I Know What You Did Last Summer (1997)

 "A toast. To us, to our last summer of immature, adolescent decadence.

I hadn't seen this film since uni, until now, and that's twenty years and change ago. Having seen it today, though... it's quite good. And much maligned, I think, by people unfairly expecting it to be something that it's not. Because, well... this is a script by Kevin Williamson and, while there's certainly wit in the script, it's a straight-up slasher and certainly no Scream.

But we need to appreciate how this came about- after Scream was a massive hit, an older script from Williamson, adapting a novel, was finally acted upon and we have this film to show for it. And, well, it works. There's lots of suspense and scares, which matters. There isn't a huge amount of gore, but why is that a problem? Horror films should be suspenseful, above all, and a focus on the gore of the violence itself will always detract from that. The film's restraint and, yes, the relatively limited number of killings, is no bad thing.

Then there are the four main central members of the cast. Sarah Michelle Gellar stands out, but all four of them are excellent. We're kept very much engaged throughout in terms of both suspense and character.

Perhaps the resolution isn't as good as it could be, as we don't learn about Egan's dead girlfriend until a fair way in the film, about her father until later, but it works. I'm a little confused as to why the killer should murder extra victims who didn't try to kill him last summer, admittedly, but we can handwave that. I tend to suspect this film is unfairly dismissed for not being a postmodern riff on the genre, something it isn't trying to be. Overall, this is a decent if workmanlike slasher movie.

Scooby-Doo (2002)

"I'm so over this damsel in distress nonsense."

Let's admit it: a live action Scooby-Doo film was never on my peoples' wish list, especially not one starring Sarah Michelle Gellar, an actress who has loads of natural talent but, sadly, is rather prone to phoning in her performance, as she has done ever since halfway through Buffy. This is no exception but, annoyingly, she has just enough natural talent to pull it off. Just. Still, we have the consolation that this film is rather excellent, mainly due to a splendid script from James Gunn, now famous for helming Guardians of the Galaxy.

This film is great because it's funny, and it's funny because it nods and winks,in a delightfully metatextual way, at all those drunken/stoned conversations about Scooby-Doo that we all had as students. You know, the ones about how Shaggy was a massive stoner who always has the munchies. I mean, he's so stoned he thinks his dog can talk. And that's the only reason why this film gives us a little snippet of Pass the Dutchie. 

There is also, of course, the spectacle of seeing cartoonish running in live action an thus incredibly expensive. And the deconstruction of the gang's personalities- Fred is vain, Daphne superficial and Velma the only clever one and, bizarrely, not gay. And Rowan Atkinson. Rowan Atkinson is always a good thing.  

Best of all, though, is the twist with Scrappy. This is a witty and enjoyable bit of metatextual fun and a cut above most similar films.