As for the Slasher wave of the nineties, there is a clear chopping order: “Scream – scream” (1996) of Wes Craven is enthroned above everything! Only then follow with some distance “I know what you did last summer” (1997) and “dark legends” (1998). But not only then was the fishing hook killer a straggler, also among the series offshoots (“Scream” came in 2015, “I know what you did last summer”) and at the reboots he always lags behind: “Scream” (2022) has even received another sequel before “Dressge” director Kayin Robinson “I know what you did last summer” tackles the franchise restart.
With both reboots that only wear the original title without number for complete confusion, these are also so-called Legacy sequels, as they have been difficult since the theatrical release of “Star Wars 7: The Awakens of Power”: It is essentially a completely new teen troop, but the “old” stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prince-and a more prominent Guest star in a dream sequence – are still on board. And as much as “I know what you did last summer” traditionally also stands in the shadow of “Scream” – at least in one point the serial murdering fisherman is ahead this time …
If you know your way around in the Slasher genre, you naturally know that this message cannot mean anything good!
Because the property prices in Southport have drastically dropped in the first two films after the cruel murder series, the influential real estate mogul Grant Spencer (Billy Campbell) has ensured that the memory of the fisherman disappears from public perception. Did that really happen – or is it just one of so many local legends and myths? Since then, the harbor town has been flourishing, in which the luxurious villas with sea views just sprout out of the ground.
But almost 30 years later, news with the mysterious message “I know what you did last summer” are still sent: This time it meets Ava Brucks (Chase Sui Wonders) and her clique, who accidentally ensured last summer after a engagement ceremony that a young man with his car slum through the curriculum and crashed down the cliffs. Now the fisherman is back – and he no longer only has one catch with him …
Classic Whodunit-Slasher
“I know what you did last summer” and the disappointing sequel “I still know what you did last summer” were somewhere between “Scream” and “dark legends”: A Wer is also the game of the killer, but with an urban legend as a starting point. In the reboot, the chance that Ben Willis will “rose” again again, but never seriously considered-the fisherman is finally the new ghost face, in which one should definitely advise who is probably “scooby-doo” under the oil.
His attacks also remind you in the reboot: there are no longer only fast kills, but also chase through empty houses, in which the hook man also likes to stumble over something. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson never fully reaches the atmosphere of the original (or even from “Scream”), but the slasher sequences are competently staged and definitely more varied than in the predecessors: Only one fishing hook was a bit monotonous in the long run, which is why a harpoon comes into play as an additional option.
As in “I still know what you did last summer”, Freddie Prince Jr. is once again hurried to rescue in the boat.
The new “I know what you did last summer” is also emphasized modern: Final Girl Ava is, for example, BI. When she returned to Southport, she first had a directly hot sex on the airport toilet-with a True Crime-Podcasterin in close motorcycle, embodied by Gothic-Model Gabbrierte, which she just got to know on the flight. The fact that this does not seem too wanted is mainly due to the consistently convincing young cast cast. Even if we are difficult to imagine that in this case, too, all of them will really become stars afterwards – as with the original.
There it was with Jennifer Love Hewitt (“Ghost Whisperer”), Freddie Prince Jr. (“One like none”), Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe (both “ice-cold angels”) and Johnny Galecki (“Big Bang Theory”) actually 5 out of 5. On the other hand, the pop culture attachments, where it often works as if the characters suddenly turn directly to the audience in the middle of the sentence. Comparable moments were often less successful in the predecessors – and it is exciting to see which of them are still somewhat up -to -date three decades later and in which you don't even know what (or from whom) they are actually talking about.
A resolution that you will still talk about!
Attention – possible spoilers: We will of course not reveal the resolution to the new “I know what you did last summer”, but we will classify it in the next paragraph. You may be able to draw certain conclusions from it, so read on at your own risk!
Even today I sometimes wake up sweaty and annoyed myself that as a high school in the cinema, I didn't immediately strain on the cinema visit of “I still know what you did last summer”, that Rio de Janeiro is of course not the capital of Brazil. However, I take far less crooked that I did not predict the resolution of “I know what you did last summer”. Because you have to say: Chapeau-so far is “still” the “Scream” competition!
The resolution suffers a little from the fact that the actors involved in the corresponding scenes do not necessarily deliver their very best performance – and you could have enjoyed all of this for a while. But it is definitely taken care of the conversation on the way home …
Conclusion: The “I know what you did last summer” franchise will probably always take a few steps behind. But Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, with her legacy reboot, nevertheless provides a rock-solid Whodunit slasher with a resolution with which you can actually buy the cutter a bit to the “Scream” franchise.