“Karma is a killer” for this new group of young adults trying to reconcile after too long away from each other this summer. But for Madelyn Cline, the actress seemingly never left North Carolina. Previously starring in Netflix’s popular teen show, Outer Banks (2020-) and now at South Port, North Carolina’s I Know What You Did Last Summer (2025).
But the beauty queen of South Port is also reminiscent of the original movies pageant queen, Helen Shivers. Mirroring her character, Danica (Madelyn Cline) brings all the superficially of a pampered rich kid turned into a childish adult.
For I Know What You Did Last Summer, the set-up of characters and then build-up of suspense into the first kill really leverages the story to “catapult” the Fisherman into luring his victims. Once again, the Fisherman’s suit and hook are brought back from the dead to replicate the original villain and pay homage to the franchise’s lore. Not only are familiar faces back too but the franchise sets its “hook” into a new generation of slasher audiences for this legacy sequel.
A Slash of Original & New Characters
The iconic characters from the 1997 original with the same title, draw close inspiration for this fresh group of young characters preyed upon by the new Fisherman killer. There’s a special cameo appearance from Helen Shivers herself – Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Love Hewitt’s Julie James soon leads the pack. But it’s really Ava (Chase Sui Wonders) who is a new and updated Julie James 2.0 in an updated world.
As well as Freddie Prinze Jr’s iconic return for this decades-old franchise as Ray Bronson. The return of I Know What You Did Last Summer adds to a slew of other slasher franchise revivals of recent times including Halloween and Scream. They truly are paying homage to the slasher stories audiences know and love.
Of course, for Sarah Michelle Gellar and Freddie Prinze Jr, kids of the 2000s will know them better as Daphne and Fred from Scooby-Doo. A franchise which also happens to receive a rather slick name drop reference in this film too. But despite all of these iconic returns for director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, this is her first venture into directing horror. Let’s just say it’s a scary good one.
A ‘Hooked’ Cast: The Fisherman Sinks His Hook Into New Flesh
The casting is pretty spot on too. But it was really British-American actor, Jonah Hauer-King as Milo who shined on screen as a supporting character to the main final girl, Ava. He plays the ‘nice guy’ type of character who is just too sweet to be caught up in such tragic drama.
Meanwhile, Tyriq Weathers’ Teddy Spencer and Billy Campbell’s Grant Spencer represent the rich elite of South Port who has clout in the town being a millionaire real estate developer. So it comes as no surprise that a few strings are pulled by the Spencer’s to change the narrative for what really happened last summer.
There’s huge twists, turns, and surprises that certainly leave it up to our imagination to guess who the killer really is and the reasons behind their motive. But it’s also Madelyn Cline that leaves her mark in this film. As a new-age scream queen, she learns and grows into a character with much more potential than she ever realised.
There’s Plenty of Fish In The ‘Story’: A Legacy Sequel
Although, the protagonist becomes a little switched at times between Madelyn Cline’s Danica and Chase Sui Wonders’ Ava. So much so that it somewhat becomes a dual-protagonist story. The small town setting really added to the eerie atmosphere and drew hints and clues from the history of the original. Their fishing community is cosy, close-knit, and vibrant but there’s still the constant underlying tone in the background owing to its dark history.
Ultimately, this is where Julie James takes the reigns at the midpoint and much of her storyline is built upon nostalgia. There’s photographs, flashbacks, and dream sequences that all give special thanks back to the original story. Along with the jump scares and slasher scenes being absolutely ‘killer.’
However, the third act switched to being more about the original characters and the dynamics between Julie and Ray than the Fisherman’s new set of victims. It did try to tie together the original storyline whilst updating to a new narrative. Of course, to adhere to both the OG fans and new fans of this iconic Slasher franchise.
Slasher Homage
Overall, this Slasher is truly a homage to its ’90s counterpart. This new I Know What You Did Last Summer instalment really respects its dedicated fanbase after all of these years. Similar to Scream‘s revival, Julie James is the returned final girl that Sidney Prescott slightly moves over for in this new era of Slashers.
There’s plenty of surprises and survivors than originally expected. If you’re a big fan of classic slashers, like me then you’ll most likely love this film, especially with its several references to the original. It’s definitely worth slashing through the big screen to see if you’re not too scared of a harpoon, a hook, and a deep-sea killer on the loose.
You can read more horror reviews here.