'I Know What You Did Last Summer' review: Slasher sequel won't let you off the hook

Sony Pictures

Surely you spent last summer sitting in a theatre watching a bunch of movies like a good cinemagoer. Surely you didn't do anything morally reprehensible instead. Those sorts of acts are only for characters in I Know What You Did Last Summer, the fourth film in the franchise of the same name, but a sequel only to the 1997 film with the same name and 1998's 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'.

27 years later (I know, I know), a brand new group of friends—Ava Brucks (Chase Sui Wonders), Danica Richards (Madelyn Cline), Milo Griffin (Jonah Hauer-King), Stevie Ward (Sarah Pidgeon) and Teddy Spencer (Tyriq Withers)—reconnect in Southport, North Carolina for Danica and Teddy's engagement party before causing a car crash and committing to a vow of silence in order to cover it up. Since history tends to repeat itself, next summer everyone is back in Southport for another engagement party and the group receives a note that gives the film its title, and as you'd expect, they're hunted by a hook-wielding serial killer referred to as ''Fisherman". The return of this infamous foe invites the presence of Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr.) who survived a killing spree 27 years ago.

Do you know the feeling when you come up with such a snazzy, attention-grabbing title for your project that you have the urge to use it twice? Well, someone here certainly does but do they have any other tricks up their sleeve? Not necessarily seeing how unambitious the latest "Summer" is. Director-writer Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and co-writer Sam Lansky—working from a story by Robinson and Leah McKendrick, and characters by Lois Duncan—do start their journey in the right spot since remakes, legacy sequels and reboots are supposed to be for movies that failed to reach their potential in the first place, which describes the subpar, poorly constructed 1997 film aptly. What is frustrating is that Robinson and co. aren't innovating in any capacity as they bizarrely follow the boring template, fail to bring much filmmaking flair into a franchise that hasn't had any and fail to fully embrace the slasher horror as a genre.

Following the characters and their own journeys is also an infuriating experience because everything gets off to a decent start. The film's two best kills are its first two as well, and it's notable that the victims aren't part of the friend group. From there on out, it's a slow crawl towards the mediocrity that is most of the movie. Robinson and her crew don't maintain the type of unpredictable atmosphere you want in horror; those first kills work because of their meanness and proper staging respectively, but after that they are tonally and creatively scattershot, until the very final kill that is just poor in terms of execution and blocking.

Like mentioned above, things don't pick up much pace when it comes to visual storytelling. There's specifically a cemetery set that feels like it's straight out of a slasher parody (production design by Courtney Andujar and Hillary Andujar) and that whole set piece can't meet its maker soon enough. Robinson and cinematographer Elisha Christian do a better job with shadows and architecture, mainly at or inside Danica and the Spencer family's houses, even coming up with a cool shot every now and then. The sound design, composer Chanda Dancy's score and some of the songs aren't as ruthless or fun as you'd like either so there's something missing from the final product.

And perhaps most of all, the main quintet's interplay and charms are rather lacklustre. Wonders is pretty much providing all of the energy and playfulness, and showing some impressive dramatic chops with Ava's moral dilemma, especially when she's paired with Gabbriette Bechtel's Tyler Trevino or Hauer-King's Milo. Cline starts off strong in another key role, but she ends up overacting quite a bit for a story that isn't all that outrageous, almost as if she's performing for TikTok marketing materials and TV spots rather than trying to find some nuance in Danica's vanity. On a similar note, Hewitt shows up to deliver dramatic one-liners for trailers, which are supposed to bring in the nostalgia crowd. But to be fair, that's the screenplay talking because neither she nor Prinze phone their performances in, which also goes for the entire cast.

Saying that the film isn't incompetently produced and an entirely miserable experience is the best that I can do, but do not think for a second that this particular corpse and mystery were worth digging up. There are pockets of silly fun to be found during the 110-minute runtime, there are twists and turns, and Wonders is a watchable lead whenever she's on screen, but the last 20 minutes are quite appalling, which leaves a bad taste in your mouth. The entire payoff feels like it was tested and reassembled over and over again until the story unceremoniously bled to death, with egregiously dumb survivals so that the dumbest viewers can get a cringeworthy, dumbed down girlboss moment in the end, and with dialogue and sequel bait so horrendous that you look for the nearest exit. One shall hope that our plans in summers to come don't include another instalment in this franchise—the bad taste still lingers.

Smileys: Chase Sui Wonders

Frowneys: Atmosphere, ending

Yacht queen! Slay!

2.0/5

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