cannon can't seem to suss it out? "I know I know!... How about we have another scene where Jennifer Love Hewitt hears a spooky noise, wanders around the house in the dark, then opens a door to discover that there is no one there!... yeah, that's it! Then we can have a scene where Jennifer Love Hewitt hears a noise, wanders..."

If you are a fan of the old school slasher flicks such as Bodycount, Halloween, or the Friday the 13th's then you will be dissapointed with this films lack of entertaining grisly setpieces or inovation. If you are a fan of the hip new school of Kevin Williamson then again you will be dissapointed by the yawnsome pace of this.

Dire! 1 out of 10, try harder!

An alright film but far inferior to the original.

The original actually had a good element of mystery to it, who was the killer? There were 3-4 people who you thought it might have been. In this though we know from the beginning who the killer is.

Also the introduction of a new character is very poorly done and just makes no sense following on from the previous movie. The film also plays up the idea the villain is now a master hacker which I didn't buy for a moment.

I didn't like the tropical setting of the new film, how could the villain have known in advance there would be a storm? One of the key characters from the original is more or less written out of this one and I thought a lot of the dialogue was much worse too.

Some of the action and scares were probably shot fairly well but there's a lot of other problems with the film. Despite the problems with the films to some it's almost guilty pleasure material. Jack Black is also in this movie and his character is truly terrible.

"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.