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Rating 3½
Directed by Jim Gillespie
Written by Kevin Willimason from the book by Lois Duncan
Starring Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ was released in America in October 1997, one month after the start of the second season of ‘Buffy’.
Written by Kevin Williamson (the creator of ‘Dawson’s Creek’) and coming on the back of the enormous critical and commercial success of his film ‘Scream’, this one received mixed reviews at the time but was a sizeable box office hit, grossing just under $126 million. Opinion about the film seems to have become increasingly negative in the years since then; partly because Williamson’s reputation has declined, partly because slasher-movies in general are to some extent out of fashion, but largely I suspect because the main cast (Sarah Michelle Gellar, Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr in particular) have all become somewhat contentious figures in recent years.
This is not a piece of high-art cinema but it’s a perfectly decent and well-acted film. In fact, I would be inclined to count it amongst my own personal favourites. Gellar and Ryan Phillippe, in particular, both give excellent performances. Although Gellar’s character, Helen Shivers, is vacuous and self-absorbed, Gellar successfully taps into her vulnerability, especially after her friendship with Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) has been irreconcilably damaged.
The film also features Anne Heche, who I happen to like. She might have had her troubled moments, but that has got nothing to do with her talents as an actor. Also, a favourite band of mine, Southern Culture On The Skids, is briefly featured during the beach party scene, another reason why I feel pre-disposed towards the film.
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Directed by Christopher Leitch
Written by Duane Poole from a book by Lois Duncan
Starring Sarah Chalke, Soleil Moon Frye and Markie Post
This TV movie is based on a novel called ‘Gallow’s Hill’ written by Lois Duncan, who also wrote the novel ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’. Duncan, whose 18-year-old daughter Kaitlyn Arquette was found dead in her car with a gunshot wound to her head, apparently dislikes the film version of that novel, believing that it encourages such violence. The killer of her daughter has never been apprehended.
Christopher Leitch, the director here, wrote the screenplay for the mindless Dolph Lundgren / Jean-Claude Van Damme action film ‘Universal Soldier’, but most of his work has been as a director, mainly of TV movies and shows. His other work includes a remake of the 1973 Kate Jackson / Cheryl Ladd film ‘Satan’s School For Girls’, with Shannon Doherty and Julie Benz taking on the lead roles – plus a cameo appearance by Kate Jackson. If only it was available on DVD!
‘I’ve Been Waiting For You’ is a modern day story of witchcraft. It stars Sarah Chalke (after her days in ‘Roseanne’, but before ‘Scrubs) alongside Soleil Moon Frye. She had previously been one of the leads with Sarah Michelle Gellar in the aborted 1989 teen magazine show ‘Girl’s Talk’. Only the pilot episode was ever made, as far as I know. She subsequently featured in three seasons of ‘Sabrina the Teenage Witch’. Markie Post, who I have long had a soft spot for, plays the mother of Sarah Chalke’s character.
As far as plot goes, ‘I’ve Been Waiting For You’ is basically a kind of variation of ‘I Married A Witch’ without the comedy. It doesn’t have any great artistic merit and the holes in the plot are the size of giant meteor craters, but it’s just great fun. I love witchcraft type stuff and the absence of distracting special effects, offal and buckets of fake blood makes for a pleasant change.
If nothing else, the film is worth watching for the hilarious sequence when the ‘witch’ chases an intended victim through the woods.
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‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ was released in America in October 1997, one month after the start of the second season of ‘Buffy’.
