The latest horror movie joining the trend of reboots and sequels is I Know What You Did Last Summer, and its upcoming movie is already solving a major franchise mystery left by the second movie. Back in 1997, I Know What You Did Last Summer helped revitalize the slasher genre in the 1990s and made way for a franchise that has struggled to stay relevant after its sequel was a failure as well as its direct-to-video standalone sequel and a TV series, but it might find a new audience with its upcoming legacy movie.
I Know What You Did Last Summer saw Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt), her boyfriend Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr), and their friends being stalked by a hook-wielding killer after they accidentally ran a man over one night and dumped his body in the water while he was still alive. The sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, caught up with Julie and Ray one year later, as Julie and her friends went on a vacation to The Bahamas, which turned out to be a trap. Now, a fourth movie as part of the continuity of the first two movies is in development, with Love Hewitt and Prinze Jr. in talks to reprise their respective roles, and it’s already solving a major mystery left by the second movie.
I Still Know What You Did Last Summer Had An Ambiguous Ending
As mentioned above, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer saw Julie and her friends Karla (Brandy), Tyrell (Mekhi Phifer), and Will (Matthew Settle) going on a trip to The Bahamas after Karla won a contest on the radio, but it was a setup as Will was The Fisherman/Ben Willis’ son. Ray, who was supposed to join them but was attacked by Willis on his way to Julie’s place, found a way to get to the island and helped Julie put an end to this living nightmare by killing Ben and Will. I Still Know What You Did Last Summer ended with a time jump, showing that Ray and Julie got married and bought a home, but as Ray brushed his teeth and Julie sat on the bed to wait for him, she saw Ben Willis hiding under the bed, who attacked her one more time before the screen cut to black.
I Know What You Did Last Summer had a similar ending, with Julie entering the shower in her college and seeing the words “I still know” written in the steam on the shower door before Ben Willis crashed through it. This, of course, was confirmed to have been a fake ending or a nightmare from Julie when the sequel arrived and Julie was alive, but I Still Know What You Did Last Summer opens with Julie having a nightmare in which she’s attacked by Ben at a church, so nightmares are a well-established theme in her story. Julie and Ray coming back in I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 confirms that the second movie’s ending was also a nightmare, but also that Ben’s death wasn’t going to be enough for Julie to be able to fully move on.
How Julie’s Nightmares Can Shape I Know What You Did Last Summer 4
As I Know What You Did Last Summer 4 is still in the very early stages of development, plot details are unknown, but it has been said to be similar in approach to Scream 2022, which brought back legacy characters as part of a story led by a younger cast. Unlike Scream, I Know What You Did Last Summer had the same villain in both movies, but he’s now dead and so is his son, and a lot of time has passed since that, so the upcoming movie has to find a way to introduce a new killer and bring Julie and Ray back as part of the story. Julie’s nightmares could be of help, as these could signal the presence of a new Ben Willis-like killer, though that would add a somewhat supernatural element to the franchise, which the previous movies didn’t have. Julie’s nightmares can keep an ambiguous vibe in I Know What You Did Last Summer 4, so the audience won’t know if they can trust her and what they are seeing, adding to the suspense of the story.