SUMMER SLAYCATION

I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER'S FISHERMAN RETURNS, AND THEY HAVE US HOOK, LINE AND SLASHER...

- ROBBIE DUNLOP

WITH ITS BREAKOUT CAST AND instantly iconic killer, I Know What You Did Last Summer secured its status as a defining slasher of the late '90s. Twenty-eight summers on, a fourth instalment is poised to terrify a new generation - though its hooks, it seems, are still embedded in the past.

Co-writer Sam Lansky has been a fan from the beginning. “Lifelong!” he tells SFX. “The first movie is like the GOAT for me. It’s so campy, and I love it so much.” He credits the 1997 film, and its 1998 sequel, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer, as pivotal in sparking his early love of cinema, particularly horror.

“So when I heard that there was a plan to reimagine it, I was incredibly, incredibly excited. It was something that I really wanted to be a part of.”

He joined I Know What You Did Last Summer - the latest in a wave of legacy sequels to repurpose the original film’s title - through director Jennifer Kaytin Robinson, creator of MTV's Sweet/Vicious. “We've knowneach other socially for about 10 years, and we've developed projects together,” says Lansky, who’s also a contributing editor at Time magazine.

He co-wrote the script alongside Robinson. “We have a wonderful, deep friendship and working relationship,” he says. “She’s a hugely, hugely talented filmmaker.”

Was there pressure in taking on one of horror’s most beloved franchises? “I wouldn't say pressure,” Lansky replies. “I would say responsibility. For so many people out there, I Know What You Did Last Summer looms quite large over an early love of movies and an early love of pop culture - and being scared and being thrilled.”

Lansky was just nine when he snuck into a cinema to watch