Amazon has resurrected the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise (or, as much as you can call it a franchise when it only consists of a 1973 novel by Lois Duncan, a 1997 teen slasher film of the same name, and two very forgettable sequel films) and is bringing it into our present era. As a tween in ’97, I was desperate to see the horror film in theaters – but being too young, I had to wait until it came out on video (yes, video). In the interim, I made sure to read the novel the film was loosely based on. So, if there’s anyone primed to review the Amazon series, it’s me. Which is why it’s a shame I found the TV show so disappointing.
Fair warning, due to some key plot twists (which, naturally, every good horror story has), it’s really hard to dig into just what doesn’t work about the series – the premise on which the whole narrative sits is faulty and full of numerous plot holes that take it from mindless fun to a confusing mess. By episode two, I had spent far too much time questioning why characters were doing what they were doing (or why they had done what they did, as the series includes a flashback to the crime the title hints at) to really enjoy the fun of watching gorgeous and somewhat talented actors (the quality of performance varies from excellent – Madison Iseman as the show’s identical twin protagonists Lennon and Alison – to really disappointly bad – Bill Heck, as Lennon and Alison’s father, who appears to be phoning it in, as he’s usually a reliable actor) be haunted by choices that they made the previous summer.
As for the basic plot of the series, well, it’s similar to the past I Know What You Did Last Summer stories. A group of high school kids party hard, celebrating their graduation (at the home of one of the ultra-rich kids, whose parents’ pat themselves on the back for allowing the kids a “safe space” to let loose – only to have the kids doing copious amounts of drugs, hooking up, and then making horrible choices). Twins Lennon and Alison, polar opposites, have a massive fight, and a group of the teens heads out from the house party only to – you guessed it – hit someone with their car, killing them. Naturally, terrified about the implications of their actions, the group opts to hide the body in a cave off the ocean (the series is set in Hawaii), and go about their lives. A year later, during summer vacation, the teens are reunited, and someone begins threatening them that they know what they did last summer.
There’s a central twist within the formula of the series that sets it apart from its predecessors in a smart way – while also creating a host of narrative and character issues that the series likely won’t ever be able to solve sufficiently enough to justify the choice. But, I do give the writers kudos for at least trying to set the series apart from the stories that have come before it – it would have been easy to use the existing IP and just update the setting to today (especially seeing as the teen audience the show is gunning for likely hasn’t seen the original film and almost certainly hasn’t read the original novel). But for fans of the previous installments in the series (again, not sure how many fans this particular IP commands, as it was always outshone by its concurrent teen slasher competition), there’s likely not enough here to justify watching a full-on series surrounding the I Know What You Did Last Summer concept.
It’s closest relative in the modern TV landscape would be something like a Pretty Little Liars, where there’s a central mystery, a lot of rich and pretty teens who make bad choices, and the possibility that someone within their friend group is to blame for the current terrorizing. So, if you’re in the market for a series like that, this is definitely worth a look. But for your average TV viewer – or your average horror fan – there’s not enough spark to the series to keep things interesting.
I Know What You Did Last Summer premieres on Amazon on Friday, October 15. Four episodes were provided for review.
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