"I Know What You Did Last Summer" A Look Back

Victims are piling up faster than the aptly named croakers in the picturesque little fishing village of Southport, N.C., but what's really brain dead there is the police force.

Though a killer attired in foul weather gear like a Gloucester seafarer off a package of frozen fish sticks has been gutting some of the local youth with a baling hook, their parents, employers and landlords apparently don't miss them enough to notify the police, who don't go to work until the final moments.


This isn't real life. It's the Grand Guignol of ''I Know What You Did Last Summer,'' laying its claim to succeed ''Scream'' as a high-grossing, blood-drenched date-night crowd-pleaser.

And why shouldn't it? Once again, the screenwriter is Kevin Williamson, working from a novel by Lois Duncan about four teen-agers haunted by a secret: their decision to dispose of the body hit by their BMW after a beauty contest on the night of Southport's Fourth of July Croaker Festival. Though it flies in the face of credibility and becomes downright silly by its end, ''I Know What You Did Last Summer'' knows its way around the rules of the popular horror-film genre: the prefiguring ghost story around the campfire, the teen-age sex that insures murder, the spooky killer, plenty of steamy shower rooms and crab vats, pop-up bodies, references to other films and television and an ending that sets the gurney for as many sequels as the public can stomach.

The teen-agers involved in the accident that touches off the bloodletting include the bright, college-bound Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt), who is the most reluctant of the four to vow to take to the grave the secret of what happened on the way back from Dawson's Beach. That night, her companions were her best friend, Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), who won the beauty contest; her boyfriend, Barry Cox (Ryan Phillippe), the belligerent, upper-class, alcoholic star athlete, and Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr.), the blue-collar fellow who is Julie's sweetheart.

When the next summer rolls around, a nerve-racked Julie returns to Southport to find the letter that gives the film its title and sets the four conspirators to fighting among themselves before they unite to try to evade and identify the stalker seeking bloody vengeance.

the director, respects the conventions of the genre. He devotes time to establishing the characters, spaces out the surprises and provides knowing aficionados with time to relish parental indifference and the remote old house where the gaunt sister (Anne Heche) of a pivotal character roams with a bloody knife.by lawrence van gelder

Remake Of "Fright Night"

Fright Night a classic vampire tale and

Hollywood saw fit to remake it and the very first review of the film has hit the web via Killerfilm. Wondering if the Fright Night remake will suck? Well you are about to find out. Read on if you want to know, or head elsewhere now.

What Fright Night got right in 1985 was everything. For every horror nut who grew up on the film, Charley Brewster was us. He spent his nights watching scary movies to the wee hours of the morning. School was tough and dating was migraine-inducing, but watching various monsters and beasts made everything right with the world. That is what made us happy, and to the day – it still does. The script was an homage to Rear Window and The Boy Who Cried Wolf with a dose of that planet 80′s free spirit.

FrightNight 3D, more like unnecessary post-conversion 3D, is in such a hurry that it forgets to tell any kind of story. There is absolute zero character development as the cardboard actors just go through the motion and it’s painful. The neighborhood feels like a leftover set from the The Stepfather, as opposed a real home on a real block. Roddy McDowell was the backbone of the original and played like a father figure to Charley.

Now he is just a boozing womanizer who doesn’t come to the rescue and is just an afterthought. Chris Sarandon does make a cameo, but suffers a bite to the jugular from CG-faced Colin Farrell (who is solo, no Billy Cole) and is spared the misery that I couldn’t get away from.

Scream 4

The horror series that reignited the genre and grossed more than $500 Million worldwide is back! From Kevin Williamson, creator of the original SCREAM trilogy, the new film sees the return of cast members Neve Campbell, Courteney Cox and David Arquette, along with a group of new stars, who can hopefully stay alive long enough to figure out the new rules to this one-of-a-kind horror franchise.

“SCREAM has been such an important part of Dimension’s history, and I look forward to continuing the franchise,” said Bob Weinstein, co-chairman The Weinstein Company. “I’ve worked with Kevin Williamson and Wes Craven on so many films at Dimension and hope to continue our successful collaboration.”

Wes Craven added, "I am delighted to accept Bob Weinstein's offer to take the reins on a whole new chapter in SCREAM history. Working with Courteney, David and Neve was a blast ten years ago and I'm sure it will be again. And I can't wait to find the talent that will bring new blood to the screen as well. Kevin is right on his game with the new script - the characters and story crackle with energy and originality - to say nothing of some of the most hair-raising scares I've seen in a script since... well, since the original SCREAM series. Let me at it."