I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
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Four teenage friends are stalked by a hook-wielding killer one year after covering up a fatal car accident.
The story
On July 4, 1996, in Southport, North Carolina, Julie James and her friends Ray Bronson, Helen Shivers, and Barry Cox are celebrating a victory when a car accident occurs. After Barry's drunken antics cause Ray to hit a pedestrian, the group decides to hide the crime. One year later, the friends have drifted apart until Julie receives a mysterious note: 'I know what you did last summer!' As the group reunites to confront the threat, they are stalked by a mysterious figure in a fisherman slicker wielding a hook, forcing them to confront the consequences of their past actions.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
After a hit-and-run accident on July 4, 1996, in Southport, North Carolina, four friends—Julie, Ray, Helen, and Barry—hide the body of a man they believe they killed. A year later, Julie receives a threatening note. The group reunites as they are stalked by a killer wielding a hook. They discover the man they hit was Ben Willis, whose daughter Susie was killed in a car accident. Ben, seeking revenge, stalks them, eventually killing Barry, Helen, and others. Ray eventually confronts Ben on a boat, severs his hand, and sends him overboard. The film ends a year later with Julie in Boston, where a figure crashes through a shower door as she sees 'I still know' written in the steam.
- First release year
- 1997
- Runtime (minutes)
- 101
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Jim Gillespie
- Writers
- Kevin Williamson · screenplay
- Cast and characters
- Jennifer Love Hewitt · Julie James; Sarah Michelle Gellar · Helen Shivers; Ryan Phillippe · Barry Cox; Freddie Prinze Jr. · Ray Bronson; Johnny Galecki · Max Neurick; Bridgette Wilson · Elsa Shivers; Anne Heche · Melissa "Missy" Egan; Muse Watson · Benjamin "Ben" Willis / the Fisherman
- Genres
- slasher; horror
- Themes
- guilt; consequences; revenge
- Tone and mood
- suspenseful; tense
- Setting
- Southport, North Carolina and Boston, Massachusetts during the late 1990s.
- Premise and plot tags
- slasher; teen horror; mystery
- Source material / true-story basis
- 1973 novel by Lois Duncan
- Franchise connections
- I Know What You Did Last Summer
- Reception
- The film received a mixed reception from critics but was noted for revitalizing the slasher genre in the 1990s and being frequently referenced in popular culture.
- Reported review scores
- Rotten Tomatoes · score: 47% · scale: percentage · review count: 118; Metacritic · score: 52 · scale: 100 · review count: 17
- Production trivia
- The film was parodied in Scary Movie (2000).; The final scene's dialogue was conceived by a child who won a contest.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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