There was a time when another sequel to I Know What You Did Last Summer might have made sense. But eight years later, this is not that time. The fact is that the slasher films the Scream franchise breathed new life into have once again run their course. And the IKNWYDLS series never shared the same acclaim as Scream anyways. All these years later it's been written off as what many of us then already knew it was: a second-tier effort meant to cash in on the latest craze. So the question is: Was anyone waiting for a third installment?
Let me admit something here before I continue. I was 17 when the first film was released and I liked it quite a bit. I didn't see Scream until it was out on video which meant that IKWYDLS was the first slasher film I ever saw in a theater. And it was a hell of a lot of fun. While future viewings have revealed that it ultimately isn't that great of a film, the nostalgia is hard to let go of. There's no point in going into detail about the second film because I feel the same way everybody else does. It sucked. Big time.
Which brings us to this one. Even with all new characters and an all new setting it's still the same old story. This is less of a sequel and more like a remake. They reference the others via newspaper clippings but it's really just a recycled telling of the first movie. Which is unfortunate because that one was far more effective.
For starters, the acting just flat out blows. There's no way around it. It's not even soap opera bad. It's high school drama class bad. A few of the supporting characters are alright but our main group of teenagers is just abysmal. They were by far the scariest part of the film.
Not that the script gave them a lot to work with. Within the first fifteen minutes we're treated to lines like the Frat Guy with a bad temper saying, "It was an accident!". To which Badass Rocker Chick asks: "Was it...?"
The worst part is that it actually was just an accident. Which just makes rocker chick look like a moron. And the rest of us look like fools for wasting money on a movie that's treating its audience like idiots.
Some of my favorite scenes...
The first is when the kids that are still alive decide to leave town before they're gutted like their friends. But right before they head out rocker chick informs them that there are going to be industry types at her gig that night and she can't pass it up. There's a couple of problems with that. 1)No matter how badly you want to make it, when you're being chased by a zombie fisherman that's probably a good time to says "nuts to this, I'm outta here". And 2) It's hard to enjoy a record contract when you're dead. But fine. Rocker chick wants to stay? Let her stay. Except that the other three decide to stay behind with her because they "need to stick together". Are you kidding me? Are you like those kids from Captain Planet whose powers will combine to create some superhero that will defeat the fisherman? Short answer: No. You're not. So hit the road. And ditch the moron that wants to stay.
Also, in the opening scene a kid gets killed at a carnival. So this 4th of July they decide not to have said carnival in case the fisherman is still out there. Instead they hold a giant talent show that is attended by everyone that would have gone to the carnival. Maybe the fisherman was just drawn to all the blinking lights on the ferris wheel. There's probably no reason to suspect he'd show up at this function too. Good thinking.
I also love when the Sheriff confronts the main characters during the climax and suspects they're the murderers. They try to tell him that the fisherman is after all of them and that they didn't kill anybody. "Well where is he then?" The sheriff asks. Probably not in the shadows right behind you. Because things never pop out of the shadows in a horror movie. And I'm not even talking about a little shadow. The entire background is pitch black! Where could Captain Hook be hiding?
Then of course there's the character whose about to commit suicide when the fisherman shows up. Then he of course fights for his life. The life he was about to take. And how does the fisherman dispose of him? He slashes his throat open. But guess what? The other characters find his suicide note so that's clearly what happened. Now I'm no genius but I'm pretty sure that there's no way that this kid was capable of building up enough momentum to rip open his own throat like that. But oh right... the note. Duh. If that says he killed himself than that must be how it went down. And only one night after the main character gets all those threatening messages. What a coincidence.
The music is also pretty wretched. It just kind of drones on and on with the occasional obligatory sting. But the most irritating element of the movie is the editing. The constant jump cuts are amateurish, distracting, and kill any semblance of tension. And I'm amazed that with all the rapid cuts the film absolutely drags. It's only in the last fifteen minutes or so that it starts moving.
With personalities, situations, and even dialouge lifted from the first film you're better off just revisiting that one. This is direct-to-video exploitation at its worst. I can't think of a single reason to recommend it. I've sat through my share of bad horror films and this is easily one of the worst.
Let me admit something here before I continue. I was 17 when the first film was released and I liked it quite a bit. I didn't see Scream until it was out on video which meant that IKWYDLS was the first slasher film I ever saw in a theater. And it was a hell of a lot of fun. While future viewings have revealed that it ultimately isn't that great of a film, the nostalgia is hard to let go of. There's no point in going into detail about the second film because I feel the same way everybody else does. It sucked. Big time.
Which brings us to this one. Even with all new characters and an all new setting it's still the same old story. This is less of a sequel and more like a remake. They reference the others via newspaper clippings but it's really just a recycled telling of the first movie. Which is unfortunate because that one was far more effective.
For starters, the acting just flat out blows. There's no way around it. It's not even soap opera bad. It's high school drama class bad. A few of the supporting characters are alright but our main group of teenagers is just abysmal. They were by far the scariest part of the film.
Not that the script gave them a lot to work with. Within the first fifteen minutes we're treated to lines like the Frat Guy with a bad temper saying, "It was an accident!". To which Badass Rocker Chick asks: "Was it...?"
The worst part is that it actually was just an accident. Which just makes rocker chick look like a moron. And the rest of us look like fools for wasting money on a movie that's treating its audience like idiots.
Some of my favorite scenes...
The first is when the kids that are still alive decide to leave town before they're gutted like their friends. But right before they head out rocker chick informs them that there are going to be industry types at her gig that night and she can't pass it up. There's a couple of problems with that. 1)No matter how badly you want to make it, when you're being chased by a zombie fisherman that's probably a good time to says "nuts to this, I'm outta here". And 2) It's hard to enjoy a record contract when you're dead. But fine. Rocker chick wants to stay? Let her stay. Except that the other three decide to stay behind with her because they "need to stick together". Are you kidding me? Are you like those kids from Captain Planet whose powers will combine to create some superhero that will defeat the fisherman? Short answer: No. You're not. So hit the road. And ditch the moron that wants to stay.
Also, in the opening scene a kid gets killed at a carnival. So this 4th of July they decide not to have said carnival in case the fisherman is still out there. Instead they hold a giant talent show that is attended by everyone that would have gone to the carnival. Maybe the fisherman was just drawn to all the blinking lights on the ferris wheel. There's probably no reason to suspect he'd show up at this function too. Good thinking.
I also love when the Sheriff confronts the main characters during the climax and suspects they're the murderers. They try to tell him that the fisherman is after all of them and that they didn't kill anybody. "Well where is he then?" The sheriff asks. Probably not in the shadows right behind you. Because things never pop out of the shadows in a horror movie. And I'm not even talking about a little shadow. The entire background is pitch black! Where could Captain Hook be hiding?
Then of course there's the character whose about to commit suicide when the fisherman shows up. Then he of course fights for his life. The life he was about to take. And how does the fisherman dispose of him? He slashes his throat open. But guess what? The other characters find his suicide note so that's clearly what happened. Now I'm no genius but I'm pretty sure that there's no way that this kid was capable of building up enough momentum to rip open his own throat like that. But oh right... the note. Duh. If that says he killed himself than that must be how it went down. And only one night after the main character gets all those threatening messages. What a coincidence.
The music is also pretty wretched. It just kind of drones on and on with the occasional obligatory sting. But the most irritating element of the movie is the editing. The constant jump cuts are amateurish, distracting, and kill any semblance of tension. And I'm amazed that with all the rapid cuts the film absolutely drags. It's only in the last fifteen minutes or so that it starts moving.
With personalities, situations, and even dialouge lifted from the first film you're better off just revisiting that one. This is direct-to-video exploitation at its worst. I can't think of a single reason to recommend it. I've sat through my share of bad horror films and this is easily one of the worst.