Close

4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Review: I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

Home » 4K Ultra HD/Blu-ray Review: I STILL KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

Oct 04, 2023 Posted by in DVD/Blu-ray, Reviews | Comments

It’s been a year since the hook-wielding fisherman stalked a group of teens in the small seaside community of Southport. Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and her boyfriend Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.) managed to survive the ordeal. While Ray stayed in Southport working as a fisherman, Julie headed off to college. It’s been nearly a year since those gruesome events, but Julie still has nightmares of Ben Willis (Muse Watson) returning to finish the job—sometimes even waking up screaming in the middle of class. Julie triple-locks her door, carries mace on her keychain, and has an unlisted phone number. The summer is quickly approaching, and along with it, the July 4 anniversary of the incident that kicked all of this off. Julie doesn’t really want to spend the holiday in Southport, so when her best friend Karla (Brandy Norwood) wins a weekend trip for four from the radio station, to Tower Bay Island in the Bahamas, she’s quick to accept. So Karla, her boyfriend Tyrell (Mekhi Phifer) and Julie head off for their tropical vacation, and since Ray says he can’t make it, they are joined by classmate Will (Matthew Settle), who has a crush on Julie.

When the gang gets to the remote island, they are told that there is no ferry off until the end of the weekend. They also discover that it’s the beginning of storm season, so the free trip isn’t going to be as fantastic, sun-soaked and relaxing as they thought. They try to find other activities to keep them busy, like karaoke. However, as Julie is performing her song, she suddenly sees the words “I Still Know What You Did” appear on the teleprompter. She’s freaked out, but no one seems to believe her. That is, until the bodies start showing up. The killer is back, and they are trapped on this small, constantly-rainy island with no way to escape, and a killer on the loose. Meanwhile, Ray had his own run-in with the fisherman, and is desperately trying to get to Julie to warn/save her. How is Ben back? Can Julie and her friends survive/stop the killer once again?!

I Know What You Did Last Summer was a fun, original horror/thriller. This sequel has a storyline that logically makes sense and feels like a natural progression from the events of the first one. However, it also feels like a re-tread of the first movie—though with a bit more blood and gore this time. You’ve got the killer coming back to get their revenge. Is it Ben again, a copycat killer, or something else? To fill the time before getting to Julie, we see the killer eliminate many random side characters in gruesome ways. But if he’s truly after revenge for Julie, why is he wasting time on these others (besides for our entertainment)? And once we get to the big showdown, we even get Julie doing her “What are you waiting for? speech from the first film all over again. The sequel does have its entertaining moments, but it just feels like the first movie all over again, just in a different setting, with a different group of friends.

Jennifer Love Hewitt gives a strong performance, demonstrating how the events of the first film have left Julie a bit broken and paranoid, and how she’s going to have to overcome this if she’s going to survive. While it was great to also see Freddie Prinze Jr. return, Ray felt a bit underutilized and separate from most of the action. Brandy and Mekhi Phifer are fun new additions to the cast, and bring a little levity to the movie. Their characters weren’t there the first time around, so they’re joking and a bit skeptical of Julie’s stories. But once it’s evident that everything she had been saying was true, they’re in full survival mode as well. The film also has lots of other recognizable faces in smaller or uncredited roles, including horror icon Jeffrey Combs as the annoying hotel manager Mr. Brooks, Jennifer Esposito as bartender Nancy, John Hawkes as Ray’s co-worker Dave, and Jack Black as island drug supplier Titus and Rastafarian wannabe—with dreadlocks and an accent.

I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was previously released on Blu-ray in 2009, and now makes its way onto 4K disc for the first time. The feature has been scanned from the original camera negative and presented in 4K resolution with Dolby Vision, approved by director Danny Cannon, along with an all-new Dolby Atmos audio track. The 4K picture looks very good. A lot of the film takes place in dark settings, but the details and action still remains quite clean and discernable. Colors pop in the lighter scenes, and there is a solid level of detail in faces and clothing throughout. This is definitely the best this film has looked. The Atmos audio track provides a solid ambiance, clear dialogue, and fills the room when necessary—such as when Julie is performing her karaoke song.

The 4K disc only includes two new bonus features. The first is an entertaining 12-minute interview with actor Muse Watson, who recounts some fun behind-the-scenes stories about working on the first two movies. The second is a new commentary with Danny Cannon. While there are some interesting tidbits, the director spends long periods just watching and not talking. The rest of the bonus material resides on the Blu-ray disc, which is identical to the previous release. This includes a 5 minute EPK making-of featurette, a music video, and some trailers/previews.

The 4K and Blu-ray discs reside on either side of a standard 4K keepcase, placed inside a glossy carboard slipcover. An insert provides instructions on how to redeem a 4K Movies Anywhere-compatible digital copy of the film.


What’s Included:

Film: (1:40:33)

Tags:
, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

Available for Amazon Prime