With the release of I Know What You Did Last Summer, the second sequel to the 1997 cult classic, Hollywood took yet another stab at revamping a dormant slasher franchise. Though entertaining, the movie is riddled with strange choices and disappointing plot devices.
I Know What You Did Last Summer latest installment proves that sequels are forcing their way into the horror genre, a place where they don’t always belong.
Let’s start from the beginning (Spoilers to follow!)
The original I Know What You Did Last Summer was released in 1997 to mixed reviews. With a 5.8/10 on IMDb and a 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, it is by no means a critically acclaimed film. With the success of the teen slasher Scream the year prior, I Know What You Did Last Summer was greenlit by Columbia Pictures after years of rejections. The original film follows Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and her three friends (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Freddie Prinze Jr., Ryan Phillippe) over the course of the 4th of July weekend. A year prior, the friends had hit a fisherman while driving and dumped the body, swearing the night to secrecy. When they reunite the next summer, Julie receives an anonymous letter implying their secret has been found out.
Overall, the original movie is a entertaining slasher. While it is a little flat sometimes, it holds its own alongside other teen slashers of the decade, like Scream or Urban Legend. Critics argued that the film falls short in building compelling scares or villains. Other than Sarah Michelle Gellar’s performance as Helen Shivers, much of the film read as enjoyable, but not worth rewatching. Unlike Scream, however, I Know What You Did Last Summer more closely resembles slashers at the roots. The film had two sequels—a 1998 follow-up and a 2006 straight-to-DVD version with no relation to the original—which aren’t worth the conversation. Both flopped, because “the movie’s premise only really works once,” according to SlashFilms. The 1998 sequel was rated a 4.8/10 on IMDb and 10% on Rotten Tomatoes, while the other saw a 3.3/10 on IMDb.
The newest movie is basically a remake
In 2025, a new installment joined the franchise. I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025) follows almost an identical plot. The film follows Ava (Chase Sui Wonders), Danica (Madelyn Cline), Teddy (Tyriq Withers), Milo (Jonah Hauer-King), and Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon). After Danica and Teddy’s engagement party, the group goes on a drive and stops to watch the fireworks. When a car pulls around the road’s curve, it swerves and crashes into the guardrails. Though they attempt to help, the truck falls off the edge of the cliff into the ocean below. Ava urges them to go help the man, but the group agrees to call the cops and flee. Ultimately, they agree to keep their involvement a secret, with the promise that Teddy’s dad will cover it up.
The movie continues the next summer, where it is revealed that Danica is engaged to a new man. Like the first movie, the friend group fell out of touch and their lives have been crippled by guilt. At Danica’s bridal shower, she receives a letter implying somebody knows they caused last summer’s accident. Soon, a fisherman wielding a hook starts terrorizing them. Eventually, Ava reaches out to Julie James, who has escaped Southport after the 1997 murders. With the help of Julie and Stevie’s boss, Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Ava attempts to find the killer.
IKWYDLS wants to be Scream so bad
Ultimately, this movie is a cash grab attempt at revitalizing I Know What You Did Last Summer as a franchise. It performed fine, with a 5.7/10 on IMDb and a 38% on Rotten Tomatoes. While the inclusion of existing characters was interesting (and worked in Scream movies), it was very forced. The movie felt like it was trying to mirror other franchises, but it missed the charm of the original film. Julie and Ray’s strained relationship isn’t expanded upon enough for the ending to be satisfying. The film also relies on fake-out scares, intense audio cues, and a lack of common sense for a suspenseful payout. With a forced, Scream-style plot twist that felt extremely contrived and various plot holes, this film fumbled the ball.
The film had some funny moments here or there, but they couldn’t make up for the flaws. It was obvious from the start that this movie was trying to be different. Unlike other slashers, this film didn’t feel like it had an audience. Dialogue hopped between Gen-Z references from 30 year-old actors to loose one-liners with little payoff. The funniest moment was when Danica opens the catalyst letter in front of her friends; the entire theater laughed. There was also a few weird choices. We got a midday-airport-bathroom-lesbian-hookup (see: queerbaiting) and a second killer faking the first killer’s death (see: idiotic). Who did they make this for?
But are we really surprised?
The first I Know What You Did Last Summer wasn’t terrible. It had charm, compelling performances here and there, and human characters. Even though some people were idiots, the characters mostly felt real and had depth. Even in this newest film, we see Julie and Ray, now estranged divorcees, have complicated histories stemming from 1997. The new characters that we are introduced to are carbon copies of the original group… minus the charm. Ava is a gravel-voiced Julie, Danica is a ditsier Helen, Teddy is a funnier Barry, and Milo is a forgettable Ray. Stevie’s role attempts to switch up the dynamic, but her inclusion makes her guilt obvious. Spoiler: the friend you neglected growing up also has it out for you guys. And her boss who has trauma from going through the same thing is totally not helping her out. Note the sarcasm.
Half of these characters and emotional scenes are hollow. When Milo is strangled, I don’t care because I don’t know anything about him. Then Teddy is gutted, and I think he deserves it for being a douchebag. When Stevie reveals herself as the killer, I had forgotten she was even a character in the movie. (The film didn’t help the reveal, though, since they spell it out seconds before the big reveal.) One of the most interesting characters—Tyler, a true crime podcaster who had the aforementioned bathroom hookup with Ava—is killed before we get to see her full potential. In fact, her character only seems to serve as a way to include a bisexual character without committing to a serious lesbian relationship. Everything felt flat.
Horror sequels keep missing the mark
Are sequels really necessary? The impulse to build horror franchises makes sense. Scream has seen significant success and genre-definition in their franchise through satire, while Halloween (somehow) has a dozen sequels that sell tickets. The foundation of these franchises is having characters who are intelligent and likable, who you can root for. I Know What You Did Last Summer doesn’t really have these. Helen Shivers is the only character with potential, and while she appears in Danica’s dream, she got killed in the original. You can’t keep bringing her back.
This isn’t to say Scream or Halloween are above the cut. Horror sequels in general keep missing the mark. Horror fans don’t need a 5th or 6th installment of a tired slasher. Even if the new movies are entertaining, there’s only so much that you can do to make things exciting and fresh. The original IKWYDLS was already unoriginal; Prom Night (1980) followed an almost identical idea. Not to mention the 1973 novel. The best part of horror movies is that you never know what will happen. The suspense and the scares are what define the genre. If I know what to expect, why would I tune in?
What does this mean for the genre?
Even if a sequel will bring back horror villains that fans love, it won’t add substance to the genre. Every now and again, a slasher can be fun and fresh. But it has to be done right, and IKWYDLS wasn’t. There is so much untapped potential in modern horror to create original and compelling movies. We’ve seen inklings of this in the past few years, with films like Sinners (2025), The Substance (2024), or Barbarian (2022). Jordan Peele’s cinematic universe or A24’s contributions have shown the possible expanse.
I fear that modern horror will skirt past its golden age if Hollywood pumps out more sequels. There are interesting and important commentaries being made by horror movies, and falling into old habits won’t help that. Hollywood has the potential to capitalize on horror and its fans. They can make movies that truly matter and comment more deeply on the world, set in the context of something thrilling. Imagine how that could open the genre to a new wave of viewers. When Scream came out, it revitalized a dying genre through making fun of horror. The Substance mixes body horror with societal commentary. We know it’s possible to change perceptions through horror, but we can’t do that if we live in the past.
