Verdict: 2/5
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ (‘IKWYDLS’) is among ’90s horror royalty, bringing stars like Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr to the big screen, launching their careers.
The original film brings so much thrill and suspense to the audience as you wait to see which of your favourite characters will get picked off next. I love the original and its sequels, which is why I was so disappointed with the remake.
Personally, I think most great movies shouldn’t be remade because it tarnishes the original. Remakes and reboots never live up to the value of the original, and writers rely too much on nostalgia to make the film good. This is the case with the newest iteration of ‘IKWYDLS’.
The movie begins similarly to the original, establishing new characters that fit almost exactly into the archetypes of those before them. Ava is our new Julie, Danica our Helen, and a toss between Teddy and Milo for our new Ray.
When a fourth of July celebration goes horribly wrong, the friends are sworn to secrecy to maintain their reputations as Southport’s elite. This comes back to bite them however, when an unknown killer in a fisherman’s slicker begins hunting them down one by one to pay for their actions.
This movie had all the great hallmarks of the original, and the involvement of original cast members definitely hit the nostalgia marks. But as I’ve seen recently with new iterations of franchises like ‘Jurassic Park’ and ‘Scream’ (personal favourites of mine), the writers aren’t bringing anything new to the table.
It’s not enough to just repeat the same storyline with new characters. There needs to be an element that makes it different and stand out from the original. If we’re not striving to make a better film, what’s the point of writing a remake?
The script also sadly got no points from me.
Including Gen Z buzzwords like “Queen”, “Diva” and “Slay” every 30 seconds doesn’t mean the writers understand Gen Z humour. In fact it proves the opposite. The script felt so out of touch it was almost unbearable in some scenes.
If you’re a fan of the originals I implore you to watch it for yourself and make your own mind up, however as satisfying as a good harpoon gun kill can be, it just wasn’t enough for me.
See this movie at Event Cinemas Parramatta.
Madeline Dantier is the author of the Experience Parramatta series, hosted by Parra News.