Freddie Prinze Jr thinks Saw made other horror films seem 'funny'
The 49-year-old actor - who will reprise his role as Ray Bronson in the upcoming I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel - has opened up on how James Wan's 2004 horror film changed how fans reacted to the slasher genre after movies like Scream in the 1990s.
Speaking to Extra, he recalled: "Every 10 years, horror films kind of evolve, right?
"And it happens much more quickly than comedies or dramas or action movies or anything like that.
"And we had just come from a time when horror movies weren't really being respected. And it took Wes [Craven] to come in and kind of remind people… 'Look what you can do with a low budget but a great script that's character-driven with wonderful set pieces'...
'[After Scream] they started taking swings on other scripts. And they started giving opportunities to other scripts and ideas.
'All of a sudden Saw came out, which makes our movies not scary anymore… and kids are like, 'Well, now I've seen this, so now your movie's funny.' '
A few years before Saw, the Scary Movie franchise launched in 2000 and spoofed other horror films, including the original I Know What You Did Last Summer from 1997.
Although Freddie hasn't seen the parody films, Jennifer Kaytin Robinson - the writer and director for the I Know What You Did Last Summer sequel - is a huge fan.
She admitted: "My dream — because they're rebooting Scary Movie — is for them to rip this movie in the new Scary Movie… That would be such an ultimate for me.'
The first movie - based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan - hit cinemas in 1997 and was followed by a second installment I Still Know What You Did Last Summer a year later, and I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer in 2006 as well as a 2021 TV series.
Now, the franchise is being revived with a new legacy sequel featuring original stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Prinze Jr.
Director Robinson previously teased the new movie is going to be much more gory than the original.
She told PEOPLE: "[The horror elements are] ratcheted up to a hundred in this - it's much more brutal ...
"There's definitely more methodology to every kill in this movie, unlike the first, which is kind of just him [the killer] stalking them and going after them.
"There's not a lot of gore or blood or violence in the first one. There certainly is in this one."
And while old fans can get "excited about the Easter eggs", she wanted the new film to be accessible to newcomers.
She added: "[We] approached it like super fans, so I think people are going to be really happy. All the things that you want to see in this movie, you're going to see in this movie ...
"We very purposefully wanted to make this movie both for fans of the original who are coming to this and excited about the Easter eggs but also for a new audience that can find I Know and almost watch the first one like a prequel.
"That was very front of mind for me as we made this movie. You don't need to do any research coming into I Know What You Did Last Summer. You just have to have a really good time."
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