I Still Know What You Did Last Summer

  • Review Date: June 21, 2006
  • R
  • Genre: Horror
  • 1998
 Review

Common Sense Media says

We know what sequel shouldn't have been made.
greenON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
yellowPAUSE: Know your child; some content
may not be right for some kids.
redOFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
not for kidsNOT FOR KIDS: Not appropriate for kids any age.

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Quality
 
Sometimes media can be age appropriate but a real waste of time. Our star rating assesses the media's overall quality.

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Parents say

Kids say

Not yet rated

What parents need to know

Parents need to know that despite the upscale production values and name cast, this is a pretty violent wallow. Characters are killed in bloody closeup, usually with sharp instruments, and much of the alleged entertainment derives from terrorizing a young woman.

  • While heroine Julie struggles with her conscious a little bit over covering up deadly indiscretions in her past, there's really not even the token soul-searching that went on in the previous film. Her black best pal pretends to be tough and assertive, but when faced with a maniacal killer she mostly screams and falls down a lot. West-Indian islanders are domestics who exist only to be ominous or slain or both.
  • Bloody impalings (two characters are skewered on the same knife), death by gaffing-hook, vicious beatings, shootings.
  • Characters talk about sex but never get around to doing it. A joke scene makes it appear that strenuous bedroom action is happening, when it's just a character jumping up and down on the mattress little-girl-style.
  • Abundant profanity.
  • Not applicable.
  • Recreational drinking. Comic-relief character of a marijuana-smoking island handyman, or something, whose sole function seems to be there smoking joints and offering to hook the characters up with dope of their own.

What's the story?

In the first film ( I Know What You Did Last Summer), killer Ben Willis was seemingly eliminated, but now surviving heroine Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) suffers repeated nightmares and shock-cut glimpses of the homicidal, raincoat-clad Ben lurking around. Mostly it turns out to be her fun-loving college roommate Karla (R&B diva Brandy) or her associates. When Julie and Karla hear they've won a free trip to the Bahamas they anticipate romance and good times on the beach. Instead, the characters arrive at a sparsely-populated, isolated island resort with their boyfriends. There's no way off, a storm brewing, surly staff, and threatening (West Indian) domestics with stereotypical voodoo aspects. Sure enough, murders start happening again, but nobody believes Julie's witnessing bloody corpses lying around until it's too late.


Is it any good?

 

The original I Know What You Did Last Summer at least had a token moral message about four teenagers failing to take responsibility for a seeming hit-and-run fatality they caused, and the guilt that tears them apart -- plus a vengeful fisherman named Ben Willis, who did plenty of tearing apart on his own, typically with big hooks. This pointless sequel doesn't even have that slim reason to exist.

In keeping with Jennifer Love Hewitt's occasional forays into music, Julie has a big karaoke-singing scene, and there are giggles when the filmmakers try to make karaoke into something scary. Meanwhile co-star Brandy's character talks big about being tough and able to defend herself against any marauders in rain slickers, but when that actually happens she mostly screams and stumbles. A dumb ending opens the door to further sequels, perhaps the best argument yet for always reporting your traffic mishaps to the authorities.


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What families can talk about

Families can talk about the difference between scary movies that can have fun with the shock clichés (Scream) and scary movies that are just stupid.


This review was written by Charles Cassady Jr.
Adult
April 9, 2008
 
GREAT MOVIE JUST BAD FOR KIDS UNDER THE AGE OF 15
This movie has bloody killings, shootings, and other violent acts. There is some sexual content, there is unnessasary langage. While the ruthless Ben Willus hunts down Julie she does have stong Social Bevahior.This movie will be a great exepernce for people over the age of 15 and even greater for people over the age of 17.

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Parent of 7, 11, 14, and 17 year old
January 4, 2009
 

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Teen, 17 years old
October 23, 2011
 
amazing if your kid is mature enough
well im 12 and im not gonna lie it was a little bit creepy but if your kids are mature enough this would defiantly be able to handle it.

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Adult
February 1, 2011
 
teens
Love it. Good scary movie its not gory. Compared to saw

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Teen, 13 years old
December 13, 2011
 
MOVIE OF THE GODS.
Wait Csm,you call this stupid?this is just one blast of a film awesome if you call this intense or scary ur dumb I saw this at midnight on Halloween when I was 8 it's GREAT and all horror fans must see this I'm not lying believe me but it's true really not gory compared to scream in fact the first one has got more suspense and gore and this looks like The Dark Knight compared to it.

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This review was written by Charles Cassady Jr.
Studio:Columbia Tristar
Director:Danny Cannon
Cast:Freddie Prinze Jr., Jennifer Love Hewitt, Karla Wilson
Genre:Horror
Run time:100 minutes
Theatrical release date:November 13, 1998
DVD release date:September 13, 2005
MPAA rating:R
MPAA explanation:violence, profanity, drug use and sexual innuendo

This review was written by Charles Cassady Jr.
 

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ON: Content is age-appropriate for kids this age.
PAUSE: Know your child; some content may not be right for some kids.
OFF: Not age-appropriate for kids this age.
Learning ratings
BEST: Really engaging, great learning approach.
GOOD: Pretty engaging, good learning approach.
FAIR: Somewhat engaging, OK learning approach.
NOT FOR LEARNING: Not recommended for learning.

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