The hook-wielding fisherman who stalked Jennifer Love Hewitt and company in two previous films is back in the straight-to-DVD sequel I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer. But instead of hunting down the Ghost Whisperer star, the killer in a slicker is after a new crop of teens living in a small Colorado town. 

It's the Fourth of July, and Amber (Brooke Nevin), Colby (David Paetkau), Roger (Seth Packard), and Zoe (Torrey DeVitto) have decided to use the now infamous urban myth of the homicidal fisherman to play a harmless prank. But it doesn't turn out to be as innocuous as they expected, for their little jest results in the accidental death of another friend.

Almost a year passes, and the memory of the terrible tragedy  they all decided to keep a secret continues to haunt them. However, there's someone who knows what they did, as Amber starts receiving ominous messages saying "I know what you did last summer." Paranoia among the friends grows as the days count down to the Fourth of July, the one-year anniversary of their friend's death -- not to mention the day the killer fisherman has chosen to run wild and wreak bloody havoc on whoever stands in his way.

If I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer came across as an average, B-grade slasher flick, I would consider it simply a basic bad movie, dumb but easily forgettable. However, this little horror outing calls attention to itself by actually trying to inject some stylish filmmaking into the bloody proceedings -- and falling flat on its face with every single attempt. Director Sylvain White couldn't leave well enough alone and lead the same group of stock horror genre victims to the slaughter. Instead, Mr. White tries adding some visual flair to the movie, incorporating slow-motion, bleak cinematography, out-of-focus shots, and almost every other trick he can think of to make the movie seem edgier and grittier than it is. 

White ends up blanketing the entire project in pretention, setting out to be the new Dario Argento but ending up with a movie that comes packed with goofy-looking murders (even the most inventive kill scene, involving a guy getting pulled through a window via a hook, looks ridiculous) and laughable, tension-free scenes of the characters fleeing for their lives. On top of that, the dialogue and character conflicts feel even more tired than usual, the performances seem even more second-rate, and the big twist in the climax is more likely to anger viewers than amaze them. 

So, was there anything to salvage out of I'll Always Know What You Did Last Summer? Aside from DeVitto looking as cute as a button, there isn't a thing worth watching in any of this movie's 91 hackneyed, played-out, painful-to-endure minutes. 

Here's my definition of true irony: watching a tired addition to a slasher series like this -- and learning that one of the movie production companies involved is called "Original" Film. No wonder I have to laugh and then hang my head in shame at what the cinema has come down to. 

MY RATING: * (out of ****)

(Released by Sony Pictures Entertainment and rated "R" for horror violence.)