Where does "I Know What You Did Last Summer" hatred come from?

Not that much hate for IKWYDLS.

But MUCH hate for the sequel. Trash.

It was a movie made in the time of the Scream craze(another turd)and there was nothing scary about it......in fact, it has become more of a comedy over time. And the killer in the movie was far from fearsome.......but this is only my opinion

I really enjoyed it, of course everyone is intitled to their own opinion. I just think everyone sees it as a Scream knock off, it was the first of the Scream clones and it came out close to the time so I think most people just saw it as trying to cash in which is sort of true but it's still good fun, it wasn't a complete Scream rip off.

It's a decent slasher flick.

I think the hate is all about timing, though. This came out basically on the heels of SCREAM (and its surprise hit) and it reaked of cashing in. Had the whole Kevin Williamson connection as well. Of course, the film was actual in development before SCREAM but that didn't matter. It wasn't the first one out the gate during the brief "revival" of the teen slasher genre so it immediately got second fiddle and was held to tougher "standards". It also took itself much more seriously, which is a kiss of death for cheesy slashers.

Of course, it could just be the inclusion of Freddie Prinze, Jr.

I have the DVD - love John Debney's score and think that Gillespie's direction is pretty fine. SMG's death scene is actually quite a favourite moment of mine. So answer your question, Mr I, I can only assume it's a by-proxy backlash against the Scream movt...

...although the Freddie Prinze Jnr factor might rate highly in my "suspected motives" folder (yes, I really have one. Really useful for solving crimes...)

I think people have hoisted it up as being typical of the derivative and unspectacular slasher fare that followed Scream. Of course, the really bad ones have faded from memory, but "I Know..." had that unforgettable title which meant that it ended up being crucified for the worse sins of other movies.

The shitty sequel can't have helped (and oh, how Danny Cannon must thank his lucky stars for CSI) and the title soon became a running joke, shorthand for ludicrously stretched out gimmicks.

So, it ain't bad and doesn't deserve the utter hatred it gets (especially when you consider how bad some of the "classic" Friday 13th and Halloween sequels are) but I can quite happily live the rest of my days without seeing it again.

*lonley voice pops up* I enjoyed I Still KNow

It's just an easy punching bag for fans who want to decry the post-Scream wave of teen horror for not being "real" horror (whatever that means).

Because it features pretty young actors and appeals to teenage girls and the so-called mall crowd, IKWYDLS is emblematic of the kind of popular horror film that gets some fans' nuts in a bunch because, apparently, too many of the "wrong" people like it. It's just an elitst stance.

On its own merits, IKWYDLS is fine. It's a slasher movie and, in fact, it's very different than Scream - being played almost entirely straight with no postmodern irony.

For anyone who loves the early '80s slasher films like Happy Birthday to Me or Prom Night, I Know is just as good - if not a great deal better - in terms of production values, acting, script, and so on (not that it deserved any Oscars, of course).

Those earlier films appealed to the teen market and to those who weren't necessarily hardcore horror fans and a film like IKWYDLS is just another version of that. I'm sure it'll be just as much a favorite among a younger generation ten years from now as Terror Train or Night School is with Gen-Xers.

Terror Train stars David Copperfield, which makes it automatically a million times funnier than "I Know" which can only offer Freddie Prinze Jr and he's funny for all the wrong reasons.

To each is own but I disliked all Scream and IKWYDLS.

Call me crazy but these flics were just cheap imitation of 80's slasher movies, with no horror, terror, T&A, surprise, decent actors, decent scripts, decent villians.

I did not care one bit about any of them.

Perhaps it's the fact that I don't really go for that pop culture hard bodies teens semi-horror flics.

Same reason I didn't like "The forsaken" the movies are just liquid flaming diarrhea.

Although it had a good budget I thought most of the kill scene could've been a lot better & more gory.

Jesus, there are so many things wrong with those series I could probably do a 200 page thesis on it.

Anyway to each is own I guess, I saw them, and I don't care to see any of them ever again, not even the heaving bosom of Neve Campbell can make me watch those silly slasher movies again.

Cheers!

short answer: BECAUSE IT SUCKS.

I really don't see anything exceptional about this film. I do love Scream, though, so feel free to discount my opinion.

I completely get what everyone is saying. I, too, think the hate stems from: a.) It came post-'Scream' and... 2.) It came at the wrong time. It was COOL to hate those movies apparently.

I really enjoyed 'I know...'.

The thing that gets me is this: many say that it ripped-off the slasher scene that occurred in the '80s. Hello! They ALL ripped each other off. They're by no means "good" films. Enjoyable, yes. Good? No. They're all just carbon copies. What I appreciated about 'I know...' (and this kind of ties into the DVD reviews I've been posting) is that it held my interest between the kills. I enjoyed the actors, what busy work they had to do, etc. Williamson managed to provide a few good schlocky thrills with some fun characters to boot.

The sequel on the other hand... It's all about the boobies.

The Inspector is no longer Girlcreeture's friend... wink

Jeez!

I cannot stand IKWYDLS because it's just shit. It's not even fun cheesy shit. I was still working at a video rental store when it hit video and I couldn't even watch it on my boring Monday 10-5 shift (the day no one comes in and it's hard to not gnaw off a limb due to boredom).

The acting and the story are fucking terrible and the whole thing was just weak and lame. Plus, it's adapted from a Lois Duncan teen suspense "novel" arg, I hated her books when I was Young Adult and the movie is just as bad. It's sissy horror.

I hate the sequel because NO ONE should get away with the mis/under use of Jeffrey Combs and Jack Black, makes me want to weep.

As bad as I STILL KNOW... is (Brandy's turn is one of the worst performances you'll see... she makes JLH look like Meryl Streep) I can never hate it completely for three reasons:

3. Jeffrey Combs

2. Jack Black

1. Matthew Settle (Will Benson) used this film as a spring-board to go on to play Captain Spiers in BAND OF BROTHERS, in which he kicks more ass than the lord. That alone makes this film worthwhile.

I kind of liked it, but I have to admit how stupid it is. Especially:

Why did the killer do in the guy from Roseanne? That was a pointless killing. And how, in broad daylight, did he get the body and all of those crabs out of the car? He should be a magician.

Plus I like how the reveal of the killer is...someone we've never met before.

Stuff like this is just lazy. But I liked it okay. The second one...horrible.

I'm sorry Rotten I'll have to agree to disagree on this one.

If they were all carbon copies of slasher movie from the 80's they'd be good and watchable wink

Even the shitiest Friday 13th is better than Scream or IKWYDLS crapfest.

I think what they lack in some parts may the Supernatural unstoppable force of evil villains, or just a good psychotic killer that can actually kill a 120 pound teenager without fucking up.

LOL!

Cheers!

I thought “I Know What You Did Last Summer” felt like Cash & Dash. After “Scream” it seemed like everyone with the slightest inclination to make a few easy dollars threw together a “hip & trendy” slasher film of sorts, unleashed it upon the as of yet unsaturated market and hit the bank running. It wasn’t long before the market imploded under its own ponderous weight and the genre was again backlashed by the public. I was far from blame myself as I am one of those who carelessly threw my money at projects even remotely Horror related simply because I was jazzed that our favorite genre was making a come back.

I really liked all 3 Scream, with that being said I thought Ikwydls was okay. It did take a beating because of Scream. But I think that's because Scream's a better movie. Plus there are a few glaring downsides to Ikwydls, the villian is the Gordon's fisher man, Freddie Prinze, Jr., and the sequel was the worst. I think a lot of hate for this movie steams from the sequel. I couldn't even stay awake long enough to watch it on HBO.

The Gordons Fisherman is not scary

as for Scream 2-3, they were just made to cash in.....an injustice in my eyes

I actually liked IKWYDLS a little bit when I saw it at the theater. I tried to watch it again a few months ago and I don't know what I was thinking the first time. I had to turn it off. The story is okay as far as slasher films go but the acting is what makes it unbearable for me now. I don't think Jennifer could emote falling if you pushed her off a cliff. That goes for the other cast members as well in my opinion.

Holy carp, Combs was in the sequel?!?!?

And Matthew Settle, damnit!

I know many Chewers didn't catch BAND OF BROTHERS when it aired on HBO last year, but seriously, that guy was King Diamond in his supporting role as Spiers. Arguably the best onscreen Army "grunt" performance ever. With the right roles and opportunities, he'll be HUGE.

Except that Williamson's script sparked one of the most frantic bidding wars for a horror flick that the biz had seen in some time - am I correct Inspector Rivet ? Oliver Stone even mulled over it at one point before Craven relented and came to his senses.

Williamson's script for this and IKWYDLS are both very very finely honed, lean Hollywood scripts. No they're not that radical subvertive masterpeices that are Usual Suspects Things To Do In Denver... or [b]Pulp Fiction[/B} but considering the year before had given us The Granny, The Langoliers, Hideaway and Halloween: The Curse Of Michael Myers as its "top" horror product (with Clean Shaven and Day Of The Beast perhaps the only truly great offerings) I'd say that the Williamson-led revolution was truly a good thing.

Sure total inbreds got caught up thinking they could do the same because Scream made it look deceptively easy, but that's happened throughout history (biblical epics to gangster pictures to horror pictures to chick flicks to teen comedies).

There is a reason people still talk about the Scream-generation...because it made an impact. And IKWYDLS was a fine, unshowy followup to that picture, that just showed Williamson could craft a good screenplay. and from a techniocal point of view, it's something Syd Field wouldn't lambast too harshly in his class I'm sure...

Not true. 80s slasher movies used "beautiful teen stars" just as much as their modern equivalents. It's that we recognise the modern ones a lot faster because of the explosion in teen television since then. In the 80s there was no WB, no HBO, no Friends, no Buffy...the teen stars of 80s horror flicks seemingly came out of nowhere, or from cameos in forgotten sitcoms.

But lest we forget, off the top of my head, the 80s horror scene kickstarted the careers of the following "beautiful" stars:

Demi Moore, Jenifer Aniston, George Clooney, Kevin Bacon, Corey Feldman, Leonardo DiCaprio, Johnny Depp, Patricia Arquette...

That's no different to using Freddie Prinze, Sarah Michelle, Brandy, Jennifer Love Hewitt and whoever else they've trotted out since Scream. They were just a bit more famous because of TV exposure. It just seems different because we remember the 80s.

Two words: Gorton's Fisherman.

Two more words: Not scary.

When it was released I KNOW was the first played-straight slasher movie to have a wide theater release in a very long time.

I KNOW is largely a victim of temporal discrimination. So many crappy slasher movies glutted the market after SCREAM and I KNOW's success, most people forget that, at the time of their initial release, it was really cool for a lot of us to se the sl;asher film up on the big-screen after a decade of banishment to video-only releases.

I liked I KNOW because it was something i hadn't seen in a long time on the big screen, a teen horror flick. It had some great cinematography that made it worthy of viewing in the theater and a shameless reliance on all the cliches SCREAM smirked at that was charming at the time. Also, the mystery plot elements were good, up until the cop-out ending and the revelation of the real killer.

But after wading through all the crap that followed te film...urban legends, valentine, etc., its easy to bash it.

Except in the 80s, you seldom got the "collarbone and up" gratuitous shower scene. If you got a shower scene (and you almost always did), you got your freakin' money's worth! When I see a director of a "modern" slasher shy away from the nipples in a shower scene, then I know he doesn't have a clue about what 80s slashers were all about.

Sex and death, baby. Sex and death.

The Sequel is GENIUS! It takes a bow from F13 & just makes all the surrounding characters totally stupid & nuts, plus the look is nice, & while the ending is absolutely convoluted & absurd, it's better than the first flick! Look @ the sequel as a cartoon & you'll like it too... or maybe not. I don't care.

Amen Brother.

Who the hell did the great Jeffrey Combs play?!?! I don't remember him at all in that crapfest!

Combs was the hotel manager I think. HORRIBLE FILM.

If it wasn't for Jennifer Love-Hewitt's cleavage I would have blowtorched my DVD ages ago.