The brand new I Know What You Did Final Summer time takes some fairly large swings, positive to each divide and excite followers of the 1997 authentic and its 1998 follow-up, I Nonetheless Know What You Did Final Summer.

That is proper, even the less-well-received sequel, which co-starred Brandy and Mekhi Phifer, is referenced within the new movie, directed by Jennifer Kaytin Robinson and written by Robinson and Sam Lansky.

This time round, the story revolves round a brand new group of younger adults, who by chance trigger one other automobile to drive off a cliff, killing the driving force, after an evening of consuming on the 4th of July. One 12 months later, a hooked fisherman begins killing them one after the other, as survivors who confronted a really related scenario almost 30 years in the past — Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr.’s Julie James and Ray Bronson, respectively — are pulled again into the plot.

Alongside the way in which, fairly younger persons are strangled, gutted, have their throats slashed and are speared to demise, earlier than one other actor from the unique film makes a reasonably shocking cameo.

Regardless of her insistence in interviews earlier than the movie’s launch that she would not make an look, Sarah Michelle Gellar — whose character Helen Shivers was killed after an incredible chase sequence again in ’97 — pops up about 2/3rds into the movie.

Her cameo comes due to a dream sequence for Madelyn Cline’s Danica — a fellow “Croaker Queen” who suits the mildew of Helen’s character. Holding onto the fisherman’s hook and sporting her magnificence queen crown, Helen stands over the physique of Danica’s ex on the wonder pageant stage, as Danica says she acknowledges her from images throughout city. After a warning that Danica and her pals are all going to die for the cover-up the earlier 12 months, Helen begins to remodel right into a zombie, earlier than Danica wakes up.

From there, the film revs into the ultimate act.

Following the brutal murders of characters performed by Joshua Orpin, Gabbriette, Tyriq Withers, Jonah Hauer-King, Austin Nichols and Billy Campbell, Cline, Chase Sui Wonders’ Ava and Sarah Pidgeon’s Stevie take off on a ship, hoping to flee an analogous destiny. The one drawback: Stevie is the fisherman … or, at the very least, one in every of them.

Seems the man they killed the earlier 12 months was really one in every of her pals, a person named Sam, one thing she did not understand till his physique later ultimately washed ashore. He was really on his solution to see her when his automobile ran off the highway, involved Stevie — recent out of rehab — was about to relapse, a reality which solely devastated her additional when she realized the reality. Whereas she thought-about suicide, she opted for murder as an alternative — and began selecting off everybody in her former pal group.

Danica is stabbed and tossed overboard, earlier than Ray arrives and shoots Stevie, sending her into the blue too.

Case closed, proper? Nope!

Ava calls Julie as soon as again at Ray’s bar, questioning how Stevie might have acted alone … earlier than it clicks for Hewitt’s character that she did not. Stevie had assist, within the type of Julie’s personal ex-husband, Ray. As she rushes to assist Ava, Ava items it collectively too and he or she has her personal struggle with Ray.

As for his motive? One, he grew to become a paternal determine to Stevie after the woman’s father left city and, two, he was ticked at what grew to become of his residence, Southport. He felt the city did all the pieces it might to erase what occurred to him and his pals again in ’97, virtually rewriting historical past … and deliberate to border Julie for all the brand new murders. So whereas Julie turned her trauma from two killing sprees right into a profitable educating profession, Ray grew to become the killer he used to run from.

As Julie reveals up for a showdown and lets out one remaining “What are you ready for?!”, the 2 come to blows, earlier than Ava offs him together with his personal harpoon.

It is a daring option to make one of many authentic survivors the killer … and one that won’t sit nicely with plenty of followers who’ve reverence for the primary two films. It is one thing followers of one other slasher franchise, Scream, have theorized would occur to Remaining Lady Sidney Prescott, performed by Neve Campbell for years. Now that IKWYDLS beat them to it, it is most likely secure to say that may by no means occur (and doubtless by no means ought to have within the first place).

Within the remaining moments of the film, viewers see that Danica managed to scrub ashore, alive, earlier than studying that Stevie remains to be alive too. “Ought to we kill her?” asks Danica, earlier than Ava replies, “In all probability.”

We do not really see Stevie, however somebody is clearly nonetheless on the market, coming for Julie and one other acquainted face.

In a mid-credits scene, the viewers sees Brandy’s Karla watching information protection of the most recent homicide spree, as she feedback on how somebody’s all the time making an attempt to kill her former roommate. Simply then, Julie reveals up on the door — after being despatched a notice studying, “IT’S NOT OVER,” together with a photograph of the 2 of them from the ’90s, with Karla’s face X’d out.

“Who’re we f–king up this time?” asks Karla, earlier than Julie replies, “I used to be actually hoping you’d say that,” as the 2 arrange a sequel we would actually like to see.

I Know What You Did Final Summer time is in theaters now.