I Still Know What You Did Last Summer  ★★½

IN A recent retro review of I Know What You Did Last Summer, I wrongly stated that Ryan Phillippe was the only member of the original’s main cast who was smart enough to skip the 1998 sequel.

Apologies to Sarah Michelle Gellar (an avid reader I know) who also didn’t bother with I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.

That left Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jnr holding the baby along with new director, Danny Cannon and a new co-writer.

Sadly they couldn’t produce much more than a run-of-the-mill slasher and deliver the premature end to a potential film franchise.

One of the main problems – and there are many – is the killer. In comparison to Jason, Michael or Freddie, a fisherman in a raincoat and bonnet running around with a hook just doesn’t rate.

Unlike those other characters, this guy’s back story is they left him for dead, which isn’t anywhere near enough to sustain two films, let alone an ongoing series.

To be fair, the sequel does have a few half-decent jump scares and uses an ok location, a storm-lashed island resort during the off season, for much of the running time.

Love Hewitt again plays Julie, still fretting and guilt-ridden over the dumping of a man’s seemingly dead body after a car accident.

As we know, he wasn’t really dead and is still seeking to exact revenge.

While Freddie was the weakest of the original main foursome he’s actually ok in the sequel, perhaps because he isn’t really in it that much as well.

The most interesting aspect of the sequel is the early look at Jack Black who has an uncredited role as Titus, a stoner resort employee who keeps popping up in the most inappropriate places.

There is a twist, but you’ll likely pick it early.