Famed for its slasher setting and twisted story of a killer on the loose righting wrongs, the new TV series I Know What You Did Last Summer has run its first season. Based on the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer series Mother of Movies watched the 8-episode horror TV Show offered up by streaming platforms. Considering the sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was a solid genre film too. Sadly there will be no second season. (As of January 2022, the TV show has been announced as canceled.)
The series runs parallel to the original movie but embarks on its own twisted course of mayhem and subterfuge. Casting is excellent and includes scream queens Brianne Tju (47 Meters Down) and, Madison Iseman (Annabelle Comes Home.) Brooke Bloom (The Sinner) and Bill Heck (Alienist) starred in plenty of gritty series and films.
I loved the I Know What You Did Last Summer series because it captures the same ethos as the horror film it comes from while being its own vehicle. There is plenty of drama to fuel the mystery. Having the central characters, Lennon and Alison, face their new nightmare of slasher goodness as twin sisters added extra intrigue to the proceedings. It’s normal to pay close attention to the smaller finite details to narrow down who the killer is. As grisly death scenes begin to pop up all over town you can be forgiven if no one seems to be the obvious choice.
I Know What You Did Last Summer Horror TV Series on Amazon
I’m not going to include major spoilers here, but knowing the writers for this TV series stem from shows and films like Gossip Girl, Army of the Dead, and Preacher bodes well for having a high-quality storyline. While the movie I Know What You Did Last Summer falls back on shocking, gory kills, the TV show adds in quite a complex narrative. Love triangles, cults, trysts, kinky sex scenes, and Only Fan’s backstories for our small and low-key Hawaii-derived neighborhood. Backstabbing and the circle of long-standing friendships and their secrets play an important role in keeping everything at a level of mystery that fans of shows like this know and love.
Of course, admirers of the original movies will see the correlations to the horror series. The accidental death caused by teens traveling in a car is the same. The person they run over is someone they know and in this instance, they know them well. The same can be said about one of their friends driving by in the aftermath and becoming a potential suspect. Some of the dynamics between characters are similar as well.
The group is all close-knit and wants to protect each other. But the fun part of a new horror TV series like this is that the majority of the rest of the show is not the same. In fact, I Know What You Did Last Summer, the series, reminds me a little of the Scream TV series franchise. This show is certainly not as violent but it does get creative with the murder it includes.
Best Horror Series Reboot | I Know What You Did Last Summer
Online comments from early reviews allude to the show being ‘woke.’ I don’t like this term used in a derogatory way simply because filmmakers are adding diversity to their projects. I like to see culturally appropriate representation, gay, lesbian, and bisexual story arcs, and all the other facets that come from writers understanding that a demographic can include markers to include this at the forefront of their writing. I Know What You Did Last Summer is woke and in a good way. There is even a narrative thread that follows Margot’s battle with an eating disorder.
I Know What You Did Last Summer is an excellent TV series. It’s highly binge-able and wonderfully tense. It includes enough likable characters to offset some of the more off-putting, unlikable ones. But in saying that, I didn’t find any single person highly annoying. Graphic on-screen violence is right up there with other horror shows of this ilk. But like “Slasher” and “Scream” TV series, it opts for witty and intelligent writing more akin to a horror and drama series with lots to take in. If you liked the Slasher TV show, dial that back and add a splash of Gossip Girl mentality and you have what this is.
The “I Know What You Did Last Summer” series is rated
4 suicide caves out of 5
For more slasher-themed screen time, watch In a Violent Nature and Valentine 2001 next.
