Julie James Jennifer Love Hewitt) is back. So is her seafaring boyfriend Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr.), and, of course, the guy with the slicker and that nasty hook (Muse Watson).
But that's about the only resemblance between the ultralame "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" and the far superior 1997 original, which, minus the "Still" part, grossed more than $125 million in worldwide boxoffice.
But while the first installment benefited from the comparatively masterful talents of "Scream" scribe Kevin Williamson and Scottish director Jim Gillespie, the sequel's Trey Callaway (UPN's late "Mercy Point") and director Danny Cannon ("Judge Dredd") couldn't have less of a feel for the horror genre.
Their flimsy approximation is a listless, resoundingly hollow affair, completely devoid of anything resembling suspense or tension. Even the stubbornly unkillable Ben Willis traipses around looking about as menacing as the Gorton's fisherman.
Fans of the original may be hooked over the opening weekend, but poor word-of-mouth should send subsequent numbers dropping quicker than movie's doomed characters.
Heroine Julie James, who showed some feisty spirit the first time around, has apparently regressed into a mopey zombie since most of her friends were unceremoniously offed a year earlier.
Paranoid and hallucinatory, she has had little success leaving the messy past behind her by attending college in Boston. Enter spunky roommate Karla Wilson (Brandy), who has just won an all-expense-paid vacation for four in the Bahamas during the Fourth of July weekend (during one of the film's more contrived bits of business), which just happens to coincide with the anniversary of the big bloodbath.
Contending the vacation would be therapeutic, Karla talks her into joining her along with her boyfriend Tyrell (Mekhi Phifer) and platonic classmate Will Benson (Matthew Settle). Quicker than you can say, "How Julie Got Her Boogeyman Back," the tropical island paradise turns ugly as the evil fisherman once again rears his obscured head.
Packed with an embarrassment of illogical plot points even by conventional horror standards and static scene after static scene, "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" is as awkward and cumbersome as its marquee-crowding title. And when it finally gets around to the thriller stuff, Cannon's idea of shooting mayhem is to whip out the strobe lights while John Frizzell's score shamelessly cribs from everything from "Psycho" to "Friday the 13th".
Straitjacketed by the moribund plotting, Hewitt is confined to looking drugged while forced to utter such clunkers as "I'm not dying on this island. Do you hear me?" Even Brandy's perky presence does little to rev things up, again thanks to the script's bland characterizations.
The scariest thing about this purported horror flick is just how frighteningly it misses the mark.
I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
Columbia
Columbia Pictures presents
in association with Mandalay Entertainment
A Neal H. Moritz production
A film by Danny Cannon
Director: Danny Cannon
Screenwriter: Trey Callaway
Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Erik Feig, Stokely Chaffin, William S. Beasley Director of photography: Vernon Layton
Production designer: Doug Kraner
Editor: Peck Prior
Costume designer: Dan Lester
Music supervisors: Sharon Boyle and John Houlihan
Music: John Frizzell
Casting: Jackie Birch
Color/stereo
Cast:
Julie James: Jennifer Love Hewitt
Ray Bronson: Freddie Prinze Jr.
Karla Wilson: Brandy Tyrell
Martin: Mekhi Phifer
Ben Willis: Muse Watson
Will Benson: Matthew Settle
Nancy: Jennifer Esposito
Running time -- 96 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
But that's about the only resemblance between the ultralame "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" and the far superior 1997 original, which, minus the "Still" part, grossed more than $125 million in worldwide boxoffice.
But while the first installment benefited from the comparatively masterful talents of "Scream" scribe Kevin Williamson and Scottish director Jim Gillespie, the sequel's Trey Callaway (UPN's late "Mercy Point") and director Danny Cannon ("Judge Dredd") couldn't have less of a feel for the horror genre.
Their flimsy approximation is a listless, resoundingly hollow affair, completely devoid of anything resembling suspense or tension. Even the stubbornly unkillable Ben Willis traipses around looking about as menacing as the Gorton's fisherman.
Fans of the original may be hooked over the opening weekend, but poor word-of-mouth should send subsequent numbers dropping quicker than movie's doomed characters.
Heroine Julie James, who showed some feisty spirit the first time around, has apparently regressed into a mopey zombie since most of her friends were unceremoniously offed a year earlier.
Paranoid and hallucinatory, she has had little success leaving the messy past behind her by attending college in Boston. Enter spunky roommate Karla Wilson (Brandy), who has just won an all-expense-paid vacation for four in the Bahamas during the Fourth of July weekend (during one of the film's more contrived bits of business), which just happens to coincide with the anniversary of the big bloodbath.
Contending the vacation would be therapeutic, Karla talks her into joining her along with her boyfriend Tyrell (Mekhi Phifer) and platonic classmate Will Benson (Matthew Settle). Quicker than you can say, "How Julie Got Her Boogeyman Back," the tropical island paradise turns ugly as the evil fisherman once again rears his obscured head.
Packed with an embarrassment of illogical plot points even by conventional horror standards and static scene after static scene, "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" is as awkward and cumbersome as its marquee-crowding title. And when it finally gets around to the thriller stuff, Cannon's idea of shooting mayhem is to whip out the strobe lights while John Frizzell's score shamelessly cribs from everything from "Psycho" to "Friday the 13th".
Straitjacketed by the moribund plotting, Hewitt is confined to looking drugged while forced to utter such clunkers as "I'm not dying on this island. Do you hear me?" Even Brandy's perky presence does little to rev things up, again thanks to the script's bland characterizations.
The scariest thing about this purported horror flick is just how frighteningly it misses the mark.
I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER
Columbia
Columbia Pictures presents
in association with Mandalay Entertainment
A Neal H. Moritz production
A film by Danny Cannon
Director: Danny Cannon
Screenwriter: Trey Callaway
Producers: Neal H. Moritz, Erik Feig, Stokely Chaffin, William S. Beasley Director of photography: Vernon Layton
Production designer: Doug Kraner
Editor: Peck Prior
Costume designer: Dan Lester
Music supervisors: Sharon Boyle and John Houlihan
Music: John Frizzell
Casting: Jackie Birch
Color/stereo
Cast:
Julie James: Jennifer Love Hewitt
Ray Bronson: Freddie Prinze Jr.
Karla Wilson: Brandy Tyrell
Martin: Mekhi Phifer
Ben Willis: Muse Watson
Will Benson: Matthew Settle
Nancy: Jennifer Esposito
Running time -- 96 minutes
MPAA rating: R...
- 11/6/1998
- The Hollywood Reporter - Movie News
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