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I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 slasher film. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr.. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on Lois Duncan's popular novel of the same title. The film was followed by two sequels, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and the straight-to-DVD release I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. The latter film did not star any of the cast from the previous two.
The film received mixed reviews from critics. However, the film was highly successful, grossing $125,500,000 at the box office.[1] It was also nominated for and won multiple awards.[2] As a result the film has been parodied and referenced in popular culture.[3]
After Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar) wins a beauty pageaent, Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Barry William Cox (Ryan Phillippe), and Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr.) are celebrating along with graduation on the 4th of July.
The four friends go to a party and decide to head out to the beach in
the middle of the night. Barry, who is intoxicated, decides to let Ray
drive his car back home from the beach. On their way home, they hit and
apparently kill a man who is walking in the road. While thinking what
to do with the corpse, Julie's friend Max Neurick (Johnny Galecki)
arrives. Julie tells him that everything is fine so he leaves. While
dumping the body in a near by sea, the body becomes alive and tries to
attack Helen. They dump the corpse in the ocean and agree to never
discuss again what had happened.
One year later, Julie is returning home from college. She has not
spoken with Helen, Barry or Ray since the accident. Upon return home,
Julie receives a letter that reads "I know what you did last summer."
Julie freaks out and goes to see Helen's sister, Elsa (Bridgette Wilson),
who tells Julie that Helen has been working at the store. Julie shows
Helen the letter and they decide to visit Barry. After going over the
incident, Barry accuses Max. The trio go to see Max, but Barry insists
on going in the factory alone. Barry persuades Max to go into the back
room and attacks him, telling Max he should keep his mouth shut. Julie
finds Ray working on the docks. Ray tries to make up with Julie but she
runs off. Inside the factory, Max is murdered by someone wielding a
butcher's hook. The killer attacks Barry next, running him over with
his own car. The killer is shown wearing a slicker and carrying a
butcher's hook in one hand.
Julie arrives at the hospital to see Barry and finds Helen and Ray
there. Julie reveals the man they hit was named David Egan. Helen and
Julie track his sister, Missy (Anne Heche),
to her home, where she has been living since her brother's death. Missy
does not recognize them and Julie is convinced she is innocent. Missy
tells them she had a visit from a man claiming to be David's friend
named Billy Blue. At Helen's home that night, the killer breaks in,
hiding in her closet. The next morning, Helen wakes up with most of her
hair cut to bits and "SOON" written in lipstick on her mirror. Julie
gets a call from Barry, who tells her to come to Helen's. On the way,
Julie hears rattling in her trunk. She opens the trunk to find Max's
body. She shuts the trunk, runs to Helen's and brings her and Barry to
her car, but the body has disappeared. Julie is convinced the killer
took the body and they are not safe. Later they run into Ray, who tells
them he got a letter. Julie decides to see Missy again while Helen and
Barry watch each other's backs at the parade. Julie tries to convince
Missy that David did not kill himself after Missy presents her with a
suicide note written in the same style as her letter from the killer.
Missy tells Julie to leave.
At the Croaker pageant, Helen sees Barry murdered by the killer.
However, neither the killer nor the body are found afterward. A police
officer drives Helen home, but the killer lures the cop into an alley
and kills him. Helen runs to her store where Elsa is working, but the
killer finds and kills Elsa and chases Helen up into the attic where
Helen jumps out of the window into a dumpster. Dazed, Helen looks up at
the window but sees that no one is there. Helen flees through the back
alleys where she comes close to emerging to the street where the parade
is passing by but hears a noise and turns to look. Helen sees no one
and turns around again and walks straight into the killer. He shoves
her into a stack of tires and slashes her to death.
Julie learns that the killer is Ben Willis (Muse Watson),
a fisherman. He murdered David Egan after David and Ben's daughter
Susie were involved in a car crash near where the four teenagers hit
Ben. Susie was killed in the accident and David was unharmed. Ben
blamed David and killed him a year later, making it look like a
suicide. On the way home, Ben was hit by the group. Julie goes to see
Ray on his boat and tells him the story, but he does not believe her.
Julie notices the name on his boat is "Billy Blue" and accuses him of
the murders. He chases her but is knocked unconscious by a man who
tells Julie to get on his boat. After she does, she learns he is Ben
Willis, the real killer. She is chased all over the boat while Ray
regains consciousness and steals a boat to save Julie. In a room full
of ice, Julie finds Helen and Barry's bodies. Ray climbs aboard and is
almost killed by Ben, but is caught in the boat's net. He climbs back
aboard and saves Julie. Ben gets his hand caught in a rope and Ray
hoists him into the air where his hand is cut off and he falls into the
ocean. On land, Ray tells Julie that the reason he went to see Missy
was because he was guilty and had to know who they hit. He tells her he
loves her and they embrace. Ben's body is not recovered.
A year later, Julie is in her second year and is going on a trip to
New York with Ray. She receives a letter resembling the one she had got
from Ben, but it only contains a pool party invitation. Julie returns
to the bathroom, which has filled with steam. On the shower door, "I
STILL KNOW" is written. Ben jumps through the shower door and attacks
Julie as she screams.
[edit] Reception
The film received generally negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, 35% of comments were positive.[4] In another review, Metacritic reported an aggregate score of 52 out of 100. Critic Roger Ebert wrote in his review, "The best shot in this film is the first one. Not a good sign."[5]
Jennifer Love Hewitt was praised for her performance as Julie James by an Entertainment Weekly columnist stating that Hewitt knows how to scream with soul.[6]
[edit] Awards and nominations
[edit] References
[edit] External links
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