Joe Hallenbeck, test screening spy with that super cool/super hated style takes a gander at I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. Sounds like a fun as hell movie! Once again for those of you that have tender ears, watch out. Joe tells it the way he sees it, and he tells it uncensored. So prepare yourself for the words you had your mouth washed out for, cause this is Joe and that's the way it goes...
Joe Hallenbeck here to give you some insight on the latest "Boogie" movie to come out of the the talented mind of Kevin Williamson. Who's that, you say? You don't know who Kevin Williamson is? Shame on you. And you call yourselves Movie Geeks. For those ignorant souls out there who don't have a clue as to whom Kevin Williamson is, let me enlighten you....SCREAM!!! 'Nuff said! He hit it big time with that Awesome Flick. So, the question I asked myself before going into a screening of I Know What You Did Last Summer, was, "Will the scribe of Scream be lucky enough to be hit by lightning twice or is he just another one-hit wonder?"
Enough with Anatomy of Horror Film 101 taught by yours truly and on to a review written by THE ONE...THE ONLY...JOE HALLENBECK(insert scary music here)....
The Plot - For those of you who don't know, I.K.W.Y.D.L.S.(quite an abbreviation, if you ask me) concerns a group of Teenagers(like we would ever see a group of Senior Citizens duking it out with a Psycho...Hey, that sounds like a cool flick!) who accidently kill(or do they) a stranger while driving down a dark and winding road(like we would ever see something like this occur on a straight, lit road...hey, that sounds like a cool idea!). A year passes and these alledged murderers start receiving messages from a mysterious stranger claiming that he/she "Knows What They did Last Summer"(it sorta ties in with the title of the movie, doesn't it?). From there, you can guess what occurs.
The Writing - As mentioned before, this screenplay was written by Kevin "Scream" Williamson. However, unlike that modern masterpiece of mayhem, "I Know" didn't spring out of his warpped mind. It's based on a best-selling "Teenage Horror" novel of the same name. I have never read the book, so I can't compare the two. However, if the screenplay happens to be a good adaptation of the book, then kudos to the author for coming up with a kick-ass story. If most of the genius of this movie was brewed up in Mr. Williamson's mind, then kudos to him for writing yet another kick-ass Horror movie for the 90's! Whomever is responsible for the story/Screenplay my hat's off to you. Nowadays, it's become difficult for a writer to tell a good horror story on the screen. Audiences have become so numb to the intensity that existed in the great scary works of yore, that writers have to come up with new and inventive ways to scare the shit out of people. THAT'S what Williamson managed to do with Scream and THAT'S what he manages to do here. Oh sure, I'm not giving him ALL the credit. Wes Craven and Jim Gillespie("I Know's" Director) sure deserve a helluva lot of credit for delivering the thrills and chills on the screen, but like the old saying goes, "If it ain't on the page, it ain't on the screen." Williamson truly has a knack for sending shivers down peoples spines. I can't wait to see what his future projects will be like. I, for one, will be first in line to take witness to Scream 2 and Killing Mrs. Tingle. I'll also be glued to my TV set watching every minute of his new WB show Dawson's Creek( a name, which I noticed, that popped up in I Know What You Did Last Summer. Coincidece, Mr. Williamson?).
The Directing - I'll be honest...I've never heard of Jim Gillespie until after viewing this movie. Has he done any work before? In Movies? TV? Music Videos? Commercials?....WHAT???!!! I'm dying to know. I want to see his past work and I anxiously await his future endeavors, as well. Here's a name to watch out for. I usually have a keen eye for up and coming talent. If "I Know" is any indication of this man's ability to scare people and make them have sleepless nights, then I'm sure we'll be hearing his name in the future.
The Acting - As good as you're going to get in a Slasher Film. Don't expect Hamlet here, people.
Jennifer Love Hewitt - Is it me, or don't you think it's odd that Party of Five has become the breeding ground for Scream Queens? First, we have Campbell in The Craft and Scream. Then, we have Hewitt in this. What's next, Lacey Chabert starring in a remake of The Exorcist(hey, that sounds kinda cool)? Hewitt must've got plenty of tips on how to deal with psycho's from Neve(and that's just dealing with Agents and Execs...HA!!!). Jennifer does a fine job playing the Victim/Heroine in this fun flick. She can defintely hold her own against a hook wielding maniac dressed up like the Gordan Fisherman(you know...the guy on the fish stick box).
Sarah Michelle Geller - Is it now a trend in Hollywood for hot up-and-coming actresses to have three names on the marquee? Just wondering. Here, Buffy doesn't have to deal with those nasty Vampires(insert Agent joke here). Instead, our ass-kickin' vampire slayer must deal with some psycho tormenting her and her friend's lives. She does fine job with her role, as well.
The Guys - There are two main male charaters featured in this movie. Unfortunately, due to my ignorance, I don't know their names. Sorry guys. However, that's not to say that they weren't good. I found their performances to be quite up to par. I just wasn't...shall I say...fixated upon them when they were on the screen while our two leading ladies were. And, yes, 'tis true that Johnny Gallecki from Roseanne is in the movie...but no Darlene.
The music - Mostly temp tracked to John Debny's "The Relic" score...Mostly. I, for one, am looking forward to hearing what Mr. Debney has in store for us when he completes his latest score to this flick.
The Ending - Fun and intense. It's got that whole "run-in-with-the-dead-bodies" routine going for it. It has a nice little twist, but nothing that anyone with an IQ over 85 wouldn't see coming(so, that means most Studio Executives were probably blown away by this surprise).
The Audiece Reaction - Filled to the brim with the kind of viewers(early teens to late 20's) that give Execs wet dreams, this audience truly loved this film. They were oooing and ahhing at the appropriate times. They cheered and screamed. They jumped out of their seats at certain zingers(I found myself doing so twice) and laughed at cool one-liners. It was a great audience to see a movie like this with...A GREAT AUDIENCE INDEED.
When the lights came on, I asked myself that question again, "Did lightning hit Mr. Williamson twice or is he just a one-hit wonder?" The answer....HELL YES AND HELL NO....to a certain extent. While I found this movie to be scary and thuroughly entertaining, it's nowhere near the masterpiece of its predeccessor, SCREAM. It's still a damn good movie, though. I find it ironic that Williamson parodied this kind of movie in Scream and then turned around and adapted a novel of the very same thing he was paroding. "I Know" is a true Horror/Slasher Film. It doesn't have the sense of humor that made Scream so enjoyable, but it makes up for that in its scares. In I Know What You Did Last Summer, Williamson and company do to Campfire Ghost Stories, what he and Craven did to Slasher Films with Scream....SCARE THE LIVING SHIT OUT OF THE AUDIENCE WHILE ENTERTAINING THEM AT THE SAME TIME!!! To accomplish one of those tasks is almost impossible, but to accomplish both.....
