Title: I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006)
Runtime: 92 minutes
Director: Sylvain White
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That’s right, for better or worse, the Last Summer franchise was turned into a trilogy in 2006. Obviously most of the stars in the original two have moved on to bigger and better careers, so none of them appear in this final installment. That might also be why it is easily the weakest in the trilogy.
I’ll Always Know starts out like a bad remake, and then finishes with a frustratingly poor final act. The ties to the original two films are not really seen until late, and it almost feels like there were multiple endings to this bad boy, and they decided to go with this one at the last minute. It really could’ve been any one of the – about – five red herrings they throw the viewers way.
This installment sees another group of young teens in Colorado getting stalked by a mysterious man with a hook for a hand. This time, though, it is one year after they decide to cover-up their own friend’s accidental death after a prank gone horribly awry. There’s nothing else that the viewer needs to know, as this is about as typical slasher film as it can get through the first two acts.
The most interesting thing about this film is how beautiful the cinematography is. Frankly, it’s way to good for this movie. Stephen M. Katz uses the Utah landscape (where the film was shot) to its absolute fullest, and then finds a way to make virtually every shot interesting to watch. It’s sad to see his incredible work undone by terrible editing. Editor David Checel and director Sylvain White decided to use an obnoxious amount of quick cuts to try and raise tension, but instead it muddies the work of the actors and the cinematographers, and leaves me watching for continuity errors throughout the entire thing.
Aside from leads Brooke Nevin and Ben Easter, the acting is incredibly mediocre. These two do a nice job, though. The crazy amount of red herrings was simply too much, and what could’ve been a solid finish is tarnished by the weak script.
I’ll Always Know What You Did Last Summer is not a good way to end this franchise. It’s best to act like I Still Know was the final film, and skip this one.
Branden has been a film fan since he was young, roaming the halls of Blockbuster Video, trying to find the grossest, scariest looking VHS covers to rent and watch alone in the basement. It wasn’t until recently, though, that Branden started seeking out the classics of cinema, and began to develop his true passion for the art form. Branden approaches each film with the unique perspective of having studied the art from the inside, having both a bachelor’s and master’s degree in acting. He has been a film critic since 2010, and has previously written for Inside Pulse Movies, We Love Cult, and Diehard Gamefan. His biggest achievement as a film critic, to date, has been founding Cinefessions and turning it from a personal blog to a true film website, housing hundreds of film and television reviews, and dozens of podcasts.
