I Know What You Did Last Summer

This article is about the film. For the original novel by Lois Duncan, see I Know What You Did Last Summer (novel).

I Know What You Did Last Summer
Directed by	Jim Gillespie
Written 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. Johnny Galecki Bridgette Wilson
Music by	John Debney
Production company	Mandalay Pictures
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	October 17, 1997
Running time	100 minutes
Country	United States
Language	English
Budget	$17,000,000
Box office	$125,500,000

I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 slasher film starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr.. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, and very loosely based on a popular novel of the same title by Lois Duncan. The film was followed by two sequels, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer and the straight-to-DVD release I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. The latter film did not star any of the cast from the previous two.

The film received mixed reviews from critics. However, the film was highly successful, grossing $125,500,000 at the box office. It was also nominated for and won multiple awards. As a result, along with the film's massive cult following, the film has been parodied and referenced in popular culture.

Plot

After a beauty pagent that Helen won, Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Helen (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Barry (Ryan Phillippe) and Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.) go out of town to celebrate. Returning in Barry's new car, they hit and apparently kill a man. They dump the corpse in the ocean and agree to never discuss again what had happened.

One year later, Julie is returning home from college. She has not spoken with Helen, Barry or Ray since the accident. Upon return home, Julie receives a letter that reads "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER!" Panicking, Julie goes to see Helen's sister Elsa, who tells Julie that Helen has been working there. Julie shows Helen the letter and they decide to visit Barry. After going over the incident, Barry accuses Max. The trio go to see Max, but Barry insists on going in the factory alone. Barry persuades Max to go into the back room and attacks him, telling Max he should keep his mouth shut. Julie finds Ray working on the docks. Ray tries to make up with Julie but she runs off. Inside the factory, Max is murdered by someone wielding a hook. The killer attacks Barry next, running him over with Barry's car. The killer is shown wearing a raincoat and wielding a hook on one hand.

Julie arrives at the hospital to see Barry and finds Helen and Ray there. Julie reveals the man they hit was named David Eagen. Helen and Julie track his sister, Missy, to her home, where she has been living since her brother's death. Missy does not recognize them and Julie is convinced she is innocent. Missy tells them she had a visit from a man claiming to be David's friend named Billy Blue.

At Helen's home that night, the killer breaks in, hiding in her closet. The next morning, Helen wakes up with most of her hair cut to bits and "SOON" written in lipstick on her mirror. Julie gets a call from Barry, who tells her to come to Helen's. On the way, Julie hears rattling in her trunk. She opens the trunk to find Max's body. She shuts the trunk, runs to Helen's and brings her and Barry to her car, but the body has disappeared. Julie is convinced the killer took the body and they are not safe. Later they run into Ray, who tells them he got a letter. Julie decides to see Missy again while Helen and Barry watch each other's backs at the parade. Julie tries to convince Missy that David did not kill himself after Missy presents her with a suicide note written in the same style as her letter from the killer. Missy tells Julie to leave.

At the Croaker pageant, Helen sees Barry murdered by the killer. If Helen used the microphone to inform everyone including Barry that the killer's behind Barry, then Barry wouldn't have died. However, neither the killer nor the body are found afterwards. A police officer drives her home, but the killer lures the cop into an alley and kills him. Helen runs to her store where Elsa is working, but the killer finds and murders Elsa, then he goes and murders Helen who is fleeing from her shop. Julie learns that the killer is Ben Willis, a fisherman. He murdered David Egan after David and Ben's daughter Susie were involved in a car crash near where the four teenagers hit Ben. Susie was killed in the accident and David was unharmed. Ben blamed David and killed him a year later, making it look like a suicide. On the way home, Ben was hit by the group.

Julie goes to see Ray on his boat and tells him the story, but he does not believe her. Julie notices the name on his boat is "Billy Blue" and accuses him of the murders. He chases her but is knocked unconscious by a man who tells Julie to get on his boat. After she does, she learns he is Ben Willis, the real killer. She is chased all over the boat while Ray regains consciousness and steals a boat to save Julie. In a room full of ice, Julie finds Helen and Barry's bodies. Ray climbs aboard and is almost killed by Ben, but is caught in the boat's net. He climbs back aboard and saves Julie. Ben gets his hand caught in a rope and Ray hoists him into the air where his hand is cut off and he falls into the ocean. On land, Ray tells Julie that the reason he went to see Missy was because he was guilty and had to know who they hit. He tells her he loves her and they embrace. Ben's body is not recovered.

A year later, Julie is in her second year and is going on a trip to New York with Ray. She receives a letter resembling the one she had got from Ben, but it only contains a pool party invitation. Julie returns to the bathroom, which has filled with steam. On the shower door, "I STILL KNOW" is written. Ben jumps through the shower door, attacking her.

Alternate ending

The film originally had a different ending where Julie is chatting online with Ray. Her roommate hands her a white envelope with "Julie James" written in black marker on it. She opens it up and finds an invitation to a pool party. Then, an unknown person begins to chat with Julie typing 'I Still Know' to her and the fisherman jumps through the window and attacks Julie. This ending was used as a teaser trailer for the sequel.

Cast

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

Reception

The film received generally mixed reviews from critics. In the review of Rotten Tomatoes 38% 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.

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

See also

• List of I Know What You Did Last Summer characters

External links

• I Know What You Did Last Summer at IMDb
• I Know What You Did Last Summer at AllMovie