I'm caught in a perplexing conundrum regarding the so-called "requel" trend taking Hollywood by storm, especially in the realm of horror. On one hand, it's hard not to feel a rush of excitement seeing iconic titles like Halloween, Scream, and I Know What You Did Last Summer claw their way back onto the big screen, resurrecting beloved characters from their gory graves. However, on the flip side, if there’s no rich narrative underpinning this nostalgia, what’s the point of dusting off these relics?

Take the recent Halloween trilogy, for instance, where filmmakers boldly chose to ignore entire sequels, not to mention timelines, in a bid to humanize the infamous Michael Myers. They promised to explore the man behind the mask, only to end up tripling down on the supernatural elements that had been so potently unsettling in the original. As a dedicated horror aficionado, I find myself scratching my head in sheer bewilderment.

Then there's Scream's sequels, which sent a fan-favorite character six feet under, only to resurrect him (in possibly digital form, mind you) for the next installment. Seriously, what’s the rationale behind that? It’s as if studios are in a mad dash for nostalgia cash, and I get it—there's a thrill in revisiting our haunted pasts. Still, if you’re going to churn out sequels, for the love of all things terrifying, at least weave a solid story, lest you anger the very fanbase that holds these franchises close to their horror-loving hearts.

This brings me to the latest offering in the I Know What You Did Last Summer franchise. No, I’m not referring to the 1997 horror classic—yes, classic, even if some so-called purists bristle at the mention. Instead, I’m casting my gaze toward the new iteration, also titled I Know What You Did Last Summer. It makes sense, right? Apparently, numbering movies confuses today’s audiences. Technically, it’s the fourth entry, but let’s be real here; that 2006 direct-to-video affair—I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer—was a cinematic dumpster fire we’d prefer to forget. So, let’s just call this flick the third.