Childhood Wish Fulfillment #3: I Know What You Did Last Summer
A Quick Search on IMDB: I Know What You Did Last Summer was based on a Lois Duncan novel, the screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, it was directed by Jim Gillespie, and released in 1997.
Before the Viewing: Going into this, I mostly associate I Know What You Did Last Summer with my elementary school playground.
I’ve mentioned before that my parents were very discerning about what I watched as a child, which was not the same for some of my friends growing up. I distinctly remember lying about seeing the movie Signs at the lunch table, just to get a little street cred, even though I’ve still to this day never seen it.
A lot of the kids I played with had seen a lot of stuff that I knew my parents would never let me watch. One of the movies I remember hearing about was I Know What You Did Last Summer, and I always wanted to watch it.
I know that it stars a lot of big names from my youth. Jennifer Love Hewitt, Ryan Phillippe, and a celebrity couple I look on quite fondly: Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. As someone who was obsessed with Buffy the Vampire Slayer in her teens, and who enjoyed the live-action Scooby-Doo as a kid, I’m very excited to see these two yet again.
The last Childhood Wish Fulfillment I talked about was ruined (for lack of a better word) by high expectations, but that was also a Disney Channel Original Movie, so I think the fault there is definitely mine. I’ve learned to keep my expectations low, not that I think this is going to be too bad.
What I’m expecting from I Know What You Did Last Summer is a teen horror movie, such as Scream (one of my favorites) with zippy dialogue and a “fun”(?) plot that’s not meant to be taken too seriously.
After the Viewing: Okay, I’m really glad I lowered my expectations because I was really entertained by this.
Was I Know What You Did Last Summer the best scary movie I’ve ever seen? Of course not. I don’t even think I was scared at all, actually. But I enjoyed watching the characters deal with their hook-wielding adversary.
The plot of the movie is a fun play on the classic urban legend of the couple making out in their car and the escaped mental patient with the hook outside — one of the tales that freaked me out the most when I read Alvin Schwartz’s Scary Stories to Read in the Dark series as a kid.
This film, loosely based on a novel I had never heard of, follows Julie, Helen, Ray, and Barry, who’ve accidentally run over a man and decide their best course of action is, you know, to throw him in the ocean without checking if he’s really dead or not. Of course, our heroine, Julie, thinks this is a horrible idea, but she ultimately goes along with the plan.
While watching the movie, I liked Julie, and I related to her the most of all the characters. Also, I lowkey wanted to be her because I’ve always had a thing for Freddie Prinze Jr, and I kinda fell in love with his character of Ray, but that’s not really important, is it?
Moving on.
After I watched the movie, I went on my favorite website, TV Tropes, and was shocked to find out that most fans of this movie didn’t like Julie and wanted Sarah Michelle Gellar’s Helen to be the real heroine. I love SMG too, but I did not feel this way. I was very turned off by Helen’s attitude in the beginning, though I did feel for her when things didn’t go her way in New York and I saw the way she was treated by her family — neglect from her father and bullying from her sister. Still, I found Julie to be a relatable and believable character…as long as I ignore the, “WhAt ArE yOu WaItInG fOr?!” scene.
Another character I would love to spotlight is Ryan Phillippe’s Barry. Holy mother of God, I have never hated a movie character more than him. Starting fights with David from Roseanne, drunkenly demanding several times that, “No OnE dRiVeS mY cAr BuT mE,” being That Douchebag who stands up through the sunroof, LITERALLY CHOKING JENNIFER LOVE HEWITT, and worst of all, seeing with his own two eyes that the Fisherman (whose hit-and-run he inadvertently caused by his own douchebaggery, I might add) is still alive and leaving him to drown anyway.
Yes, yes, he sort of redeems himself with how sweetly he treats Helen after she’s tormented by the Fisherman, and yes, it was sad to see her try so hard to save him in the film’s climax. But when I tell you I have never wanted to see a character get killed off more, I mean it.
In Conclusion: Dear Little Emily,
I see you. You’re sitting at the lunch table. Your friend L is talking about all the Rated R movies she’s seen. Meanwhile, next year for your eighth birthday your father isn’t going to buy you the VHS tape of Haunted Mansion you wanted because it’s PG and he doesn’t think you’re old enough to handle it.
It’s okay, girl. Don’t get discouraged. Some day you’ll decide it’s a good idea to start a blog where you can finally watch all the movies you wanted to see and write about them. That’s a much better way to experience movies like I Know What You Did Last Summer. And I promise, it’s really not that scary. But I’m a lot more desensitized to this kind of stuff than you are. You were just at Dad’s house and walked in on Mercutio’s death scene from the Franco Zeffirelli Romeo and Juliet and had nightmares for weeks.
Anyway, you’re going to like I Know What You Did Last Summer, probably a lot more than you should.
Much love,
Older Emily
