Warning: This article contains SPOILERS forI Know What You Did Last Summer(2025)
WhileI Know What You Did Last Summerfeatures a lot of nods to famous slasher movies, its most unexpected horror influence is an entirely separate, iconic blockbuster,Jaws. Broadly speaking, theI Know What You Did Last Summermoviesowe a major debt to the horror genre. Their murder mystery storylines and creative kills are borrowed from Italy’s tradition of Giallo movies.
Meanwhile, the self-aware wit ofI Know What You Did Last Summer’s legacy sequel borrows fromScreamand its many imitators, populating the plot with savvy teens who know the rules of horror movies. As such, it comes as no surprise that the legacy sequel features a lot of affectionate references to iconic horror movies.
However, the movie that had the biggest influence on 2025’sI Know What You Did Last Summeris a surprising one. Naturally, the legacy sequel includes a lot of references to slasher movies of the ‘80s and the meta-slashers of the ‘90s, including 1997’s originalI Know What You Did Last Summer, but it also repeatedly references an older hit.
I Know What You Did Last Summer Surprisingly Has A Lot In Common With Jaws
The Unexpected Homage Adds A New Layer To I Know What You Did Last Summer
I Know What You Did Last Summer’s legacy sequel storyline is surprisingly reminiscent ofJaws, from the local corruption subplot to the gruesome revelation of one kill. In bothJawsand this legacy sequel, the whole plot hinges on town officials trying to downplay a deadly threat for the sake of maintaining local tourism during the summer months.
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WhileI Know What You Did Last Summer’s endingreveals that the killer isn’t one of the local politicians trying to cover up the earlier massacre, there are still moreJawscomparisons that are hard to ignore. Visually, the scene where Teddy and his dad are found strung up echoes the smug fishermen stringing up a caught shark inJaws.
The similarities are striking, particularly when Jaws is a monster movie and this legacy sequel is a whodunit slasher.
Furthermore, the legacy sequel’s climax (at least partially) takes place on a boat, much like the ending of Steven Spielberg’s 1975 blockbuster. Admittedly, the ending of the original movie was also set on a boat, but the similarities are still striking, particularly whenJawsis a monster movie and this legacy sequel is a whodunit slasher.
From one ofI Know What You Did Last Summer’s most brutal killsmirroring the death of an innocent shark inJaws, to the local corruption subplot that significantly ups the movie’s body count, the legacy sequel borrows a lot. Thus, viewers might get more nods to Spielberg’s classicJawsthan they expected from the legacy sequelI Know What You Did Last Summer.
