I Know What You Did Last Summer

I Know What You Did Last Summer
Information
Directed by	Jim Gillespie
Screenplay by	Kevin Williamson
Based on	I Know What You Did Last Summer by Lois Duncan
Produced by	Neal H. Moritz Erik Feig Stokely Chaffin
Starring	Jennifer Love Hewitt Sarah Michelle Gellar Ryan Phillippe Freddie Prinze Jr.
Production
Production companies	Mandalay Entertainment
Release
Distributed by	Columbia Pictures
Release date	October 17, 1997
Country	United States
Language	English
Chronology
Next	I Still Know What You Did Last Summer

"If you're going to bury the truth, make sure it stays buried."

―Tagline

I Know What You Did Last Summer is a 1997 American slasher film directed by Jim Gillespie and from a screenplay written by Kevin Williamson. It is the first installment in the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise, and is loosely based on the 1973 novel by Lois Duncan. Produced by Mandalay Entertainment, it stars Jennifer Love Hewitt, Sarah Michelle Gellar, Ryan Phillippe and Freddie Prinze Jr., with supporting roles played by Johnny Galecki, Bridgette Wilson, Anne Heche and Muse Watson.

I Know What You Did Last Summer was released theatrically in the United States on October 17, 1997. It received a mixed reception from critics and was a sizeable commercial hit, grossing $125.3 million worldwide on a budget of $17 million, staying in first place at the U.S. box office for three consecutive weeks.

The film was followed by a sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer (1998), in which Hewitt, Prinze Jr., and Watson reprised their roles. A straight-to-video standalone sequel, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer (2006), featured an entirely new cast. Following a television series adaptation released by Amazon Prime Video in 2021, a direct legacy sequel to the first two films is scheduled to be released by Sony Pictures on July 18, 2025.

Plot

Barry Cox's drunken car embrace at Miller's point before the collision with Ben Willis

The night of the fourth of July, Julie James (Jennifer Love Hewitt), Helen Shivers (Sarah Michelle Gellar), Barry Cox (Ryan Philippe) and Ray Bronson (Freddie Prinze Jr) go out of town to celebrate. Returning in Barry's new car, they hit and apparently kill a man. While thinking what to do Julie's friend Max Neurick (Johnny Galecki) arrives. Julie tells him everything is fine so he leaves. They dump the corpse in the ocean and agree to never discuss again what had happened.

Julie, Barry and Helen overlook the unconsious crumpled body of Ben Willis

One year later Julie is returning home from college. She has not spoken with Helen, Barry or Ray since the accident. Julie receives a letter that reads "I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER!" Julie goes to see Helen's sister Elsa Shivers (Bridgette Wilson), who tells Julie that Helen has been working there. Julie shows Helen the letter and they decide to visit Barry. After going over the incident, Barry accuses Max. The three of them go to see Max, but Barry insists on going in the factory alone. Barry persuades Max to go into the back room and attacks him, telling Max he should keep his mouth shut. Julie finds Ray working on the docks. Ray tries to make up with Julie but she runs off. Inside the factory Max is murdered by someone wielding a hook. The killer attacks Barry next, running him over with Barry's car. The killer is shown wearing a raincoat and wielding a hook on one hand.

Julie receives the letter from the The Fisherman

Julie arrives at the hospital to see Barry and finds Helen and Ray there. Julie reveals the man they hit was named David Egan. Helen and Julie track his sister, Missy Egan (Anne Heche), to her home, where she has been living since her brother's death. Missy does not recognise them and Julie is convinced she is innocent. Missy tells them she had a visit from a man claiming to be David's friend named Billy Blue.

Max is murdered by The Fisherman

At Helen's home that night, the killer breaks in, hiding in her closet. The next morning Helen wakes up with most of her hair cut to bits and "SOON" written in lipstick on her mirror. Julie gets a call from Barry, who tells her to come to Helen's. On the way, Julie hears rattling in her trunk. She opens the trunk to find Max's body. She shuts the trunk, runs to Helen's and brings her and Barry to her car, but the body has disappeared. Julie is convinced the killer took the body and they are not safe. Later they run into Ray, who tells them he got a letter. Julie decides to see Missy again while Helen and Barry watch each other's backs at the parade. Julie tries to convince Missy that David did not kill himself after Missy presents her with a suicide note written in the same style as her letter from the killer. Missy tells Julie to leave.

"What Are You Waiting For?"

At the Croaker pageant, Helen sees Barry being murdered by the killer. However, neither the killer nor the body are found afterwards. A police officer drives her home, but the killer lures the cop into an alley and kills him. Helen runs to her store where Elsa is working, but the killer finds and murders Elsa. He then chases Helen into the attic where she jumps out of the window into the dumpster. Dazed Helen looks up at the window but no one is there. Helen flees through the back alleys to the roaring parade but hears a noise and turns to look. Helen then turns around when the killer shoves her into a stack of tires and slashers her to death.

Julie learns that the killer is Ben Willis, a fisherman. He murdered David Egan after David and Ben's daughter Susan Willis were involved in a car crash near where the four teenagers hit Ben. Susie was killed in the accident and David was unharmed. Ben blamed David and killed him a year later, making it look like a suicide. On the way home, Ben was hit by the group.

Helen escapes Shivers into the alley

Julie goes to see Ray on his boat and tells him the story, but he does not believe her. Julie notices the name on his boat is "Billy Blue" and accuses him of the murders. He chases her but is knocked unconscious by a man who tells Julie to get on his boat. After she does, she learns he is Ben Willis. She is chased all over the boat while Ray regains consciousness and steals a boat to save Julie. In a room full of ice, Julie finds Helen and Barry's bodies. Ray climbs aboard and is almost killed by Ben, but is caught in the boat's net. He climbs back aboard and saves Julie. Ben gets his hand caught in a rope and Ray hoists him into the air where his hand is cut off and he falls into the ocean. On land, Ray tells Julie the reason he went to see Missy was because he was guilty and had to know who they hit. He tells her he loves her and they embrace. Ben's body is not recovered.

Julie James discovered by the Fisherman on Sweet Susie.

A year later, Julie is in her second year and is going on a trip to New York with Ray. She receives a letter resembling the one she had got from Ben, but it only contains a pool party invitation. Julie returns to the bathroom, which has filled with steam. On the shower door, "I STILL KNOW" is written. Ben jumps through the shower door, attacking her.

Cast & Characters

• Jennifer Love Hewitt as Julie James: Julie James is going through a rough time through out the film. She is dealing with an overt guilty conscience. Out of the Pact Four she still wants to go to the the authorities and report the events of the previous July. She is dealing with her in and out love for fellow Pact member Ray Bronson. She and Ray ultimately defeat the Fisherman Ben Willis.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar as Helen Shivers: Helen was the Croaker Queen of 1997 who dreamt of heading to New York City to become a serious actress. Upon winning the Croaker Queen crown she said: "It's my goal to represent the world through artistic expression, through art i shall serve my country." Helen had a two year acting contract with Guiding Light but upon moving to New York City and subsequently trying it awhile it did not work out for her. She abandoned her planned actress career and returned to Southport to work as a shop assistant in Shivers, her father's department store. Her older sister Elsa was highly jealous of Helen winning beauty contests and being so adored simply for looks instead of intelligence. She became Helen's temporary boss at Shivers. Helen was part of the pact group which hit Ben Willis with their car on July 4th, 1997. She was formerly the girlfriend of fellow pact teenager and Southport High Student Barry Cox whom had an alcohol problem.
• Ryan Phillipe as Barry Cox: Owner of the BMW that struck Ben Willis on the 4th of July in 1997 at Miller's Point. His drunken behaviour distracted Ray, who was driving, which lead to the accident with the vengeful Ben.
• Freddie Prinze Jr. as Ray Bronson: Driver of Barry's BMW which collided with Ben Willis on the 4th of July 1997. He is Julie's boyfriend and helped dispose of Ben's body. Following the events of that summer Julie dumped Ray and set off to College leaving Ray in Southport as a fisherman just like his father. Ray upon Julie returning to Southport and reuniting the group brought up the name of the man whom disposed of: a man apparently named David Egan. Upon Ray hearing of this he set off to the residence of David's sister Melissa using the fake identity of Billy Blue named after his sailboat. Ray was advanced by Missy but turned her away pretending he felt bad for taking advantage when he really didn't return her advances out of undying love for Julie. Ray was accused of being the taunting fisherman who then attacked Barry and Helen and dumped the murdered body of Max in Julie's car trunk. He possessed a fisherman slicker and only received a threatening note like Julie. He rekindled his relationship with Julie upon defeating Ben Willis aboard his ship, the Sweet Susie, named after his dead daughter.
• Muse Watson as Benjamin "Ben" Willis/the Fisherman
• Bridgette Wilson as Elsa Shivers
• Anne Heche as Melissa "Missy" Egan
• Johnny Galecki as Max Neurick
• Deborah Hart as Mrs. James
• Mary McMillan as Mrs. Cox
• Rasool Jahan as Deb
• Jonathan Quint as David Egan
• Patti D'Arbanville as Mrs. Shivers
• Stuart Greer as Officer David Caporizon

Production

Development

Written by Kevin Williamson, the screenplay for I Know What You Did Last Summer was rushed into production—having previously been disregarded—by Columbia Pictures upon the success of the Williamson-written Scream, released in 1996. The film is based on the 1973 novel by Lois Duncan, a youth-oriented suspense novel about four teenagers who are involved in a hit-and-run accident involving a young boy. Producer Erik Feig pitched the idea of a screen adaptation to Mandalay Entertainment, and subsequently appointed Williamson to retool the core elements of Duncan's novel, rendering a screenplay more akin to a 1980s slasher film. Inspired by his father, who had been a commercial fisherman, Williamson changed the setting of the novel to a small fishing village, and made the villain a hook-wielding fisherman. According to producer Stokely Chaffin, the producers sought out actors who were "beautiful, but likable". Director Gillespie recalled that, though he had been unfamiliar with the screenplay's source material, that "roughly 60 to 65%" of the young women auditioning had read the novel as children.

Casting

Jennifer Love Hewitt, who at the time was mainly known for her role on the television series Party of Five, was cast in the lead of Julie James based on her "ability to project vulnerability", which the producers, director Gillespie and writer Williamson unanimously agreed upon. Initially, Hewitt was considered for the role of Helen. Melissa Joan Hart was offered a role, but she turned it down, because she felt that the film was a rip-off of Scream. For the role of Barry, the crew had envisioned an actor with a "6'2 in quarterback" appearance, as the character had been written as an intimidating figure. Ryan Phillippe was ultimately cast in the part based on his audition, despite the fact that he was not as physically tall as the script had called for. Director Gillespie chose Freddie Prinze Jr. for the role of Ray, because he felt Prinze himself had an "everyman" quality much like the character. Sarah Michelle Gellar was the last of the lead performers to be cast in the role of Helen. Like Hewitt, Gellar was also known to American audiences at the time for her roles in television. Gillespie commented on casting Gellar: "I wanted an actress that had a warmth to her, but could still come off as being a bitch." For the supporting role of Missy, Gillespie sought an actress with significant screen presence, as the character, despite appearing in only two scenes, is central to several major plot points. Anne Heche was cast in the role, which she recalled as being two days' worth of work that required her to "be scary".

Filming

Scottish director Jim Gillespie was hired to direct the film after being suggested by writer Williamson. Star Hewitt would later state in 2008 that Gillespie was to date her "favorite director [she's] ever worked with." Principal photography began on March 31, 1997, and took place over a period of ten weeks throughout the late spring-early summer of 1997. Approximately seven weeks of the ten-week shoot took place at night, which Gillespie says was difficult for the cast and crew, and also created commotion in primary small-town locations in which they shot. Gillespie devised a color scheme with cinematographer Denis Crossan which was marked by heavy blues throughout and a notable lack of bright colors.

For the beginning of the film, coastal areas of Sonoma County, California stood in for North Carolina, where the film is set. The opening shots of the sun setting on a rugged coast were filmed at Kolmer Gulch, just north of the town of Jenner, on Highway 1. The car crash scene was also filmed on Highway 1 in the same area. The scene in which the four friends are seated around a campfire on the beach next to a wrecked boat was inspired by a painting Gillespie had seen in a reference book; to achieve the image, the art department purchased an old boat in Bodega Bay, cut it in half and placed it at the beach location. The remaining scenes were filmed primarily around the town of Southport, North Carolina. Specific sites included the Amuzu Theater, where the beauty pageant is held, the Old Yacht Basin and Southport Fish Company. Julie's house is on Short Street just north of Southport Marina. The daytime sequences shot on the marina show multiple vessels traversing the water; though real vessels, the boat traffic was orchestrated by a marine traffic coordinator to make the waterway appear lively. The Shiver's Department Store setting in the film was discovered on location in Southport by director Gillespie, who was so impressed by the location that he reworked elements of the script in order to incorporate it into the film; it eventually became the primary setting for Helen's extended chase sequence with the killer. The exterior sequences of Julie's Boston college campus were in fact shot at Duke University, while the hospital sequence was filmed at Southport's Dosher Memorial Hospital in an unused wing of the hospital.

There is a climatic scene where Jennifer Love Hewitt's character walks into the middle of the street and screams to the killer "What are you waiting for?!". According to Hewitt, that scene was conceived and directed by a child who won a contest to "come on and create a moment for the movie". In an interview with Us Weekly, she stated that she disliked the idea but still went through with it, and noted that the scene "became the biggest part of the movie" and that ultimately it was "a great idea".

The final sequence on the boat was shot on an actual water-bound vessel on the Cape Fear River, which proved difficult for the actors and crew. According to Gillespie, the filmmakers nearly lost the boat while attempting to dock it due to the volatile waters, after which they were forced to leave and shoot other footage until the following day.

Post-production

Gillespie chose to film virtually no onscreen blood as he did not want the film to be overly gratuitous in terms of violence. The scene in which Elsa has her throat slashed while standing against a glass door had originally been shot from behind without any blood appearing on the glass. However, producer Feig worried that the scene appeared "medically impossible" after which Gillespie re-shot it (post-principal photography) with a visual effect of blood spattering across the glass. Upon test screenings of the film, Gillespie and the producers decided that a death sequence needed to occur earlier in the film to establish a sense of legitimate danger for the main characters. The scene in which Max is murdered in the crab factory was subsequently filmed and implemented into the final cut to achieve this (in the original script, his character was not killed).

The original ending of the film featured a sequence in which Julie receives an email reading: "I Still Know". This ending was scrapped for the more dramatic ending featured in the final cut of the film, in which Julie finds the same message scrawled on a shower stall just before the killer comes crashing through the glass. This footage was also shot after principal photography, on a soundstage next-door to where Hewitt was filming Party of Five.

Music

The film produced two soundtracks. One of them featured the score composed by John Debney, while the other contained various rock songs found in the film.

Score:

1. A New Beginning (Julie's Theme) [1:52]
2. Barry's Underwater Adventure [2:33]
3. Homecoming [0:53]
4. Crabhouse Gaffing [1:10]
5. Someone's Watchin'/Chased [3:26]
6. Missy's Story [2:10]
7. The Houseguest [1:57]
8. A Little 'Trim'/Trunk Surprise [3:12]
9. His Name Was.../Car Trouble [3:29]
10. Hiding the Body [3:15]
11. In Pursuit of Helen [2:50]
12. The Note [1:39]
13. Gaffing Barry/Missy's Home [3:19]
14. No Escape For Helen [2:32]
15. Julie Discovers the Truth [3:21]
16. The Night Softly Whispers [1:49]
17. Fond Memories [0:43]
18. Julie Takes a Cruise [2:56]
19. Taking a Stand [1:09]
20. Final Confrontation [4:03]
21. Julie Takes a Shower [1:20]

Soundtrack:

1. "Hush" by Kula Shaker (2:55)
2. "Summer Breeze" by Type O Negative (4:57)
3. "D.U.I." by The Offspring (2:26)
4. "Kid" by Green Apple Quick Step (3:17)
5. "This Ain't the Summer of Love" by L7 (3:09)
6. "Losin' It" by Soul Asylum (3:01)
7. "Hey Bulldog" by Toad the Wet Sprocket (2:31)
8. "My Baby's Got the Strangest Ways" by Southern Culture on the Skids (3:59)
9. "Waterfall" by The Din Pedals (3:47)
10. "Clumsy" by Our Lady Peace (4:27)
11. "One Hundred Days" by Flick (3:40)
12. "Great Life" by Goatboy (3:50)
13. "2 Wicky" by Hooverphonic (4:44)
14. "Don't Mean Anything" by Adam Cohen (3:43)
15. "Proud" by Korn (3:17)

Alternate Versions

• The German version was slightly cut to avoid a 'Not under 18' rating. The uncut version has been released on video.
• The TNT premiere cuts some language, blood, and shows Ben Willis' severed hand from a farther angle.

Release

Marketing and lawsuit

In anticipation of its release, distributor Columbia Pictures began a summer marketing campaign that presented the film as being "From the creator of Scream," meaning writer Kevin Williamson. Miramax Films subsequently filed a lawsuit against Columbia, arguing the statement was misleading as it suggested that Wes Craven, the director of Scream, had been involved with the production.

The week following the film's theatrical release, a federal judge awarded Miramax an injunction requiring that Columbia remove the claim from their advertising. (Williamson himself had already requested its removal by this point after spotting it on a theater poster.) Miramax won the lawsuit against Columbia during a March 1998 hearing. In a press release, executive Bob Weinstein noted plans to "vigorously pursue" damage claims against Columbia Pictures.

Home media

The film was released on VHS and DVD by Columbia TriStar Home Video in the United States on June 16, 1998. Special features included a theatrical trailer and the filmmaker's commentary. On September 30, 2014, Mill Creek Entertainment re-released the film on Blu-ray as a budget disc, featuring the film alone with no bonus materials. On September 27, 2022, Sony Pictures Home Entertainment re-released the film for the first time on Ultra HD Blu-ray for its 25th anniversary.

Reception

Box office

I Know What You Did Last Summer opened theatrically in North America on October 17, 1997. The film was made on a $17 million budget, and grossed $15,818,645 in 2,524 theaters in its opening weekend in the United States and Canada, ranking number one; it remained in the number one position for an additional two weekends. By the end of its theatrical run in December 1997, it had grossed $72,586,134 in the U.S. and Canada and $53 million in other countries for a worldwide total of $126 million. According to data compiled by Box Office Mojo, I Know What You Did Last Summer is the seventh highest-grossing slasher film as of 2021.

Critical response

On review aggregator Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 47% based on 79 reviews, with an average rating of 5.4 out of 10. The site's critics consensus reads: "A by-the-numbers slasher that arrived a decade too late, the mostly tedious I Know What You Did Last Summer will likely only hook diehard fans of the genre." On Metacritic, it has a weighted average score of 52 out of 100 based on reviews from 17 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale.

Awards and Nominations

Year	Ceremony	Category	Result
1997	ASCAP Award	Top Box Office Films, John Debney	Won
1998	Saturn Award	Best Horror Film	Nominated
1998	Blockbuster Entertainment Award	Favorite Female Newcomer, Favorite Actress, Jennifer Love Hewitt	Won
1998		Favorite Supporting Actress – Horror, Sarah Michelle Gellar	Won
1998		Favorite Actor – Horror, Freddie Prinze Jr.	Nominated
1998		Favorite Actress – Horror, Jennifer Love Hewitt	Nominated
1998		Favorite Supporting Actor, Ryan Phillippe	Nominated
1998	IHG Award	Best Movie	Nominated
1998	MTV Movie Awards	Best Breakthrough Performance, Sarah Michelle Gellar	Nominated
1998	Young Artist Award	Best Performance in a Feature Film – Leading Young Actress, Jennifer Love Hewitt	Nominated

Sequels

Main article: I Know What You Did Last Summer (franchise)

A sequel titled I Still Know What You Did Last Summer was released in 1998, with a direct-to-video film, I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer, released in 2006. In the first sequel, Love Hewitt, Prinze Jr. and Watson reprised their roles. The third film has very little relation to the first two, other than the premise, the villain and the producers. It featured new characters and a different setting.

In February 2023, a legacy sequel was announced to be in development with Jennifer Love Hewitt and Freddie Prinze Jr. in negotiations to reprise their respective roles. Jennifer Kaytin Robinson was selected to direct the film from a script written by Leah McKendrick, based on an idea by Robinson and McKendrick. Neal H. Moritz would serve as producer. The plot is said to be similar in approach to Scream (2022), in which characters from the original film are included in a story featuring a younger cast. The film is scheduled to be released on July 18, 2025.

Remakes

In September 2014, Sony Pictures revealed plans to remake the film, with Mike Flanagan and Jeff Howard writing the script. The film was a high priority and was initially set for release in 2016. Further, the new direction and scope of the film would need an estimated budget of $15–20 million. Flanagan confirmed that this new iteration of the franchise would not include elements of the 1973 novel (the antagonist being a central character) nor of the 1997 feature film (fisherman Ben Willis and the four protagonists Julie James, Helen Shivers, Barry Cox and Ray Bronson). The project was ultimately never made and was subsequently canceled.

Television adaptation

Main article: I Know What You Did Last Summer (TV Series)

A television series adaptation of the novel was released in October 2021, with Neal H. Moritz and James Wan producing and Shay Hatten writing the pilot. Amazon ordered a straight-to-series order in October 2020. It was released on October 15, 2021.

Trivia

• The group goes to "Dawson's Beach". This is a reference to Dawson's Creek (1998), also written by Kevin Williamson.
• Max's Murder was added in re-shoots. It was decided that the killer, who remained mostly in shadows for the first half of the film, worked on a suspense level; but never provided a tangible threat to the main characters. The murder was then filmed to show the audience that, indeed, this character was a deadly threat to the four leads.
• The original trailer for the movie described Kevin Williamson and the movie as "from the creator of Scream (1996). Miramax, owners of the "Scream" franchise successfully sued Columbia Pictures for "false advertising" and the phrase was removed.
• Sarah Michelle Gellar auditioned for the role of Julie.
• Jennifer Love Hewitt auditioned for the role of Helen.
• The film originally had a different ending, where Julie James is chatting with Ray online, she gets the pool party invitation, and then another person starts a chat with her typing in, "I still know." Then the killer jumps out on her. This ending was used as a teaser trailer for the sequel.
• Neither the original nor the alternative ending of the film can be considered canonical (part of the true storyline), as both suggest that Julie died, yet she is still alive in the second film.
• Lois Duncan has stated openly that she hates the movie, because the filmmakers turned her book into a slasher film. She especially detested it in the wake of her 18-year-old daughter's murder in 1989.
• Kevin Williamson wrote this script before Scream (1996), but was unable to sell it. Following the big screen success of his next screenplay, Scream (1996), Columbia Pictures immediately bought I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)
• The set relocated from North Carolina to California for scene where the 4 teenagers run over the man. Producer Erik Feig said that North Carolina was the flattest state and they needed a more 'curvy' and 'dangerous looking' road.
• The film was shot in fifty days.
• After the first Croaker County Beauty Pageant, the band playing at the beach party is the alternative/surf rock band 'Southern Culture On The Skids'.
• Despite being part of the main cast and appearing in many key scenes together, the characters Helen (Sarah Michelle Gellar) and Ray (Freddie Prinze Jr.) only speak to each other twice (Ray - "How do you know that?" Helen - "Missy, said there was a friend named Billy Blue)"and (Ray - "No its not its true" Helen "Yeah I dont think so Ray"). In real life, the two later fall in love and marry.
• The second film scripted by Kevin Williamson that stars a female lead from Party of Five (1994). Jennifer Love Hewitt here. And Neve Campbell in Scream (1996).
• "Hush" from the soundtrack (played fully over the end credits) is heard briefly on the radio of Barry's car.
• Melissa Joan Hart turned down the role of Julie James.
• Anne Heche lost a brother to suicide, just as her character, Missy Egan, did in the film.
• Both Sarah Michelle Gellar and Jennifer Love Hewitt would go on to great fame in the horror genre. Gellar as Buffy the Vampire Slayer and Hewitt as The Ghost Whisperer. Buffy creator Joss Whedon designed the character as an antidote to films where the sexy blonde girl is always killed by the monster. In I Know What You Did Last Summer, Gellar plays just that part.

Body Count

• Sarah Willis - killed by David (accidentally, before the movie)
• David Franklin Egan - stabbed; killed by Ben
• Max Neutrick - stabbed; killed by Ben
• Barry Cox - stabbed; killed by Ben
• Officer David Caporizo - stabbed; killed by Ben
• Elsa Shivers - slashed; killed by Ben
• Helen Shivers - stabbed; killed by Ben

Goofs

• In the final battle, Ben is swinging the fisherman's hook at Julie but hitting nothing but air. Yet the hook still makes the overused Hollywood "metal on metal" sound despite it not coming in contract with ANYTHING.
• When the body is found in the trunk, its throat is clearly intact, contradicting its gruesome demise.
• The mirror when Helen is smashing it.
• Near end of movie, in the final confrontation, Freddy Prinze, Jr. (Ray Bronson) is knocked off the fishing trawler. He manages to snag the net, climb back on board the boat. He is completely dry.
• When Julie and Helen are looking at David Egan's obituary, it mentions that he was 28 when he died. But when they go to see David's sister, she says that he was Class of '92 at the high school. So that would make him 23 when he graduated.
• When Helen is running from the killer, when she approaches the front door of the store, the cameraman is reflected in the glass.
• Although the action takes place on the east coast of the USA in North Carolina, at the very beginning of the movie we see the sun setting over the ocean.
• As the body hit the automobile, the kids were driving on mountainous terrain along the coast. There are no mountains anywhere in the North Carolina shore area.
• Helen's father's store is called Shiver's. This is grammatically incorrect, as it should either be called Shivers as it is the name of the family, or Shivers' or Shivers's to indicate that it is owned by the family. It being called Shiver's implies that the family's last name is Shiver.
• When Helen goes to sleep the bow on her lamp shade is facing the end of the bed but when she wakes up it is facing the wall behind her.
• When Julie is in the room filled with ice, it jiggles when she moves it (it was made of gelatin).
• Barry punches different people more than once with his right arm, though it is supposed to be hurt and in a cast, and doesn't express any pain.
• When Helen and Julie are researching David Egan on her computer, the browser shows the URL as "//http:cnty457.lib.org". It should of course start with //http.
• David Egan's obituary says he died on Wednesday July 5th 1997, but in 1997, July 5th was a Saturday.