I Know What You Did Last Summer

Infobox Film
name = I Know What You Did Last Summer


imdb_id = 0119345
amg_id = 1:158841
writer = Lois Duncan
Kevin Williamson
starring = Jennifer Love Hewitt
Sarah Michelle Gellar
Ryan Phillippe
Freddie Prinze, Jr.
director = Jim Gillespie
producer = William S. Beasley
Neal H. Mortiz | distributor = Columbia Pictures
released = October 17, 1997 (USA)| runtime = 100 minutes
language = English
music = John Debney
followed_by = "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer"
awards = 1 ASCAP Film and Television Music Award,
2 Blockbuster Entertainment Awards = Best Movie
budget = $17,000,000
gross = $125,500,000

"I Know What You Did Last Summer" is a thriller/horror film released in 1997. It stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe, and Freddie Prinze, Jr. The screenplay was written by Kevin Williamson, writer of Scream, very loosely based on a popular novel by Lois Duncan of the same title. The film was followed by the sequels, "I Still Know What You Did Last Summer" and the straight-to-DVD "I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer".

Production

Kevin Williamson's screenplay was purchased before his screenplay for the movie "Scream". It was only after "Scream's" success that producers rushed Williamson's screenplay for "I Know What You Did Last Summer" into production. Scottish director Jim Gillespie was hired by producer Neal H. Moritz to make his debut feature film on the strength of his 10-minute short film "Joyride". The film was shot in Southport, North Carolina, which also served as the film's setting.

Differences between the movie and the novel

Lois Duncan, the author of the book, was barred from the set of the movie.Fact|date=March 2008 She was not aware of the drastic changes to her source material until she saw the completed film.
* The novel is set in New Mexico, while the movie is set in North Carolina.
* In the novel, the victim's name is David Gregg, not David Egan. He is a young boy on a bike, and the novel's villain is David's older brother seeking retribution. He is not a fisherman, never uses a hook, and is not a killer, but he seeks to murder only Julie, due to Ray (after the hit-and-run accident) said that he would live in a world without her.
* Instead of chopping off the Villain's hand or throwing him off of a boat, Ray hits him in the head with a flashlight (incapacitating but not killing him).
* In the novel, Barry is driving the car, and it is a hit-and-run accident, not a cover up.
* For the movie, Elsa and Helen's last names were changed from "Rivers" to "Shivers."
* In the novel, Helen works as a weather girl for the local news station; she is successful enough that she can afford to live at The Four Seasons, a swanky apartment complex. In the movie, Helen lives at home after failing to make it as an actress in New York, and she works for her father's department store.
* In the novel, Julie is a year younger than Barry and Ray, and is at the end of her senior year in high school at the beginning of the story. She has just been accepted into Smith College. In the movie, Julie graduates the same year as Barry and Ray, and is struggling with low grades at Duke University.
* In the novel, Helen jumps from the bathroom window of her condominium to escape the killer. She is only injured by the fall, whereas she is actually killed in the film, not by the fall, but by the killer a few minutes later.
* In the novel, Barry is shot in the abdomen and has to be fitted for a colostomy bag, thereby ending his sports career before it begins; ultimately, he dissolves the pact by agreeing to report what he and his friends did last summer, when it becomes only too clear that all four of their lives are being jeopardized in every sense.
* In the novel, only Julie receives the note while Helen receives a drawing, Ray receives a newspaper clipping and Barry receives a phone call. In the movie, only notes are delivered and only to Julie and Ray.
* The novel begins with Julie receiving the note. The movie begins with the night of the accident.
* In the novel Julie is described as a redhead but in the movie she is a brunette.
* The novel describes Elsa as a fat girl who is jealous of Helen because she has things so easy. In the movie Elsa is a pretty girl who is jealous of Helen's beauty.
* There is no character Max in the novel.
* In the novel there is no beauty pageant on the night of the accident, they go to a picnic spot in the mountains rather than a beach in the movie and they don't tell the story of the escaped killer.
* In the movie both Barry and Helen (along with Max) are killed. Nobody dies in the novel.
* In the novel Julie does not find a body in her car and Helen does not get her hair cut.
* In the novel Ray and Julie go to the house to see David's sister but instead Helen goes with Julie in the movie.
* In the novel David's sister's name is Megan not Missy.

In pop culture

* The film inspired the Simpsons Halloween episode Treehouse of Horror X sequence called "I Know What You Diddily-Iddily-Did".

* Spanish tv show Sé lo que hicisteis... (weekly "se lo que hicisteis la ultima semana" and monthly "se lo que hicisteis el ultimo mes" and specials "se lo que hicisteis el ultimo año") is a spoof of the spanish title of the film "se lo que hicisteis el ultimo verano"

* The movie was mentioned in Aquamarine when Hailey, one of the charactors, said to Claire "he knows what you did last summer", about an employee at the beach hut of Claire's grandparents.

* The movie is referenced in 'Horror Show,'a season 3 episode of Ghost Whisperer. In the episdode Melinda Gordon, and Professor Rick Payne are examining a list of Horror Films. Payne reads them out, and as he reaches 'I know what you did last summer,' he pauses, turns to Melinda, (played by Jennifer Love Hewitt) and raises an eyebrow before continuing.

Awards and nominations

[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119345/awards Awards & Nominations for "I Know What You Did Last Summer" at IMDb]

Reception

The film opened to $15.8 million in 2,524 theatres on October 17th, 1997. The movie stayed in the top position for three consecutive weeks. The end result was a total of $72.5 million in the US and a worldwide theatrical gross in excess of $125 million.

Critics, however, were mixed in their reviews. Critic Roger Ebert wrote in his review, "The best shot in this film is the first one. Not a good sign."

DVD & Blu-ray Disc Release

The film has been released on DVD multiple times. The only special feature was a commentary, but on newer releases it features commentary, a featurette, music video and a trailer. It was released on high definition Blu-ray Disc on July 22, 2008. It will include the same features as the newer DVDs and also BD-Live.

See also

List of characters in I Know What You Did Last Summer series

External links

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