Editorials
‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ Deleted Scenes – What We Might Be Getting from the 4K Release
With this week’s announcement of the impending 4K release of the 1997 neo-slasher classic I Know What You Did Last Summer, fans might be left scratching their heads over one particular bonus feature noted in the upcoming disc’s press release. In addition to a new scan of the film and a new Dolby Atmos audio track (as well as numerous supplements ported over from the original DVD and Blu-ray releases), Sony Pictures Home Entertainment has seen fit to include 6 new deleted scenes and an alternate ending – none of which have been seen before on previous home video editions of the film.
But what could these I Know What You Did Last Summer deleted scenes be? What might that alternate ending entail? While we here at BD don’t know yet for certain, this writer reviewed the third draft of Kevin Williamson’s screenplay, dated March 12th, 1997, to try and suss out what these sequences might be. While the script reads almost exactly how Jim Gillespie’s resulting film plays out, there were five particular scenes in the text which are certainly not in the finished film. In addition, the ending is noticeably different as well.
So to gear up for this upcoming re-release of a summer slasher favorite, let’s take a look at what these additional scenes could possibly be.
Scene 1: EXT. OLLIE’S OYSTER BAR – LATER
Just after Helen Shivers is crowned Croaker Queen, Williamson’s script initially followed up with a brief scene between Barry and Ray, hanging out by Barry’s new BMW during the town’s big Fourth of July party. The relationship between the two friends is set up deftly by Williamson, who reveals Ray’s insecurities about his working class background compared to his friends’ wealth.
Always the jerk jock, Barry takes a potshot at Ray over his obvious envy. When Ray jokes that he got a jet for graduation, Barry fires back with “And how many food stamps did that set your aunt back?”
The ensuing conversation also reveals that Barry and Ray’s girlfriend Julie will be going to Boston U together, while Ray and Helen are both heading to New York. In a rare moment of sincerity and vulnerability, Barry asks Ray to keep an eye on Helen (“Make sure she’s okay and stuff”), and promises to do the same with Julie.
I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997) – Jennifer Love Hewitt, Freddie Prinze Jr, Ryan Phillippe, Sarah Michelle Gellar
This promise is paid off in the finished film (albeit without the necessary context) when Barry shoves away a smitten Max, who was attempting to flirt with Julie at the party. Curiously, Max is described in the script as “A HULK OF A GUY … tad shady. None too bright”, which seems a far cry from the Max we got with Johnny Galecki.
Scene 2: EXT. ROAD – MINUTES LATER
While the quartet’s drive to Dawson’s Beach is reduced to a quick shot of Barry’s beamer zipping around a winding, deserted road, Williamson’s script originally took us inside the vehicle.
Barry drives drunkenly as Helen stands up through the car’s sun roof, waving her Croaker Queen wand around dramatically (“I am a Seagull…”). Helen sits back inside the car, bemoaning the fact that this group of friends is fated to split up soon. Barry suggests that they make a pact to stick together no matter what happens. This of course presages a much darker pact the four will be making later on that very night.
Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr. in I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
The scene ends with Barry recklessly racing through Reaper’s Curve, scaring the hell out of Julie and Ray – leading to a brief exchange between he and Julie which hints at the eventual antagonism between the two.
Scene 3: INT. HOSPITAL ROOM – LATER
After Barry’s first run-in with the Fisherman leaves him wounded and laid up in a hospital bed, the film feature a scene with the four leads meeting in his room to discuss the increasing threat that’s haunting each of them.
Williamson’s script includes a significant chunk of dialogue in this sequence that didn’t make the final cut, as Julie reveals that Barry nearly died in Boston when he was rushed to an infirmary to get his stomach pumped. Barry is shocked that she even knows about this (“It was all over the campus in an hour, Barry.”), and eventually tries to play it off as though it were an accident.
Ryan Phillippe as Barry in I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
“An accident,” Julie asks. “How do you accidentally swallow a pharmacy? Oh, Barry, you pretend to be so on top of it. But you’re just as fucked up as the rest of us.”
Helen seems shocked at this, revealing that she may still have feelings for her ex-boyfriend.
Scene 4: INT. HELEN’S BEDROOM
Just after Helen wakes up and realizes that her hair has been chopped up, the film cuts away once she sees the message scrawled on her bedroom mirror (“SOON”). In Williamson’s screenplay, the scene continues as Helen’s mother and her sister Elsa race into the room. Realizing that she can’t explain what’s actually happened, she tells her mom that she cut her own hair. She then breaks into tears as her mother holds her, sobbing and unable to tell her the truth. Elsa finds the whole scene amusing (“She’s lost it”), before retrieving an anti-depressant for Helen to take.
Helen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) loses her hair in I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
It’s worth noting here that, unlike the film, Helen’s hair was nearly completely shorn. “She sits up as the CAMERA WIDENS to reveal all of Helen’s hair…HAS BEEN CUT OFF,” the script reads. “…shredded even. It sticks out from all different angles, closely cropped to the scalp.”
Scene 5: EXT. SIDE STREET
During the Fourth of July Croaker Parade, Barry sits on Helen’s float, hoping to catch a glimpse of the Fisherman somewhere in the crowd. At the beginning of this sequence, Barry and Helen share a brief but tender exchange.
Sarah Michelle Gellar as Helen in I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
When Helen complains about her hair, Barry snaps at her (“We could lose the vanity. We have other concerns”). Helen fires back, asking “Why do you hate me so much?”
“Her eyes pierce his,” the script reads. “This catches him off guard. For a moment his wall comes down. His face turns soft…his eyes gentle.”
“I don’t hate you, Hellie.”
He touches her hair, jokes that he likes the whole “European thing” happening with it.
While it’s a sweet moment, the film makes the smarter choice, efficiently reducing all of this dialogue to a meaningful look shared between the two.
Alternate Ending: INT. DORM ROOM – PRESENT – LATE NIGHT
In Williamson’s original scripted ending, Julie and Ray are still together one year later. Julie is rejuvenated. “The CAMERA comes upon her face and it appears a revelation. This is the Julie of old. Her youthful face has been restored.”
She sits at her computer, messaging Ray, who is revealed to now be in New York.
After a quick jumpscare featuring her roommate Deb, Julie finds a new e-mail in her inbox from an unidentified sender. She clicks on it, and “COMPLETELY FREAKS OUT. Her face turning a ghostly white as the life is sucked from it.”
On the screen, a single sentence: “I Know What You Did Last Summer”.
A chilling, but far more subdued ending than the one we got with the film.
Julie (Jennifer Love Hewitt) in the final moment of I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
So what do you think of these I Know What You Did Last Summer deleted scenes? Should they have been left in, or is it best that they were removed?
Is it likely that these scenes are the ones that will be featured on the disc? And if so, where’s that sixth one? If not, what else might be awaiting us on that 4K set?
We’ll find out when the film hits 4K Ultra HD on September 27, 2022!
Due to a complex series of anthropological mishaps, the Wayans Brothers are a huge deal in Brazil. Around these parts, White Chicks is considered a national treasure by a lot of people, so it stands to reason that Brazilian audiences would continue to accompany the Wayans’ comedic output long after North America had stopped taking them seriously as comedic titans.
This is the only reason why I originally watched Michael Tiddes and Marlon Wayans’ 2013 horror spoof A Haunted House – appropriately known as “Paranormal Inactivity” in South America – despite having abandoned this kind of movie shortly after the excellent Scary Movie 3. However, to my complete and utter amazement, I found myself mostly enjoying this unhinged parody of Found Footage films almost as much as the iconic spoofs that spear-headed the genre during the 2000s. And with Paramount having recently announced a reboot of the Scary Movie franchise, I think this is the perfect time to revisit the divisive humor of A Haunted House and maybe figure out why this kind of film hasn’t been popular in a long time.
Before we had memes and internet personalities to make fun of movie tropes for free on the internet, parody movies had been entertaining audiences with meta-humor since the very dawn of cinema. And since the genre attracted large audiences without the need for a serious budget, it made sense for studios to encourage parodies of their own productions – which is precisely what happened with Miramax when they commissioned a parody of the Scream franchise, the original Scary Movie.
The unprecedented success of the spoof (especially overseas) led to a series of sequels, spin-offs and rip-offs that came along throughout the 2000s. While some of these were still quite funny (I have a soft spot for 2008’s Superhero Movie), they ended up flooding the market much like the Guitar Hero games that plagued video game stores during that same timeframe.
You could really confuse someone by editing this scene into Paranormal Activity.
Of course, that didn’t stop Tiddes and Marlon Wayans from wanting to make another spoof meant to lampoon a sub-genre that had been mostly overlooked by the Scary Movie series – namely the second wave of Found Footage films inspired by Paranormal Activity. Wayans actually had an easier time than usual funding the picture due to the project’s Found Footage presentation, with the format allowing for a lower budget without compromising box office appeal.
In the finished film, we’re presented with supposedly real footage recovered from the home of Malcom Johnson (Wayans). The recordings themselves depict a series of unexplainable events that begin to plague his home when Kisha Davis (Essence Atkins) decides to move in, with the couple slowly realizing that the difficulties of a shared life are no match for demonic shenanigans.
In practice, this means that viewers are subjected to a series of familiar scares subverted by wacky hijinks, with the flick featuring everything from a humorous recreation of the iconic fan-camera from Paranormal Activity 3 to bizarre dance numbers replacing Katy’s late-night trances from Oren Peli’s original movie.
Your enjoyment of these antics will obviously depend on how accepting you are of Wayans’ patented brand of crass comedy. From advanced potty humor to some exaggerated racial commentary – including a clever moment where Malcom actually attempts to move out of the titular haunted house because he’s not white enough to deal with the haunting – it’s not all that surprising that the flick wound up with a 10% rating on Rotten Tomatoes despite making a killing at the box office.
However, while this isn’t my preferred kind of humor, I think the inherent limitations of Found Footage ended up curtailing the usual excesses present in this kind of parody, with the filmmakers being forced to focus on character-based comedy and a smaller scale story. This is why I mostly appreciate the love-hate rapport between Kisha and Malcom even if it wouldn’t translate to a healthy relationship in real life.
Of course, the jokes themselves can also be pretty entertaining on their own, with cartoony gags like the ghost getting high with the protagonists (complete with smoke-filled invisible lungs) and a series of silly The Exorcist homages towards the end of the movie. The major issue here is that these legitimately funny and genre-specific jokes are often accompanied by repetitive attempts at low-brow humor that you could find in any other cheap comedy.
Not a good idea.
Not only are some of these painfully drawn out “jokes” incredibly unfunny, but they can also be remarkably offensive in some cases. There are some pretty insensitive allusions to sexual assault here, as well as a collection of secondary characters defined by negative racial stereotypes (even though I chuckled heartily when the Latina maid was revealed to have been faking her poor English the entire time).
Cinephiles often claim that increasingly sloppy writing led to audiences giving up on spoof movies, but the fact is that many of the more beloved examples of the genre contain some of the same issues as later films like A Haunted House – it’s just that we as an audience have (mostly) grown up and are now demanding more from our comedy. However, this isn’t the case everywhere, as – much like the Elves from Lord of the Rings – spoof movies never really died, they simply diminished.
A Haunted House made so much money that they immediately started working on a second one that released the following year (to even worse reviews), and the same team would later collaborate once again on yet another spoof, 50 Shades of Black. This kind of film clearly still exists and still makes a lot of money (especially here in Brazil), they just don’t have the same cultural impact that they used to in a pre-social-media-humor world.
At the end of the day, A Haunted House is no comedic masterpiece, failing to live up to the laugh-out-loud thrills of films like Scary Movie 3, but it’s also not the trainwreck that most critics made it out to be back in 2013. Comedy is extremely subjective, and while the raunchy humor behind this flick definitely isn’t for everyone, I still think that this satirical romp is mostly harmless fun that might entertain Found Footage fans that don’t take themselves too seriously.
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