I Know What You Did Last Summer

This article is about the film. For other uses, see I Know What You Did Last Summer (disambiguation).

I Know What You Did Last Summer
Theatrical release poster
Directed by	Jim Gillespie
Screenplay by	Kevin Williamson
Produced by	William S. Beasley Neal H. Mortiz Stokely Chaffin
Starring	Jennifer Love Hewitt Sarah Michelle Gellar Ryan Phillippe Freddie Prinze, Jr. Bridgette Wilson Anne Heche
Cinematography	Denis Crossan
Edited by	Steve Mirkovich
Music by	John Debney
Production company	Mandalay Entertainment
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	October 17, 1997
Running time	101 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$17 million (est)
Box office	$125,586,134

I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American slasher film based on the 1973 novel of the same name by Lois Duncan. The film stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr., with Anne Heche and Bridgette Wilson appearing in supporting roles. I Know What You Did Last Summer centers on four friends who are being stalked by a killer, one year after covering up a car accident in which they were involved. The film was directed by Jim Gillespie, from a screenplay written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream.

I Know What You Did Last Summer received mixed reviews from critics, but was highly commercially successful, grossing over $125 million at the box office. It was also nominated for and won multiple awards. As a result the film has been parodied and referenced in popular culture.

The film was followed by two sequels, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998) and the straight-to-DVD release I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006). Though the former film sees a continuation of the plotline established in its predecessor, the latter film establishes a new plotline and does not star any cast members from the previous two installments.

Plot

It's July 4, 1996 and four high school seniors, Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), her boyfriend Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.), Julie's best friend Helen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and her boyfriend Barry (Ryan Phillippe) decide to have some fun, as it is their last summer before college. After drinking at a party, the four drive to an isolated beach. They talk about their futures, then discuss an urban legend about a young couple who find a hook attached to their car door. Ray, the only sober member of the group, drives them home. Barry spills alcohol in the car, distracting Ray, who accidentally hits a random stranger on the road.

The group begins to argue over what has happened, knowing the police will not believe it was an accident. Another vehicle appears in the distance. This turns out to be another local teenager, named Max (Johnny Galecki). Julie convinces him they just had car trouble and he drives on. Barry suggests they dispose of the body to hide what happened. Julie feels that they should go to the police, but Barry, drunk and enraged, demands that no one be told, with Helen taking Barry's side. They take the body down to the nearby docks and dump it in the water. While they're doing that the man revives and attack the guys then hits the water.

One year later and now a freshman in college, Julie goes home for the summer. While at home, her mother notices that she seems distant. Her mother gives her a letter she received with no return address. Inside, she finds a folded piece of paper with a message: "I Know What You Did Last Summer!" Panicked over their secret having gotten out, Julie goes to Helen's sister Elsa (Bridgette Wilson), to inquire for Helen's phone number in New York. Elsa tells her that Helen dropped out and is now working in their family's store.

Julie shows Helen the note she received, and they decide to go see Barry. Barry claims that no one can know, but Julie recalls how Max drove by. Barry immediately suspects him, and the three head down to the nearby docks. Barry claims he'll 'talk' to Max in private, but gets carried away, threatening Max with an ice pick, even though Max claims he has no idea what Barry is talking about. Meanwhile, down at the docks, Julie finds Ray working on a fishing boat. He tries to patch things up regarding their now-broken relationship, but she runs off.

Back inside, Max is killed with the hook Barry used to threaten him.

Later that evening, Barry goes to a local gym to work out. In the locker room, he hears a sound. Looking around the locker room, Barry finds nothing until he returns to his locker. He soon finds a Polaroid photo of his BMW, with a message written on the back: "I know". Rushing out of the locker room, Barry sees his car back off down the road. He chases it only to have the driver attempt to run him down. The driver, wearing a dark fisherman’s rain slicker and wielding a large ice hook, gets out of the car and stands over him.

Barry ends up in the hospital, but is unable to tell the police anything about the person's identity other than that he wore a black rain slicker, and carried an ice pick. Julie reveals that she has been doing some investigating, and tells them that the name of the person they struck was David Egan. Feeling that maybe Egan survived and is staying with a local relative, Julie and Helen head out to the Egan's residence deep in the inland swamps.

Julie and Helen arrive at David's house where they find David's moody older sister, Missy (Anne Heche). Missy explains that David's death devastated their family. While both of them originally think that Missy may be the killer, after talking with her, they soon write her off their suspects list. However, Missy does say that someone came by to pay respects after her brother died, claiming to be his friend. When the girls ask for this person's name, Missy believes it to be 'Billy Blue'.

Helen returns to her home that night and prepares for the annual Fourth of July parade the next morning. She does not notice the fisherman sneaking into her house through the back door, going upstairs and hiding in her bedroom closet. Waking up the next morning, she is horrified to find that someone has slashed her hair in the night, and written 'Soon' on her vanity mirror. Helen calls Barry and Julie to come over quickly. On her way over, Julie hears a strange sound coming from the back of her car. Upon reaching Helen's, she hears something in the trunk and opens it, to reveal Max's dead body. Julie rushes in to tell Barry and Helen, but when they return, Max's body has disappeared from the trunk. Barry and Helen assume Julie was hallucinating, but she swears she did see Max's dead body. Julie, Helen, and Barry confront Ray about the recent events, which Barry thinks that Ray is behind it. Ray strongly denies being the one and claims that whoever knows is after him too, for he received a similar letter.

Julie decides to revisit Missy to ask her more questions about David Egan and about the visitor 'Billy Blue', while Helen and Barry go to participate in the Fourth of July parade. During the parade, Barry keeps an eye out for the killer, but notices that there are several people wearing the same dark rain slicker. Chasing one, Barry leaves Helen on one of the parade floats. As it passes by a two-story building, she notices a shadowy figure in a black rain slicker reveal an ice pick in a threatening way as the float passes by.

Meanwhile, Julie arrives back at Missy's house in hopes to convince her that her brother is still alive, and to secretly find out more about the stranger named ‘Billy Blue’. Missy tells Julie that her brother is dead, and presents her with a suicide note that was left by him which reads “I will never forget last summer.” Julie thinks that the handwriting matches that of the note she received, and tries to convince Missy that her brother is not dead. However, Missy soon grows upset by Julie's ravings, and orders her to leave her property.

At the annual Croaker Pageant, Helen is in attendance as her reign as the Croaker Queen is about to come to an end. Barry is watching from an upstairs balcony, but as the pageant goes on, he is attacked by the fisherman. Helen screams when she sees the killer pull Barry into the shadows. Rushing upstairs with a police officer, they look around but find no sign of the killer or Barry. The officer thinks Helen imagined it, and offers to take her home.

While taking Helen home, the officer cuts through an alley and finds someone working on their truck engine, which has stalled in the middle of street. The officer gets out to investigate, only to come face-to-face with the killer, who kills the officer with the ice hook. Helen manages to break out of the police car, and rushes for her family's store, where her sister Elsa lets her in. Helen demands that Elsa lock all the doors, but before Elsa can finish the job, the killer enters through a side door and slashes her. The killer then stalks after Helen, chasing her out of the store, down an alley, and near a pile of used tires where she is killed steps away from the 4th of July parade that is going on.

Meanwhile, Julie has returned to town and does some further research into the death of David Egan. A year before the 'accident,' David and his girlfriend Susie were involved in a car crash not far from where the foursome’s accident scene occurred. David survived, but Susie died. The research mentions that Susie had a father, named Ben Willis. Julie then puts the pieces together: They did not kill David Egan that night. Her assumption is that David had been found along the road by Ben, who killed him and disposed of the body. But before Ben could get home, the four crashed into him during their joyride that night.

Julie then decides to tell Ray, who is working down by the docks. She explains her theory, but he doesn't believe it. As they talk, she suddenly notices the name of the boat he works on Billy Blue. Julie panics, thinking that Ray may actually be the murderer and takes off running, only to be chased by Ray before a fisherman stops him, and puts her onto his boat for safety. As she looks around the boat, she finds one room that contains photos and other articles about her, Helen, Barry and Ray... and realizes that she is on Ben Willis’ boat. Ben has set the boat adrift and intends to kill Julie, who leads him on a cat-and-mouse chase through the ship. Eventually, Julie winds up in an ice room to store fish, and finds the corpses of Max, Helen and Barry. Ray manages to regain conscious, and takes a small motorboat, catching up to Ben's boat. In the end, Ray manages to use the ship's rigging to save Julie, causing Ben to lose his arm in which he carried the hook, and plummets over the side. All that is found of Ben is the severed arm with the hook in the hand. When the Police question Julie and Ray about why Ben would have wanted to kill them, they claim they have no idea.

A year later, Julie is enjoying another year of college, and is getting ready to return to her hometown to see Ray. As she prepares to take a shower, her college roommate says that there was a letter left for her. Fearing the same thing as before, Julie is relieved to find that it is an invitation to a pool party. Returning to the showers, the hot water has caused the room to steam up. As Julie heads towards one shower stall, she stops upon seeing writing on one of the doors, which reads: "I still know." The last shot is Ben, crashing through the glass shower door at Julie, a hook now replacing the stump of his missing arm.

Cast

See also: List of I Know What You Did Last Summer characters

• Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie James
• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Helen Shivers
• Ryan Phillippe as Barry William Cox
• Freddie Prinze, Jr. Ray Bronson
• Bridgette Wilson as Elsa Shivers
• Anne Heche as Missy Egan
• Muse Watson as Ben Willis
• Johnny Galecki as Max Neurick
• Stuart Greer as Officer David Caporizon

Music

The film produced two soundtracks. One of them featured the score composed by John Debney, while the other contained various rock songs found in the film.

Score

Untitled

1. A New Beginning (Julie's Theme) [1:52]
2. Barry's Underwater Adventure [2:33]
3. Homecoming [0:53]
4. Crabhouse Gaffing [1:10]
5. Someone's Watchin'/Chased [3:26]
6. Missy's Story [2:10]
7. The Houseguest [1:57]
8. A Little 'Trim'/Trunk Surprise [3:12]
9. His Name Was.../Car Trouble [3:29]
10. Hiding the Body [3:15]
11. In Pursuit of Helen [2:50]
12. The Note [1:39]
13. Gaffing Barry/Missy's Home [3:19]
14. No Escape For Helen [2:32]
15. Julie Discovers the Truth [3:21]
16. The Night Softly Whispers [1:49]
17. Fond Memories [0:43]
18. Julie Takes a Cruise [2:56]
19. Taking a Stand [1:09]
20. Final Confrontation [4:03]
21. Julie Takes a Shower [1:20]

Soundtrack

Untitled

1. "Hush" by Kula Shaker (2:55)
2. "Summer Breeze" by Type O Negative (4:57)
3. "D.U.I." by The Offspring (2:26)
4. "Kid" by Green Apple Quick Step (3:17)
5. "This Ain't the Summer of Love" by L7 (3:09)
6. "Losin' It" by Soul Asylum (3:01)
7. "Hey Bulldog" by Toad the Wet Sprocket (2:31)
8. "My Baby's Got the Strangest Ways" by Southern Culture on the Skids (3:59)
9. "Waterfall" by The Din Pedals (3:47)
10. "Clumsy" by Our Lady Peace (4:27)
11. "One Hundred Days" by Flick (3:40)
12. "Great Life" by Goatboy (3:50)
13. "2 Wicky" by Hooverphonic (4:44)
14. "Don't Mean Anything" by Adam Cohen (3:43)
15. "Proud" by Korn (3:17)

Reception

The film received mostly mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. On Rotten Tomatoes, 36% of comments were positive. In another review, Metacritic reported an aggregate score of 52 out of 100. Critic Roger Ebert wrote in his review, "The best shot in this film is the first one. Not a good sign."

Jennifer Love Hewitt was praised for her performance as Julie James by an Entertainment Weekly columnist stating that Hewitt knows how to scream with soul.

Home Media

I Know What You Did Last Summer has been released on DVD and Blu-ray. Special features include an audio commentary by the filmmakers, a 'making-of' featurette, a music video and a short film directed by Jim Gillespie.

Awards and nominations

Year	Ceremony	Category	Result
1997	ASCAP Award	Top Box Office Films, John Debney	Won
1998	Saturn Award	Best Horror Film	Nominated
1998	Blockbuster Entertainment Award	Favorite Female Newcomer, Favorite Actress, Jennifer Love Hewitt	Won
1998		Favorite Supporting Actress – Horror, Sarah Michelle Gellar	Won
1998		Favorite Actor – Horror, Freddie Prinze Jr.	Nominated
1998		Favorite Actress – Horror, Jennifer Love Hewitt	Nominated
1998		Favorite Supporting Actor, Ryan Phillippe	Nominated
1998	IHG Award	Best Movie	Nominated
1998	MTV Movie Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance, Sarah Michelle Gellar	Nominated
1998	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress, Jennifer Love Hewitt	Nominated

External links

• I Know What You Did Last Summer at IMDb
• I Know What You Did Last Summer at AllMovie
• I Know What You Did Last Summer at Box Office Mojo
• I Know What You Did Last Summer at Rotten Tomatoes