Common Sense Media Review
By Charles Cassady Jr.
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Pointless horror sequel has lots of violence and gore.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 17+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer
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 is brewing, there's surly staff, and there are threatening (West Indian) domestics with stereotypical voodoo characteristics. 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 movie's dumb ending opens the door to further sequels, perhaps the best argument yet for always reporting your traffic mishaps to the authorities. 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 -- as does a vengeful fisherman named Ben Willis, who does 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, her character Julie has a big karaoke-singing scene, and there are giggles when the filmmakers try to make karaoke into something scary. Meanwhile costar 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.
Talk to Your Kids 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. Which type is this one, and why?
How does this movie adhere to a trite horror-movie formula?
What do you think is the appeal of horror movies in which violent death is shown in graphic detail?
Movie Details
- In theaters : November 13, 1998
- On DVD or streaming : September 13, 2005
- Cast : Freddie Prinze Jr. , Jennifer Love Hewitt , Karla Wilson
- Director : Danny Cannon
- Inclusion Information : Latino Movie Actor(s) , Female Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : Columbia Tristar
- Genre : Horror
- Run time : 100 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- MPAA explanation : violence, profanity, drug use and sexual innuendo
- Last updated : July 12, 2023
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