I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
I was trying to figure out what was lacking in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, that was in I Know What You Did Last Summer. And it hits me: the soundtrack! In the first movie, right off the bat, we had the Type O Negative song. This movie’s soundtrack was okay, but nothing that stood out as special. Again, the music can make or break a movie. Or at least in my opinion it can.
Photo Credit: Mandalay Entertainment
Released: Nov 13, 1998
Runtime: 1 hr 40 mins
Director: Danny Cannon
Writer: Lois Duncan, Trey Callaway
Actors: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., Brandy Norwood
PLOT
The killer with a hook is back to torment and hunt down Julie and Ray. This time Julie and her friends win a trip to the Bahamas where they try to relax but things don’t go as planned when the staff start showing up dead.
MY THOUGHTS
There is a definite increase in body count in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. I would say the biggest surprise was Tyrell’s (Mekhi Phifer) death. Not to say I didn’t expect him to die, just that I didn’t expect it then. The bloodiest would have to be Mr. Brooks’ (Jeffrey Combs). We don’t see his death when it happens, but we see the aftermath later, along with a bloody message for Julie. He got a machete to the head.
The acting was pretty good. We have Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. reprising their roles as Julie and Ray. We have Brandy, Mekhi Phifer, and Matthew Settle rounding out the friends as Karla, Tyrell, and Will. I do think Freddie Prinze Jr. did a much better job in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer than in the first movie. Granted, he didn’t have as many scenes in this one.
Now, I would be remiss if I didn’t mention that Jack Black is in I Still Know What You Did Last Summer. He plays Titus, a dreadlocked, dirty pothead that lives in the pool generator room with his bushel of pot. That annoying guy who just wants to have fun but nobody takes him seriously. He plays it over the top but it is surprising that he goes uncredited in this movie.
This time Julie is living with her friend Karla while going to school. Her and Ray are still together but Ray still lives back home whereas Julie doesn’t want to go back yet. She still has bad dreams about Ben Willis. One day they get a phone call from the local radio station and they have to guess the capital of Brazil and they win a trip for four to the Bahamas.
Ray is being an idiot and tells Julie he would try but wasn’t sure if he would make it. His buddy makes him see the light and they decide to go on a road trip to Julie’s in order to go to the Bahamas. Unfortunately they stop at what looks like an accident but it’s Ben Willis and he kills Ray’s friend and tries to kill Ray.
Julie and her friends make it to the island (minus Ray) only to discover that it’s the start of the off season and a storm is brewing. As the storm gets worse, people start disappearing and ending up dead. At first, nobody believes Julie when she says Ben Willis is alive and killing people, but eventually, once most are dead, they believe her.
There’s a twist in the end, of course, so I won’t spoil that. Ray finally shows up to save the day, well sort of save the day. Julie is the one that saves the day. Hopefully dispatching Ben Willis for good.
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I Still Know What You Did Last Summer is a decent if not average teen horror movie. Not as good as the original. The cast is decent and the location is pretty good. I think my problem with the movie is the plot. We’re supposed to believe that Ben Willis concocted the whole plan of creating the contest to get Julie to the island so he could get revenge? I know with horror movies we have to suspend belief, but come on. Anyways, it still is a decent movie to kill time watching.
And now for your Forever Final Girl Exclusive…Did you know?:
Scheduling conflicts with Dawson's Creek (1998), The Faculty (1998), Halloween H20: 20 Years Later (1998), and gearing up to direct Teaching Mrs. Tingle (1999) prevented Kevin Williamson from writing the screenplay for both this film and Scream 3 (2000) after having written their predecessors.
Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr., and Muse Watson are the only actors to reprise their roles from the previous film, with Sarah Michelle Gellar only reappearing as Helen Shivers via a photograph.
Due to the negative critical reaction to the film upon its release, Freddie Prinze Jr. admits that he has never seen the film because of its reputation.
Just like with the first film, Roger Ebert included this on his "Most Hated" list.
Brandy Norwood was terrified of Muse Watson, when he arrived on set of the first day of filming, Jennifer Love Hewitt ran up to him and said, "Brandy is like, falling apart, shaking, because she knows she's gonna have to meet you." And he said, "Where is she, Love?" Hewitt said, "She's over in the cafeteria." So Watson walked over to the cafeteria accompanied by Hewitt, and Brandy was sitting at the table with eight other girls, in a booth, so there was no way she could get out. And as Watson walked in the door, she immediately saw who he was, and she started screaming and trying to get over the other people. He was able to calm her down and assure her there was nothing to be afraid of.
A sequel, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006), was announced in 2000, and was originally meant to star survivors Jennifer Love Hewitt, Brandy Norwood and Freddie Prinze Jr. again. However, the film was left alone for a while and the original script, which involved Jennifer, Brandy and Freddie, was scrapped and a whole new script was written. Despite the script being rewritten, Hewitt was rumored to have a cameo appearance in the new sequel, but never made it.
When Julie, Karla, Tyrell & Will first arrive at the resort, Will's true nature is foreshadowed as they walk around the fountain. Everyone goes around the right path to get around it except for Will, who goes the opposite left path, as the soundtrack (That Girl ~ Esthero) plays "One of these things just doesn't belong here.."
Tyrell's death is foreshadowed early on when they get to the island. During the scene where the impatient & quick-to-provoke Tyrell ends up getting into a quick & unpleasant exchange with Mr. Brooks about how old the building is, Mr. Brooks responds to Tyrell's sarcastic quip with "It'll outlive you, I'm sure", foreshadowing Tyrell's death later in the film & quite possibly setting up Mr. Brooks as sort of a "Red Herring".
In the movie, Will says his last name is Benson (Ben's Son). If you take both last names, Willis and Benson, it says "Will is Ben's Son".
The fate of Nancy (Jennifer Esposito) and Karla (Brandy Norwood), in the scene where they retrieve the first aid kit, initially was reversed with Karla dying and Nancy surviving.
Have you seen the other I Know What You Did Last Summer movies? Check out my other reviews here: I Know What You Did Last Summer Franchise.
Let’s get into the rankings:
Kills/Blood/Gore: 3/5
Sex/Nudity: 0/5
Scare factor: 3/5
Enjoyment factor: 5/5
My Rank: 2.75/5
IMDB: 4.7/10
Rotten Tomatoes: critics: .7/10 audience: 2.9/10
Letterboxd: 2.3/5