‘I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer’ Review- A Grift

This movie was released in 2006.

I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer is a 2006 horror flick that serves as the final entry in the horror franchise directed by Sylvain White and written by Michael D. Weiss.

At a festival in Colorado, Amber Williams (Brooke Nevin), her boyfriend Colby Patterson (David Paetkau), along with their friends Zoe (Torrey DeVitto), Roger (Seth Packard), and P.J. (Clayton Taylor) decide to stage a prank surrounding the urban legend of the hookman. Roger runs around the place dressed as the hookman and eventually chases P.J. Though they get some laughs, they soon learn that P.J. was killed when he slipped and fell, shocking his father Sheriff Davis (Michael Flynn). The four make a pact to never reveal what happened or that it was a prank. They burn everything and hide the hook. One year later, Amber gets several texts that say, “I know what you did last summer.” What they do not realize is that they have awakened something terrifying from the past that they could not comprehend.

This movie was a straight-to-DVD, and it is easy to see why. I cannot imagine any distributor being interested in sending this film to theaters. It felt more like an elongated sequel produced by the CW instead of an actual movie that was made. It has very poor production values, the music felt intrusive instead of complementary, and the story moved at a poor pace. I have seen television films with more thought than this flick.

With the first two films, the characters had a certain likability to them. The ones in this film all come off as selfish jerks who are more interested in their own means than, oh, I do not know, surviving an assault from a dangerous killer with a hook for the hand. They added a supernatural element to the killer that did not make him seem as grounded, and the search for vengeance seemed flat. Also, it has no connection to its predecessors, though the events are referenced, so the mystery of the hookman did not seem to connect very well.

The celebrities did their best, though none of them are particularly good. The first two at least cast actors who were popular or up-and-coming when they came out. This movie just casts generic actors and actresses who do not have a strong connection to pop culture, once again adding to its flat appearance.

Bottom line, I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer feels more like a sequel attempting to grift off of its predecessors instead of growing the slasher franchise that it is named after.

PARENTAL CONCERNS: Strong foul language, Bloody violence

FAVORITE QUOTE: Yeah, I wrote a song about it, but don’t worry, that single’s not out yet.

Check out the trailer below:

What do you think? Let me know in the comments below. Tell me if there is a comic book, movie, anime, or novel you would like me to review.