I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER

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Director: Jim Gillespie
Screenplay: Kevin Williamson and Lois Duncan
(Based on the novel by Lois Duncan)
Gellar's role: Helen Shivers
With: Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr.
US Release Date: 17 October 1997
Length: 100 minutes
Genre: Horror .

Helen and the gang are harassed by a mysterious and threatening stalker one year after their car strikes a stranger, and they dump his body in the sea.

"It was true that Helen wasn't the only girl Barry went out with, though he was pretty sure that he was the only guy she was seeing. Crazy too, because living where she did, in an apartment complex sull of singles, and looking like a swimsuit model, and holding her showy job -- well, there were bound to be plenty of werewolves howling under her window."
        ---- Lois Duncan, 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' (chapter 2)
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Helen Shivers - I Know What You Did Last Summer
Helen Shivers

Alan Pruski reviewed the film for The Underscene: "Now, I understand that this isn’t the most original or intricate idea, even for a 90s slasher, but its storytelling and cast elevate it to a whole other level. Jennifer Love Hewitt and Sarah Michelle Gellar lead the film as Julie and Helen; two best friends who are torn apart by their twisted secret. In an era that also gave us Sidney Prescott and Gale Weathers from Scream, these two are complete badasses who deserve more credit for carrying this film on their backs from beginning to end. From the start, they lift each other up constantly, are already empowered and kickass before a killer comes after them, and all around just have such a pure and honest friendship that anchors the story while taking it to a more emotional level.

The best scene happens when Helen Shivers and Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt) visit Missy Egan (played by the late Anne Heche).

Anne Heche as Missy Egan - I Know What You Did Last Summer
Anne Heche as Missy Egan

Niki Minter revisited the film recently for JoBlo and talked about the soundtrack: "It’s the 90s and I am compelled to talk soundtracks. This one is no exception. Did we all not leave the theater with Hush by Kula Shaker in our heads? Did anyone even know Kula Shaker? Do you now? Another cover, much like our Type O track. Circling back to our earlier convo, Type O wrote their own lyrics for Summer Breeze because Peter Steele thought you could just do that without permission from the original songwriters. He did ask, but they weren’t too impressed and gave it a big rejection. You can find it as SummerGirl. Very Type O, very Horror. There’s some Offspring here because they were on every soundtrack. Our Lady Peace with Clumsy, classic track. We’ve also got L7, Toad the Wet Sprocket, Soul Asylum, and KORN. Ah yes, Korn. This is in-between Life is Peachy and Follow the Leader. Both stellar in my humble opinion. The track called Proud didn’t make it to the movie, or at least the final cut, but sometimes not all of them do. OH, Ledbelly’s Where Did You Sleep Last Night does play when Julie visits Missy for the second time, but it didn’t land a spot on the soundtrack itself. As far as covers go, as many of you know, Nirvana infamously covered this song on their 1993 Unplugged set."

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Kate's Review described how things went Lois Duncan's novel, and they went a bit differently than in the film. The Book, said the review, "follows four teens: Julie, Ray, Barry, and Helen. The summer after Barry and Ray’s senior year, the four went on a picnic in the mountains to celebrate the boys graduation. But on the way back, they accidentally hit a young boy on his bike. Barry, the driver, sped away from the scene, and after a vote of 3-1 (Julie being the dissenting vote) they decided not to go back, but to leave an anonymous tip on a pay phone. When they found out that the boy died en route to the hospital, Julie cut herself off from all of them…. Until the next summer, when she gets a strange anonymous note. All it says is ‘I know what you did last summer’. So she seeks out Helen (a local tv celebrity now somehow. It was the 70s.), Barry (a big man on campus and still a douche), and Ray (back from California and pining for her) so they can try and solve who is stalking them."

The sign on the Shivers family business with its misplaced apostrophe
The sign on the Shivers' store with its misplaced apostrophe

CAST

Trailer

trailer - I Know What You Did Last Summer - video thumbnail

The film won the Saturn Award for Best Horror Film of 1997.

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER can be purchased from Amazon Prime Video, and is available on DVD and Blu-ray.

The 2025 Sequel

Directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson

Starring Madeline Cline as Danica Richards, Chai Sui Wonders as Ava Brucks, and Jonah Hauer-King as Milo Griffin.

Gellar posted on Instagram on 22 July 2025: "What a night!!! Still can’t believe …… years later (no need to date myself) I got to walk the red carpet at another premiere of @ikwydlsmovie Still starring the most handsome man I know @realfreddieprinze but this time directed by my best friend @jennkaytin and written by Jenn and @samlansky I love this movie sooooo much and this cast!!

Chase Sui Wonders and Sarah Michelle Gellar in I Know What You Did Last Summer 2025
Helen Shivers and Ava Brucks

Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt reprise their original roles. Charley Ross of Glamour Magazine quoted Gellar as saying: "My best friend [Jennifer Kaytin Robinson] is directing it, so we joke that I have an unofficial job, which is I am continuity. So I'm always the one telling her, 'Well, that would happen, or that wouldn't happen with those characters,' so I do have kind of an unofficial job title."

Gellar makes a surprise cameo appearance as part of a dream sequence.

Cast for the 2025 film

I Know What You Did Last Summer 2025 - trailer - video thumbnail
Trailer for I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025)

The 2025 sequel can be streamed on Netflix.

posters- I Know What You Did Last Summer - 1997 & 2025
1997 poster (left) and 2025 poster