NEW YORK (OSV News) — While not as bloodsoaked as some slasher flicks, “I Know What You Did Last Summer” (Columbia) has a sadistic streak. As a disguised, metal hook-wielding murderer preys on a quintet of young adult pals, viewers are invited to relish long scenes of the victims’ torturous suffering.
The unknown killer is out for revenge for an incident that took place a year before the main action. As opening scenes show us, the five friends were involved in a reckless stunt that caused a fatal car accident. Instead of either helping the injured driver or assisting the police with their investigation, they covered the whole thing up and swore one another to secrecy.
Now, as ditzy Danica (Madelyn Cline) prepares for her lavish wedding, she and her bestie, Ava (Chase Sui Wonders), discover that their past is about to catch up with them in a thoroughly horrifying way. Another potential victim, waitress Stevie (Sarah Pidgeon), is something of an outsider in the ensemble since she does not come from a privileged background.
As penned by director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and Sam Lansky, the script dabbles in social commentary, implicitly condemning the ability of its mostly wealthy characters to evade the consequences of their misdeed. The screenplay also depicts the effort of bigwig local realtor Grant Spencer (Billy Campbell) to preserve the picture-perfect image of their scenic hometown.
Robinson and Lansky include some comedy as well – mostly at vain, pea-brained Danica’s expense. And their legacy sequel to two horror movies from the late 1990s continually riffs on the relationship between the massacre they’re charting and the rampage that unfolded in the eponymous 1997 original.
All this is far outweighed, however, by the vicious mayhem wreaked by the predator. Along with the aforementioned fisherman’s tool, he or she is a dab hand with a dagger and knows how to aim a harpoon as well. Although some of the cast members thus end up transfixed, moviegoers are unlikely to find themselves in the same condition.
The film contains frequent gory violence, drug use, an aberrant lesbian encounter, nonmarital sensuality, at least one use of profanity, numerous milder oaths, pervasive rough and much crude language and a couple of crass terms. The OSV News classification is O – morally offensive. The Motion Picture Association rating is R – restricted. Under 17 requires accompanying parent or adult guardian.