I Know What You Did Last Summer Walmart Exclusive SteelBook

Word to the wise, don’t piss off the Gorton’s Fisherman. Good ol’ Ben Willis’ black-slickered hooked killer first arrived on the cinematic scene in 1997. Riding on the high seas of his successful Scream screenplay, Kevin Williamson’s slasher plays closer to a tried and true whodunit. It was certainly a fresh approach to the still-defrosting Slasher sub-genre. The only problem is director Jim Gillespie’s direction and pacing left little room for surprise or red-herring plot twists about our killer's identity and when he is named, it's a big "who's that?" reveal. When a brief appearance from Anne Hesche (RIP) is your best twist, the mystery is not exactly on solid footing. As a post-Scream slasher, the film remains a great bit of fun with a solid cast of rising young talent and some solid well-executed executions. Two sequels later, this franchise isn’t quite dead in the water. Apparently, a legacy sequel of some sort is in the work with rumors swirling around the potential of a Jennifer Love Hewitt/Freddie Prinze Jr. reunion. We'll have to wait and see how much wiggle room there is to bait a new generation of horror fans into the franchise.  

For another take on this first and best film in the franchise, Check out Mr. E.’s I Know What You Did Last Summer 4K Ultra HD Blu-ray Review

Vital Disc Stats: The Blu-ray 

The Sony/Millcreek SteelBook machine continues to grind away with a new single-disc Blu-ray release of I Know What You Did Last Summer. The Stylish SteelBook features a plastic slipcover accenting the artwork for a rather lovely piece (although I think the fireworks behind the killer are a little too much design). The film is pressed on a BD-25 disc and loads to a static image main menu with a standard navigation system. 

Even with the film punched down onto a BD-25 disc and notching in a couple of gigs short of Sony’s original 2008 disc, the transfer for Millcreek’s Blu-ray isn’t terrible or awful. Watching both discs side-by-side they’re damn near identical. Bitrate might lag a tad behind the original Sony disc in places but not so much that would yield a perceptible difference. Of the recent Millcreek Sony SteelBook discs, this one comes in as the best of the pack. That said, I am bummed that the great 4K release wasn’t included. The SteelBook case is a beauty so why not go all out and include that disc too? As a Blu-ray sourced from an older master, this is still pretty good and for casual fans may serve its purpose nicely. But for the A/V enthusiast, there’s a better disc out there.

On the audio side, this disc backs away from Sony’s original Dolby TrueHD 5.1 mix and rolls with a respectable DTS-HD MA 2.0 track. While the breadth of the mix and impact might not be as strong or impressive, this 2.0 track holds its own well. The artwork did indicate this track was supposed to be a DTS-HD MA 5.1 but that’s not the case. Listening with high-quality headphones proved to be a nice experience but not a track I’d sing too many praises for overall. Especially, again with the 4K disc, there is a terrific Dolby Atmos mix out there that easily wipes the deck with the previous True HD 5.1 and now this 2.0 track.

At least one nice thing to report for this disc is a new interview with composer John Debney. At about twenty minutes, it’s a nice conversation about his starting in the industry, getting the gig, and then his approach to scoring the film. So on that level, the disc does have some genuine value. That is the only extra feature. None of the other legacy extras return from their watery grave for this release. 

• I Know How You Scored Last Summer: An Interview with John Debney (HD 19:59)

As a mid-tier late ‘90s slasher, I Know What You Did Last Summer is a good fun flick. As later entries showed there wasn’t a lot of room for a franchise, especially when Jack Black could so easily steal the attention in the first sequel. But this first film holds up almost 25 years later! Now Sony partners with Millcreek to offer up a stylish SteelBook release but frustratingly only for a stripped-down Blu-ray appearance. The A/V is alright, not the worst I’ve ever seen, but nothing to hold a candle to compared to the 4K disc that’s readily available. The appeal of this set is only for the SteelBook and ultimately For Fans Only. 

Order Your Copy of I Know What You Did Last Summer Blu-ray SteelBook