JW - Deconstruction Of 'I Still Know What You Did Last Summer'

- Directed by Danny Cannon in 1998
- Had a budget of $24mil
- Made $40mil in the USA box office and £2.6mil in the UK box office
- Sequel to 'I Know What You Did Last Summer' - Jim Gillespie, 1997'
- To go to the imdb page for this movie, click here

- Opening Scene/Opening Credits (Ends after 4mins)
Opening credits ends after 1min 11secs and consists of white writing on a black background (a trend most horror/slasher movies seem to have), there is muffled non-diegetic sound; talking in haste, muffled screaming, a scary voice and lots of references to 'death'. These could be referencing the prequel to this film (which I am yet to see) or perhaps foreshadowing what might occur later in the film. It then changes to the title of the film which is yet again white lettering on a black background, although it appears the letters have been 'slashed' to signify a knife attack, or perhaps of a different weapon.
Swaps to an close up of the Virgin Mary and pans down to Jesus (both statues), this is anchorage to the location (a Church) and also signifying religion in the film. This may be relevant to why the characters will be being chased by a slasher; they have sinned and therefore must be punished.
The next shots are of a brunette girl (possible 'final girl' from the prequel) walking down the aisle in a church, alone and isolated. The bright white light gleaming through the window is signifying a dream (which we soon find out we are in) and also perhaps, more religious symbolism - the bright, white lights of heaven etc.
The next shots are of the conversation between 'Julie James' and the meant-to-be Priest (although it turns out to be the infamous 'hook' killer from the previous film. This sequence invokes a fake scare (because it's a dream) and also the lighting is very significant. Only the faces of the two characters are lit up, in a very dim light. The rest is just blackness, this is perhaps signifying the lonliness and isolation of the character.
Little significant editing is used in the opening sequence. The mise-en-scene is quite important, the setting of the church adds to the religious symbolism and could also invoke a slight fear factor, rreligion can be scary and judgmental (some acts of God in the first testament).
We get the idea that Julie James will yet again be the final girl, she is very similar to the final girl in Scream (see earlier deconstruction).




This is an image of Julie James portraying a typical 'final girl'.