By Chris Snellgrove
| Published
Would you believe a movie made to cash in on Scream mania managed to kickstart a new horror franchise while featuring the hottest ladies of ‘90s Hollywood? That movie is I Know What You Did Last Summer, a surprise-filled slasher that received a legacy sequel just this year. If you want to see where the horror began (or you just want to scope out some nostalgic eye candy), you can stream this spooktastic classic on Netflix.
The premise of I Know What You Did Last Summer begins when careless teens seemingly kill a man by running him over, but he wakes up as they unceremoniously try to dispose of his body by tossing it in the water, mob-style. One year later, one of them receives a note reading “I know what you did last summer,” a note which precedes the group getting picked off, one by one. Unless they can figure out the identity of the mystery killer hunting them down, none of them will live to see another summer.
Cold Water, Hot Stars
One of the most notable aspects of I Know What You Did Last Summer is that it features so many of the ‘90s hottest stars. Our leading lady, for example, is played by Jennifer Love Hewitt (best known when this film came out for starring in the Party of Five TV show). One of her friends is played by Sarah Michelle Gellar (best known for Buffy the Vampire Slayer, the iconic ‘90s show about to get its own revival). Speaking of the Buffy star, this horror movie also stars her future husband: Freddie Prinze, Jr., an actor best known for starring in She’s All That.
I Know What You Did Last Summer also stars Ryan Phillippe, best known for starring alongside Gellar in Cruel Intentions. Additionally, the movie stars Anne Heche, best known for starring in Six Days, Seven Nights. Finally, this horror movie features Max Galecki, the former Roseanne actor who later became a household name after starring in The Big Bang Theory.
Audiences But Not Critics Were Ready To Scream
Even though it left critics colder than a body dumped into the late-night water (more on this soon), I Know What You Did Last Summer impressed audiences hungry for a new kind of slasher. While it ended up being much more of a traditional horror movie, this film scared up a serious profit at the box office, earning $125.3 million against a budget of $17 million. This led to a theatrical sequel (I Still Know What You Did Last Summer), a forgettable direct-to-video sequel (I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer), and a legacy sequel (the 2025 revival I Know What You Did Last Summer).
When I Know What You Did Last Summer came out, it was a movie that most critics wanted to forget. On Rotten Tomatoes, it has a score of 47 percent, with critics complaining that the movie played it safe by following a very by-the-numbers slasher formula. The result was a movie they deemed would have been far scarier in the ‘80s but that felt like a tired throwback amid the slasher renaissance of the late ‘90s.
Now, you don’t have to read between the lines too deeply to understand why certain critics were disappointed by this 1997 film: simply put, it bore very little resemblance to Scream, the 1996 classic that helped completely redefine the slasher genre. In that film, director Wes Craven transformed horror, ushering in an era of self-aware characters and scripts designed to completely subvert audience expectations. By comparison, I Know What You Did Last Summer was designed to be a classic, ’80s-style slasher, one that felt instantly outdated in the eyes of critics hoping for something more like Craven’s modern masterpiece.
Why I Know What You Did Last Summer Is Now Better Than Ever
It’s true that this movie is no Scream, but that’s not necessarily a bad thing: most scary movie fans love ‘80s horror, and there’s definitely an audience (just look at how popular Stranger Things is) for entertainment that channels this iconic decade. Plus, in an ironic twist, I Know What You Did Last Summer does stand out now because of the sheer number of horror movies that are still trying to copy the success of Scream. When everyone is trying to do the ironically self-aware horror film, a movie that takes the slasher genre back to its roots seems downright fresh and innovative.
Will you agree that I Know What You Did Last Summer is a surprisingly solid horror hit starring the hottest ladies of the ‘90s, or is this one slasher you’d rather keep in the past? The only way to find out is to dig the remote out of the water (why’d you try to dispose of its body like that, man?) and stream this film on Netflix. The streamer also has the film’s first sequel, perfect for anyone who falls in love with the ultimate throwback thriller of yesteryear.
