- I Know What You Did Last Summer is a sequel to the 1997 movie
- The original starred Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillipe, and Freddie Prinze Jr.
- The film follows teenagers stalked by a serial killer one year after a hit-and-run
Yes, the trailer for the sequel to the nineties classic slasher I Know What You Did Last Summer is finally here. Almost thirty years on, there will be a modern version of the slasher, and fans can’t get enough.
The original stars nineties royalty: Ryan Phillipe, Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr. It follows the story of a group of friends who get stalked by a killer after a hit-and-run incident. Originally based on the novel by Lois Duncan, the movie was a smash success, and grossed $126 million and had a sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer.
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As a result, the modern twist is adapted for audiences in the 2020s and stars Outerbanks’ Madelyn Cline, Chase Sui Wonders, Lola Tung, Nicholas Alexander Chavez, Austin Nichols, Sarah Pidgeon, Tyriq Withers, Jonah Hauer-King, Billy Campbell and Gabbriette. The cast was announced in July 2024, with the film set to release in July 2025.
Since the first trailer has been released, let’s break it down.
What happened in the new trailer for I Know What You Did Last Summer?
In the new trailer, it begins with Cline’s character seeing something outside and then Haeur-King’s character tells his girl to go relax and do guided meditation. Upstairs she goes, into the bath as a Headspace-esque relaxation audio plays.
As he gets ready downstairs, the lights from the pool come on and slash – dead by the hands of a hook-wielding killer which drags him across the kitchen. While your fiancée (because she wears a ring) has headphones on in the bath, and is none the wiser.
Cline’s character asks if the killer coming after them was karma for what they did, which is covering up the hit-and-run and burying the body. She questions if someone saw what they did, and has come back to taunt them as a result.
The killer warns them that they know
Later, a card is received with the letters that say ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’, a.k.a the title of the movie. Watchers are transported back to the town of Southport with Prinze Jr’s character Ray Bronson declaring it isn’t the first time it’s happened.
Consequently because of his own similar situation, Ray has experience with a similar killer, although he survives the events. Later, he helps Hewitt’s character Julie (his ex) escape a killer yet again in the 1998 sequel.
Declaring it won’t stop, there is a close up of Gellar’s character Helen Shivers and her grave. In true horror style, Helen gets killed in a long chase scene when Julie later discovers her.
As an homage to the original, it seems like the friends will individually be attacked by the killer, if the threatening ‘you’re next’ warning is anything to go by.
However, this time, they have Ray and Julie by their side to help them fight. We see two of the girls attacked together as the voiceover says, “Someone is coming after us”.
Then the big reveal.
On what looks like a college campus, one of the girls says, “I need your help”. Guess who turns around? Julie. After, Julie asks, “I just have one question…What did you do last summer?”
Full circle baby!
Will Madelyn Cline’s character be the new Helen Shivers?
In short, yes. The trailer shows Cline’s character being violently attacked by the killer, and hints at her having a more central role. Therefore, she may be the one who dies the most violent death. Helen’s death scene is drawn out and built up in a long sequence of her running away from the killer. Helen gets chased through an alleyway, a store and almost a parade before she meets her demise.
Fans loathe the exhausting scene even 28 years later, but it does give us hope for who will be the final girl in this film.
In typical slasher fashion, the Croaker Queen is a target for the killer, which Cline’s character looks like she is. However, Helen is not shallow towards the end, she has a troubled relationship with her family and falls from grace (maybe out of guilt) after the crash. Maybe if they want to pay homage to Helen, they’ll model Cline’s character after her.
But who knows?
I Know What You Did Last Summer is out on 18 July.
