Filmtracks Recommends:
Buy it... if you appreciate even the more predictable, standard entries in the orchestral scores of the 1990's reincarnation of the slasher genre. Avoid it... if you expect John Debney's work here to exhibit an intelligence that elevates itself beyond the stereotypical noise that accompanies such films. Filmtracks Editorial Review:
I Know What You Did Last Summer: (John Debney) They thought it was over... but no, there was more money to be made! The splashy teenage horror flick I Know What You Did Last Summer breathed continued life into the concept of the 1980's urban teen thriller genre. With this franchise paralleling the Scream films (among others), young, impressionable audiences couldn't get enough of the idea that out there, somewhere, is a deranged maniac who is going to come and use some nasty tool to disembowel you. In this case, two young hunks and two young babes (all of which moving on to pop culture careers of their own) kill a man on an oceanfront rode in an automobile accident. They decide to dump him in the ocean and hope nobody discovers the event, but when they are eventually stalked and friends start dying, they begin to reconsider the choice they made. Composer John Debney was fresh off of a typical comedy routine for that period in his career, having finished Liar Liar just before tackling I Know What You Did Last Summer. As stereotypical horror scores go, this one is a whopper. Debney makes use of a frighteningly strong orchestral approach to create a highly effective and thrilling listening experience. In the film, it extends the horror felt by the lead franchise character (Julie) and her dumb, but somewhat guilty friends to a convincingly realistic level, surpassing the expectation of trashy electronic scores that existed for similarly minded films in their previous generation. The John Carpenter approach to the genre (established, of course, with his classic work for Halloween), sometimes utilizing a catchy theme but always keeping the music grounded in pop culture by using synthetic sounds, was the industry standard until the 1990's. Debney's choice of sound, however, takes the typical minor key applications of horror master Christopher Young and elevates them to a massive level. As can be expected, it is a very choppy and disturbed score, with four distinct cues of soft, suspense-building music, six cues of similarly built, foreshadowing suspense that is occasionally rocked by sudden blasts of horror, and eleven cues of consistent, fully developed chase rhythms with pounding percussion or slashing brass and strings. In general, this score is a larger version of the slash and dash approach, but that still makes it very predictable music. The most enjoyable parts of I Know What You Did Last Summer are those with performances or manipulations of "Julie's Theme," the primary identity of the film. This opening cue, as well as "Homecoming" and "Missy's Story," easily support various, easily listenable woodwind, piano, or soft string versions of this theme. It is a creepy and melancholy theme, though it also conveys romantic and determined characteristics as well, making it an identity that rivals the best of Young's harmonic creations for the genre. Two grand uses of this theme appear in "Julie Takes a Cruise" and "Final Confrontation," as the character finally confronts her attacker. The material in between these tracks is sufficient as suspense and horror music, and although some of it sounds as though it could be stock-grade material, it is the type that can succeed in giving you the creeps if you listen to it late at night. With its straight-forward presentation, you can easily follow the plot of the film as every harsh brass crash represents a slash of the hook or other uncomfortable visual. These sections are unsettling on album, naturally, and could be difficult to tolerate for those who don't hold much value for standard usage of dissonance. As a whole, Debney's score for I Know What You Did Last Summer is not as rambunctious as The Relic, nor is it as brooding in lengthy portions. It functions, but offers little to excite on album. The statements of the main theme are enjoyable, albeit brief. Perhaps taking these three or four tracks and editing them in with a few of the more consistent action cues would be the best bet here, although the result would still amount to only eight to ten minutes of really solid and distinct stand-alone music. The score is not readily available on album; John Debney released it as the seventh album in his continuing series of promotional CDs that would please the composer's fans over the course of the 1990's. For most casual film music listeners, obtaining an original copy of this album will likely not be worth its cost (which was enormous at the time of the album's initial, limited release and has remained steady ever since due to the franchise's success). John Frizzell went on to score the inferior sequel. *** Track Listings:
Total Time: 50:44
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