Latest news with #Scream
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Entertainment
- Yahoo
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer' review: A funny stab at the lousy original
movie review I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER Running time: 111 minutes. Rated R (bloody horror violence, language throughout, some sexual content and brief drug use). In theaters. Horror movie characters never learn from past mistakes. Running away from the killer, teen girls will always, always sprint up the stairs and into an inescapable bedroom. They know no other path. But, outside the screen, filmmakers occasionally do make life-saving course corrections. That's the most pleasant surprise of the sorta sequel to 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' (inasmuch as a reboot about a checklist of college kids getting impaled can be pleasant or surprising): It's a lot better than the 1997 version, if equally as stupid. 'Nostalgia is overrated,' says Jennifer Love Hewitt's returning Julie James, taking her own hook to all the zombified millennials and Gen Xers in the audience who unconditionally love the flawed original. The awful '90s movie was released in the wake of 'Scream' blowing up the genre a year earlier. Yet when it arrived, it was just another shrieks-and-shrugs slasher flick and went off a cliff in more ways than one. Yes, it had Hewitt, but it had no wit. The Fisherman wasn't remotely scary. The characters were interchangeable. The whodunit ending featured some guy we hadn't even met. The enduring image is crabs in a trunk! When other critics prattle on about so-called 'legacy' sequels, as if 'I Know What You Did Last Summer,' is some sort of vaunted Everest to climb, I laugh and laugh and laugh some more. The improved refresh, which also stars Freddie Prinze Jr. alongside the new young cast, is very funny and dry. The film is self-aware, but not in the obnoxious way the recent 'Scream' movies have been. And it's cognizant of the franchise's many, many faults. When one imperiled character suggests the group just 'f–k off to the Bahamas,' Prinze Jr.'s grizzled Ray shoots back, 'For reasons I won't get into, I wouldn't do that.' The kills are much more gruesome and the shadowy Fisherman is actually freaky. 'I Know' kept me interested, even if it also made me braindead. Make no mistake, this is a dumb movie. One woman loses two fiancés and is back to wisecracking a scene later. The flick is dependent on obvious jump-scares and retro throwbacks. But it's also a nice break from all the self-important horror movies out there with Oscar aspirations. The key word here is 'summer.' The waters off the shore of Southport, North Carolina, may be rocky, but one thing that's not rocking the boat is the familiar story. At the start, we're practically in 'Groundhog Day,' only it's the Fourth of July. A group of five well-heeled, well-lubricated friends drive up to a cliffside road to watch the fireworks. Rather than a hit-and-run, however, this time another car swerves off the road after almost slamming into Teddy (Tyriq Withers), a drunk dummy standing in the middle of the street. The driver plummets to their likely death. Teddy rings his powerful dad to fix the mess, Murdaugh murders style, and the group agrees to never speak of the incident again. One year later, at her engagement party, airhead Danica (Madelyn Cline) gets an ominous letter among her presents: 'I know what you did last summer.' Director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson's film then hitches onto the latest fad — the original scream queen, hardened and battle ready, goes once more unto the breach. Think Jamie Lee Curtis in the 'Halloween' reboot or Neve Campbell in the 2022 'Scream.' Julie, now a traumatized psychology professor, reluctantly gets roped in. Her young prototype is Ava (Chase Sui Wonders), an untethered free spirit with issues. She flirts with innocent Milo (Jonah Hauer-King) and is trailed by the suspicious Tyler (Gabbriette Bechtel), the host of the murder podcast 'Live, Laugh, Slaughter.' Most enticing is Stevie, a townie who works at the local bar, played by fresh-from-Broadway Sarah Pidgeon. Come to think of it, Pidgeon is the human embodiment of the 1990s. Somebody brutally dies, and then the self-absorbed, unlikable, helpless survivors have no solution but to throw a bath bomb in the tub and hook up. You see? Mocking Gen Z is the great American pastime. After a completely ridiculous ending — still leagues better than the first movie's — a post-credits sequence suggests that a sequel could be in the cards. But, honestly, by now the stationary stores are out of paper. The Sharpies runneth dry. Find me someone who doesn't know what they did last summer. We all remember how well a follow-up worked for this series the last two times. I say: One and done, then give 'em the hook. Solve the daily Crossword
The Star
a day ago
- Entertainment
- The Star
'I Know What You Did Last Summer' review: The last one wasn't good either...
I Know What You Did Last Summer Director: Jennifer Kaytin Robinson Cast: Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Jonah Hauer-King, Tyriq Withers, Sarah Pidgeon, Billy Campbell, Gabbriette Bechtel, Austin Nichols, Freddie Prinze Jr, Jennifer Love Hewitt The rebooted I Know What You Did Last Summer feels more like a recycled I Know What You Did Last Summer. This legacy sequel to the 1997 horror hit, which followed in Scream's reawakening of the teen horror machine, follows the familiar beats of the original film, except with less personality and a total lack of suspense. With results this tepid, who cares what you did last summer? On a cliffside road one night, a group of CW-ready North Carolina friends — including Danica (Madelyn Cline), her best friend Ava (Chase Sui Wonders) and her fiancé Teddy (Tyriq Withers) — are party to an accidental death they sort of maybe had a hand in partially causing. Ok, time to start taking bets on who's going to die first. They try to keep the incident a secret amongst themselves, but a year later it comes back to haunt them in the form of an anonymous letter sent to Danica which reads in full, I know what you did last summer. Stop me if you've heard this one before. Enter the hook-wielding killer, who inspired enough references to the Gorton's Fisherman back then that there's no need to rehash them here. The difference is this time around there's precedent for the events, which means all sorts of references to 'The Slaughter of '97', which the town attempted to bury in an effort to rebrand itself as the Hamptons of the South. That also means bringing original stars Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. back into the fold to reprise their original roles. You'd think the Ghost Whisperer would know better than to stick around a town with a serial killer. Look, we're in an era where everything that was once old can always be new again, where nothing or no one ever really dies until they're buried 6 feet deep, and even then things are open to negotiations. I Know What You Did Last Summer was never that good the first time around, and co-writer and director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson (2022's dark comic teen thriller Do Revenge) doesn't do much to spice up this revisited take. The characters are flat and unlikeable, the staging of the horror sequences is clumsy, and the kills are wan and uninspired. What are we doing here? I Know What You Did Last Summer isn't quite scraping the bottom of the barrel — that would be an Urban Legend reboot/sequel, quite frankly — but it's a lifeless attempt to squeeze blood from a stone that didn't have much to offer in the first place Nostalgia is overrated, Jennifer Love Hewitt's character says at one point late in the movie. You said it, sister. – Adam Graham/The Detroit News/Tribune News Service
Geek Tyrant
a day ago
- Entertainment
- Geek Tyrant
Review: I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER is Mindless Nostalgic Slasher Ridiculusness — GeekTyrant
I walked into the new I Know What You Did Last Summer revival with an open mind. Honestly, I was never a fan of the original films, they always felt they were made to ride off the coattails of Scream . Still, curiosity got the better of me. Maybe this movie would be the one to shake things up, add a clever twist, or at least give the franchise some fresh energy. Unfortunately, that didn't happen. What we got is a movie that doesn't just lean on nostalgia, it practically clings to it like a life raft. From the start, the film makes it clear it's playing things safe. The story is basically a remix of the first two films with a couple of minor changes, but nothing that reinvents the wheel. Every beat feels familiar. Worse, it's so predictable that you can figure out who the killer is pretty quickly if you're paying attention. There's no tension, no surprises, just a series of paint-by-numbers moments wrapped in slasher clichés. The script will also remind you about the year 1997 roughly every fifteen minutes, as if repeating the date makes the callbacks feel clever. As for the tone of the film, Instead of leaning into suspense and horror, the movie seems to embrace comedy… intentionally or not. The audience in my screening laughed through the whole thing. Not because the jokes landed, but because the entire experience teetered on the edge of 'so bad it's good.' The characters are so stupid as they make one ridiculous bad decision after another, and the dialogue is silly. The characters are completely unlikable. Every single one feels like a caricature of a Gen Z stereotype, written without an ounce of depth or charm. It's hard to root for anyone when you're busy rolling your eyes at their dialogue or waiting for the next dumb move that will get them killed. If that was the goal, then mission accomplished, I guess. The original movies weren't that great either, but at least they had a certain earnestness. Here, the writing feels lazy, like no one cared enough to give these people any reason to matter. At its core, this movie is a nostalgia machine running on fumes. It desperately wants to recreate the vibe of the late '90s slasher boom while also appearing self-aware, but it never balances either approach. Instead, it serves up a hollow imitation that mistakes references for substance. There's even a line from Jennifer Love Hewitt's character saying, 'Nostalgia is overrated,' and I couldn't help but laugh because the movie itself is proof of that. In the end, I Know What You Did Last Summer isn't scary, smart, or original. It's not even a guilty pleasure. It's a glossy, uninspired retread with nothing new to offer. If you're into mindless slasher fluff and want to laugh at absurd choices and bad writing, you might find it entertaining in a 'hate-watch' kind of way. For everyone else, this is one movie you can skip.
Digital Trends
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Digital Trends
If you liked I Know What You Did Last Summer, then watch these 5 movies
More than 25 years after a group of teens first did something last summer, I Know What You Did Last Summer is back with a legacy sequel. It's far from the first of these revived horror franchises from the 1990s, but if you liked the slasher vibes of this new installment, we know exactly where you should go next. These movies all share something in common with the new I Know What You Did Last Summer. Whether they're legendary horror movies or something a little bit newer, here are five similar movies you should check out: Scream (2022) Perhaps the movie most similar to I Know What You Did Last Summer, this new Scream is a legacy sequel that knows what to do. It follows a new cast of young characters who are being hunted down by a killer wearing a Ghostface mask. The teens then seek help from the now-adults who beat Ghostface the first time. Recommended Videos In addition to featuring a younger generation of stars, Scream is clever, funny, and knows its role as the fifth film in a franchise that has existed for 25 years. You couldn't ask for much more from a slasher. You can watch Scream on Hulu. Final Destination Bloodlines (2025) Another legacy sequel that knows exactly what it's doing, Bloodlines might actually be the best movie in the Final Destination franchise. Like all of these movies, it is constructed around the notion that death is coming for a specific group of people, and often in remarkably elaborate ways. Surprisingly, though, Bloodlines manages to find a new way into this particular conceit, one that suggests that we sometimes only inherit the worst things from the generations who came before us. You can rent Final Destination Bloodlines on Amazon Prime Video. The Texas Chainsaw Massacre (1974) One of the foundational slasher movies, The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, is maybe the scariest horror film ever made. The film follows a group of young people traveling across the country in a van who come across a group of cannibals who attack them with chainsaws in rural Texas. The movie's brilliance is that its villains are mostly faceless and nameless. They just exist to kill our heroes, and the pure senselessness of their actions is part of the point. Even if you survive the movie's terror, you'll find yourself forever changed by what you watched. You can watch The Texas Chainsaw Massacre on Tubi. You're Next (2013) As an underseen slasher-thriller, You're Next tells the story of a wealthy family who reunites at their parents' mansion in an attempt to bury the hatchet. When they begin to be picked off by masked, crossbow-wielding assassins, the family quickly realizes that they must band together to stay alive. You're Next is thrilling and surprising and features just the right amount of gore and violence. Adam Wingard, who directed the movie, went on to make Godzilla vs. Kong, but this remains his best and most interesting movie to date. You can watch You're Next on Tubi. Freaky (2020) Another great slasher comedy that got totally buried during the pandemic, Freaky combines a standard slasher movie with a body swap comedy to excellent results. The film stars Vince Vaughn as a serial killer who switches bodies with a high school girl; she suddenly becomes much more focused on getting her body back. Vaughn is excellent as a young woman trapped in the body of a middle-aged man, but just as good is Kathryn Newton as a teenage girl turned middle-aged man who wants nothing more than to kill as many people as he can. You can watch Freaky on Amazon Prime Video.
Time Out
2 days ago
- Entertainment
- Time Out
The new ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer' is fun enough to get its hook into you
If you ranked the most spoofed horror movies of the '90s, I Know What You Did Last Summer would be right up there at the top. The Kevin Williamson-penned screenplay was imitated by The Simpsons, Scary Movie, hell, even Dawson's Creek got a lick in, but its campiness and laughably stale acting instantly made it a cult classic in the slasher canon. What followed were four different instalments and a flop 2021 TV series under the same name, and now, a legacy sequel in the vein of Williamson's Scream franchise revival in 2022. The expectations weren't particularly high when it was announced that Jennifer Kaytin Robinson would be writing a 2025 reinvention of the series. Still, given the director's track record with Gen Z-ready comedies (Do Revenge is an instant-girls-night-in classic), expectations went from nothing to… maybe this could be okay? It's been almost 30 years since the summer of 1997, when a group of four friends accidentally ran a man over, dumped his body, and were subsequently haunted by a blood-thirsty, hook-wielding fisherman. And in a very unfortunate twist of fate, another group of hot young adults find themselves in the same predicament. This time, though, he's levelled up and got himself a harpoon. Another group of hot young adults find themselves haunted by the hook-wielding fisherman Millennial heroes Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt make an enjoyable return, alongside a cast of young Hollywood talent including Outer Banks ', Madelyn Cline, The Studio' s Chase Sui Wonders, and model Gabbriette who makes her acting debut. As with the original, characters are steadily picked off one by one, with the violence escalating to a thrilling climax, of course, on a boat. Sui Wonders plays up to the 'final girl' trope with ease, balancing blood-curdling screams with the kind of feistiness that makes you believe she could probably be the last one standing. But really, nobody's safe here. Swooping in to assist her in tracking down the masked killer, Love Hewitt reprises her role as Julie James, now a band T-shirt-wearing, cool professor of trauma psychology, and Prinze Jr. is a gruff bartender (with a surprisingly great skincare routine), scarred by his past but practical in his advice to the spiralling youngsters. 'Nostalgia's overrated,' Love Hewitt quips in the rushed final third of the film. And while you find yourself rolling your eyes at some of the navel-gazing, I Know What You Did Last Summer still maintains some of its charm. The stabbing, harpooning, slashing, and hanging nod nicely to the 'who's next?' fear of the original, and the fresh crop of youngsters trying to escape the demonic fisherman give the film enough zest that it doesn't feel exhaustingly meta. But maybe we should give the reboots a break for the moment, yeah?
