History YMMV / IKnowWhatYouDidLastSummer

* SpecialEffectsFailure: Minor example. But in the otherwise tense scene of Helen walking around her room with the killer hiding in the closet, it's easy to spot where Sarah Michelle Gellar's hair is clipped into the hair pieces - making it look like all the killer did is just cut Helen's [[FakeHairDrama extensions out]].

* FaceOfTheBand: Helen, given the popularity of both her actress and her character. There's no shortage of fans that [[spoiler: wish she had been the final girl with Julie dying]].

* TearJerker:
** The reveal that Helen's dreams to become an actress in New York failed, and she's back home working at her family's department store. Not to mention her abusive sister loves tormenting her about it.
** Julie's mother is also affected by her daughter growing distant from her. While it's not touched on, her first question is to ask if she's on drugs. Since Julie apparently barely even called or wrote, her mother was likely imagining all sorts of horrible things.
** After visiting Missy's house, Julie is reduced to tears at how their behavior destroyed the lives of David's family - his mother in a mental hospital and his sister left alone. [[spoiler: Thankfully that wasn't because of them, but Julie doesn't find this out for another day.]]
** And in the next scene, Helen just begs to have her best friend back after everything. And the way Julie just silently rejects her.
--> '''Helen:''' What ever happened to us? We used to be best friends.
--> '''Julie:''' We used to be a lot of things.
--> '''Helen:''' I miss you.

* WTHCastingAgency: Creator/FreddiePrinzeJr is seen as the weak link in the cast, coming across as quite unconvincing in emotional scenes and lacking chemistry with Creator/JenniferLoveHewitt.

* HesJustHiding: While it is a bit of a stretch, it can be ''just'' possible to imagine [[spoiler:Helen]] still being alive but unconscious on the boat (especially given how she only has one visible, relatively non-gory being put in a freezer might have inadvertently stopped bleeding from the hook wounds with the cold). The fact that [[spoiler:she]] isn't directly mentioned as dead later on (at least not in ''this'' movie) can help.

** [[spoiler:Barry gets killed after he starts to show some HiddenDepths and has spent the day trying to protect Helen. The fact that she - and she does definitely care about him - has to watch him die while people try to stop her from helping makes this even worse]].
** [[spoiler: Elsa is a real piece of work as well, but seeing her face to face with the killer and the look of terror as he raises the hook over something she had no part in...she even screams once she realises what's about to happen to her]].

* IdiotPlot:
** Had Barry and Ray not been idiots or properly thought things through, they would have realised that they did virtually nothing wrong in the accident. Although Barry was drunk, Ray responsibly drove the car, and the man ran out onto the road in the middle of the night. And given that he was still alive by the time they brought him to the waterfront, they would have been able to get medical attention to him quickly. Had police been able to investigate properly, [[spoiler: they would soon have discovered the man they hit was a murderer, especially once David Egan was reported missing]].
** The film's midpoint has the teens suspecting a man called Billy Blue who went to see Missy as the one who sent the letters. At this point, whoever it is has resorted to hitting Barry with a car and stashing a body in Julie's trunk, meaning it's clear the culprit is out for revenge. Rather than [[spoiler: owning up that he was Billy Blue and went to see Missy, thus eliminating one RedHerring, Ray chooses to keep this secret]].

* SugarWiki/SheReallyCanAct: While Sarah Michelle Gellar's acting has rarely been in doubt to ''Series/BuffyTheVampireSlayer'' fans, people often tout her as being good at only playing roles that evoke Buffy in some way; she herself says that she often just plays herself in a costume whenever she acts. Her work as Helen however is considered quite underrated, as she goes [[PlayingAgainstType against type]] to play a meeker GirlyGirl who's less of a snarker. Indeed, her performance largely contributes to Helen's popularity among the fandom.

** Ryan Philippe playing the BastardBoyfriend especially prone to violence and threatening the others is quite harsh to watch in light of his ex-girlfriend Elsie Hewitt suing him for assault in 2017, and another ex-girlfriend accusing him of harassment.

* RelationshipWritingFumble: Julie and Helen spend more time with each other than their respective boys. In fact, more attention is given to the loss of their friendship than either of their break-ups.

** Anne Heche plays the sister of someone who died in a drunk driving accident (although it wasn't the driver who was drinking and [[spoiler: it turns out he was murdered]]). She herself would be involved in a drunk driving accident in 2022, passing away only eleven hours later.

** Ray isn't necessarily disliked but he's considered TheGenericGuy and the least popular of the four leads; partly due to Freddie Prinze Jr's weak performance and the character's lack of help in trying to solve the case. It can also be a sore spot for fans that [[spoiler: he survives, while the more popular Helen dies]].

* FridgeBrilliance: [[spoiler: Ben Willis could easily have stalked the kids, except Julie obviously, without any suspicion. They don't know who he is, that he's still alive or that he has any connection to what they did.]]
* FridgeHorror: Right before they push the body in the river, Julie suggests checking his wallet to see who he is "just to know", and the others dismiss the idea. Had they done that, [[spoiler: Julie would have found out much sooner that David Egan was not the man they hit]].

* TheWoobie: Helen's attempts to become an actress failed, she's become distant from her best friend and boyfriend, she clearly has at least some guilt about the accident, and she's reduced to working in the family store (which her sister loves to gloat over). That's not to mention that the killer seems to love torturing her psychologically. And she sees multiple people close to her be killed by the Fisherman.

* EndingAversion: [[spoiler:Helen getting killed]] can sour the rest of the movie for people who appreciate and acknowledge everything before that point as classic genre elements. There are some FixFic stories out there and (admittedly improbable and disproven if the sequel is considered canon) HesJustHiding feelings.

** Despite Julie's stance as the responsible one of the group, she never actually ''stops'' the others from dumping the body. She just protests it, and never goes to the police herself. She has ample opportunities to stop the others. But she goes along with the concealment and keeps the pact, suggesting she might not be as moral as she paints herself.
** Helen acts as though she just failed as an actress in New York, saying "it didn't really work out". But if you think about it, she was probably traumatised by the accident, and moving to a different city so soon afterwards can't have helped. Perhaps she returned home because she needed support from her family or to simply be near someone familiar.
*** Another possibility is that Helen gave up on her acting career out of atonement and guilt, feeling that she didn't deserve it after her role in the hit and run.

* NarmCharm: As noted above, Julie screaming "what are you waiting for, huh!" at the sky is a little silly. But still perfectly reasonable, given the amount of stress the poor girl is under.

* RonTheDeathEater: Julie has plenty of layered, intuitive, and sympathetic moments, but the fact remains that she's less interesting than Helen [[spoiler: but still lives while Helen dies, when most fans would have preferred for it to be the other way around, or for both girls to survive.]] Consequently, what moments of self-righteousness and helplessness Julie does display get heavily emphasized by those who think she shouldn't have been the FinalGirl.

* HesJustHiding: While it is a bit of a stretch, it can be ''just'' possible to imagine [[spoiler:Helen]] still being alive but unconscious on the boat (especially given how being put in a freezer might have inadvertently stopped bleeding from the hook wounds with the cold). The fact that [[spoiler:she]] isn't directly mentioned as dead later on (at least not in ''this'' movie) can help.

* HesJustHiding: While it is a bit of a stretch, it can be ''just'' possible to imagine [[spoiler:Helen]] still being alive but unconcious on the boat (especially given how being put in a freezer might have inadvertently stopped bleeding from the hook wounds with the cold). The fact that [[spoiler:she]] isn't directly mentioned as dead later on (at least not in ''this'' movie) can help.

* TheScrappy: Barry, basically being an ''very'' unbearable {{Jerkass}}. He's a ''little'' better in the movie where he's not as much of a {{Hypocrite}} and [[spoiler: dies trying to protect Helen]]. But still not very likeable.

* ValuesDissonance: Helen is casually seen smoking, and no characters bat an eyelid at this. Especially given that she was established as a beauty queen - but in the 90s and 2000s, a lot of female celebrities took up smoking as a way of staying thin. These days, it would be surprising for a teenage character to be shown smoking without it being commented on.

* FightSceneFailure: When Julie, Helen, and Barry go to visit Ray, Barry throws a punch at him. It doesn’t even come close to connecting, yet Ray falls down as if it hit.