I Know What You Did Last Summer

During the annual July 4th festivities in a North Carolina fishing town, Helen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) wins a local beauty contest and departs with her boyfriend Barry (Ryan Philippe) and pals Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) and Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.). On their way back home, Ray hits a fisherman with her car. The teens panic, drop the body in the water, and abandon the scene. Many months later when Julie returns from college, she gets an anonymous note: "I know what you did last summer." The four teens suspect the note was written by their classmate Max (Johnny Galecki), but then Max is murdered — and the terror begins. (In the original Lois Duncan novel, the teens hit a small boy on a bicycle instead of a fisherman.) The screenplay is by Kevin Williamson, whose credits include the 1996 box-office hit Scream. — Bhob Stewart

Screenwriter Kevin Williamson's follow-up to his blockbuster hit Scream (1996) is a more traditional, less jokey teen slasher film than its predecessor. The central plot contrivance is an amusing twist on the cult classic I Saw What You Did (1965), and the attractive young cast pulls it off without a hitch. Viewers who remember the early 1980s slasher glut, however, may feel as if they've been down this road a few too many times, as this entry — despite its better-than-average acting and production values — offers nothing especially new or different to the formula. Genre devotees and fans of the cast members should still find it enjoyable, but those expecting another Scream might be disappointed. — Robert Firsching