"I Know What You Did Last Summer" (2025) Film Review-OH HORRORS...it's ANOTHER sequel, FAR more funny than frightening

When it comes the horror genre, I am VERY hard to please or impress, much less scare. Coming from a current mindset of appreciation for chilling, unsettling, tension-inducing efforts such as “Hereditary“, “The Conjuring” (ONLY the first one to date, mind you), “Lights Out“, “The Babadook“, “Midsommar“, “Talk To Me“, “Oddity“, “Bring Her Back“, and the like, this Summer sequel offered low expectations for me other than to end up providing what I more so anticipated…a good laugh.

I know this sounds “awful” in a sense, given the film IS trying to be a SERIOUS entry into the genre of slasher horror and hence imbue the viewer with a sense of dread and menace, but honestly, it just didn’t DO that. At least not very effectively. A direct follow-up to the 1997 parent film, the return to Southport and a new group of unwitting yet forewarned/should-really-know-better young adults being pursued by a killer for a rather egregious misstep they try to hide is, perhaps, expectedly formulaic but for me annoyingly so.

Add to this the fact that every moment that’s MEANT to shock, scare, or otherwise upend us as the viewer seemed SO overtly telegraphed that it TAKES all the planned intensity away and replaces it with, most likely, your chuckling instead. While not as blatantly gruesome or bloody as, say, “Hostel” or the hellish “In A Violent Nature” (which I only saw ONE scene from and that was enough!), the film is MEANT to BE taken seriously as opposed to something more akin to “Scream“, yet I equate this more TO that latter film without hesitation. Ah well.

The sheer entertainment value to be relished here, again via more chortles than gasps, IS a plus I suppose. We have the ladies quite emphatically dominating the proceedings, first with “Outer Banks” alum Madelyn Cline leading the way as Danica, the first to receive the initial ominous portent of coming doom when the friends attempt to cover up what they did, which Cline carries off as well as anyone would anticipate. She does actually come across well as both scared then doggedly determined to find out who is hunting them all and try to stop it.

Chase Sui Wonders plays Ava, Danica’s ultimate bestie and stalwart force likewise trying to stop our intrepid fisherman’s garb-wearing, hook-wielding killer. Sarah Pidgeon is Stevie, an estranged member of the group who ends up embroiled in the affairs, and COULD be hiding secrets herself. Other primary women that are key to the narrative are played by Georgia Flood, Gabbriette Bechtel, Jennifer Love Hewitt, and a couple more via cameos that maybe aren’t THAT odd or coincidental.

Let’s not forget the lads here, played by Jonah Hauer-King as Milo, Tyriq Withers as Teddy, Joshua Orpin as Wyatt, Billy Campbell as Grant, Austin Nichols as the creepy Pastor Judah, and a supporting but integral appearance by another star of yesteryear’s film. I shall say no more. The cast does WORK well as an ensemble, pulling off the precise types of characters they’re representing. But is it enough to try and make something OUT of this film that’s genuinely worthy to call good? I remain dubious beyond the whimsey of it all I felt.

The finale is one you ALSO should see coming a mile away, and like certain OTHER sequels from this Summer (**cough** “Jurassic World: Rebirth” **cough**), it most likely promises yet another installment is in the works. But, if it is one hundred percent predictable, un-scary, unintentionally silly entertainment you’re seeking, then by all means, please place “I Know What You Did Last Summer” on your watch list. But, be warned now, DON’T try and conceal that you DID. Just saying.

P.S.: In the meantime, if you personally need a more “bloody” fix with at least SOME depth and plenty of cringe-worthy amusement (even if treading conspicuously in the “wash, rinse, repeat” zone) I heartily suggest the “Final Destination” series.