''I Saw What You Did'' is a 1988 American

made-for-television A television film, alternatively known as a television movie, made-for-TV film/movie or TV film/movie, is a feature-length film that is produced and originally distributed by or to a television network, in contrast to theatrical films made for ...

horror film Horror is a film genre that seeks to elicit fear or disgust in its audience for entertainment purposes. Horror films often explore dark subject matter and may deal with transgressive topics or themes. Broad elements include monsters, apoca ...

directed by Fred Walton, with a screenplay by

Cynthia Cidre Cynthia Cidre (born September 10, 1957) is an American screenwriter and producer. She is best known as a showrunner and executive producer of TNT prime time soap opera ''Dallas'' (2012–14). Cidre was the creator and an executive producer for t ...

. It is a remake of the 1965 theatrical film of the same name starring

Joan Crawford Joan Crawford (born Lucille Fay LeSueur; March 23, ncertain year from 1904 to 1908was an American actress. She started her career as a dancer in traveling theatrical companies before debuting on Broadway. Crawford was signed to a motion pict ...

, and the second adaptation of ''

Out of the Dark Out of the Dark may refer to: Films * ''Out of the Dark'' (1989 film), a comedy/horror film starring Karen Witter * ''Out of the Dark'' (1995 film), a comedy/horror film by Jeffery Lau and starring Stephen Chow * ''Out in the Dark'', a 2012 Israe ...

'' by

Ursula Curtiss Ursula may refer to: * Ursula (name), feminine name and a list of people and fictional characters with the name * ''Ursula'' (album), an album by American jazz pianist Mal Waldron *Ursula (crater), a crater on Titania, a moon of Uranus *Ursula (det ...

. The film stars

Shawnee Smith Shawnee Rebecca Smith (born July 3, 1969) is an American actress and singer. She is known for her portrayal of Amanda Young in the Saw (franchise), ''Saw'' franchise (2004–2010), which established her as a "scream queen" and as an influential f ...

and

Tammy Lauren Tammy Lauren Vásquez (born November 16, 1968), known professionally as Tammy Lauren, is an American film and television actress. She starred in the 1997 horror film '' Wishmaster'', portraying Alexandra Amberson, a young woman who accidentally ...

as teenage friends Kim Fielding and Lisa Harris, respectively, and

Candace Cameron Candace Cameron Bure (; born Candace Helaine Cameron; April 6, 1976) is an American actress, producer, author and television personality. She is known for portraying D.J. Tanner on ''Full House'' and its sequel series ''Fuller House (TV series), ...

as Kim's younger sister Julie; opposite them is

Robert Carradine Robert Reed Carradine ( ; born March 24, 1954) is an American actor. A member of the Carradine family, he made his first appearances on television Western series such as ''Bonanza'' and his brother David's TV series, ''Kung Fu''. Carradine's fir ...

as the mentally disturbed Adrian Lancer, and

David Carradine David Carradine ( ; born John Arthur Carradine Jr.; December 8, 1936 – June 3, 2009) was an American actor best known for playing martial arts roles. He is perhaps best known as the star of the 1970s television series ''Kung Fu'', playi ...

as his brother Stephen. While making prank phone calls pretending to know who the other person is and what they've done, Kim and Lisa call Adrian, who has recently murdered his girlfriend, causing him to set out to find them. Casting for the film began in May 1987, with most of the principal actors—Smith, Lauren, and the Carradine brothers—being cast in June. Filming began that same month in various locations in

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

. Upon its premiere on

CBS CBS Broadcasting Inc., commonly shortened to CBS, the abbreviation of its former legal name Columbia Broadcasting System, is an American commercial broadcast television and radio network serving as the flagship property of the CBS Entertainmen ...

on May 20, 1988, the film was the second most-viewed program at the time of its airing. It received mixed reviews from critics. Nevertheless, it won a Primetime Emmy Award for Outstanding Cinematography for a Miniseries or a Special.

Plot

Lisa Harris, a popular high school student who is more interested in her boyfriend Louis than getting good grades, is invited to dinner by Kim Fielding, her intelligent classmate who never breaks any rules and has to babysit her sister Julia, since her father is out of town for the night. Feeling she has nothing in common with Kim, Lisa only agrees to come over to meet her boyfriend Louis there. Bored at awaiting his arrival, she joins Kim and Julia in making

prank call A prank call (also known as a crank call) is a telephone call intended by the caller as a practical joke played on the person answering. It is often a type of nuisance call. It can be illegal under certain circumstances. Recordings of prank ph ...

s. When it's her turn, Lisa calls Adrian Lancer, a man with mental problems who just murdered his girlfriend Robyn Griffin for declining his marriage proposal. Lisa decides to hang up and later calls people, saying "I saw what you did, and I know who you are" before hanging up. Later, Lisa and Kim discuss Kim's love life, deciding she needs an older man who appreciates her. They decide to call Adrian again, but Lisa, afraid to seduce him, repeats the line "I saw what you did, and I know who you are." Adrian, who was caught in the act when burying Robyn's body, does not realize it's a prank and is determined to get rid of her. Kim, thinking he was flirting with her, calls him again later, agreeing to meet with him. She is nervous to actually meet him, but she is convinced that she should drive by his house. Meanwhile, Adrian's visiting brother Stephen starts to suspect that Adrian did something to Robyn. Taking the car to his house, Adrian notices Kim and opens his front door. Kim, afraid of admitting who she is, pretends her car broke down and that she has to call for help. When Adrian lets Kim use his phone, she pretends to call someone but mentions she is at Adrian's, who immediately becomes suspicious as he has not told his name to her. She starts to get afraid of him and leaves, but forgets her purse by mistake when Stephen comes back. After she drives away, Stephen informs Adrian that he told Robyn about his mental problems. Back at home, Louis and his friends finally drop by Kim's house to pick up Lisa. Not wanting to ditch Kim, she decides not to go with him. Kim still feels hurt, though, for finding out Lisa only used her for meeting friends, and Lisa soon leaves. Stephen finds out that Adrian killed his girlfriend but before he can do anything about it Adrian knocks him out. Just as he prepares to burn him with gasoline, he decides to silence Kim first. After he leaves, Stephen regains consciousness and reports him to the police. On his way to Kim's house, a policeman pulls Adrian over and recognizing who he is, chases him. Adrian speeds away and runs the car off the road; it blows up, causing the police to assume he perished in the explosion; he continues on to Kim's house. Upon confronting her, she admits she prank called him. Interrupted by a call from Lisa informing Kim about hearing on the news that Adrian murdered his girlfriend, Kim tries to warn the police, but Adrian stops her, setting the house on fire. When Adrian attempts to kill Kim, the family dog charges into him, knocking him into the fire, allowing the girls to get outside with the help of a neighbor, Randy. After Kim and the police arrive, they witness Adrian running outside, burning alive and dying before he can hurt anybody else. One night, after the incident is over, Kim receives a phone call from Stephen, who says "Kim, I know who you are. You killed my brother", causing her to scream as the film ends.

Cast

as Kim Fielding *

as Lisa Harris *

as Julia Fielding *

as Adrian Lancer *

as Stephen Lancer *

Rosanna Huffman Rosanna Huffman (August 12, 1938 – May 20, 2016) was an American actress and voiceover artist. Huffman's film credits as a voice actress included ''Oliver & Company'' in 1988, ''The Fabulous Baker Boys'' in 1989, ''FernGully: The Last Rainfor ...

as Mrs. Harris *

Jo Anderson Jo Anderson (born June 29, 1958) is an American actress, best known for her roles as Diana Bennett in ''Beauty and the Beast'' and Julia Ann Mercer in ''JFK''. Career Anderson starred opposite Ron Perlman as Diana Bennett in '' Beauty and ...

as Robyn Griffin *

Bo Brundin Bo Brundin (25 April 1937 – 4 September 2022) was a Swedish actor. He has appeared in 43 films between 1970 and 2002, and appeared in hit television miniseries such as '' Rich Man, Poor Man'', ''The Rhinemann Exchange'', '' The Word'' and ''Ce ...

as Mr. Marley * Patrick O'Bryan as Louis * Dana Gladstone as Sid *

Alan Fudge Alan Fudge (February 27, 1944 – October 10, 2011) was an American actor known for his roles in four television programs, ''Man from Atlantis'', ''Eischied'', ''Paper Dolls'' and ''Bodies of Evidence'', along with a recurring role on '' 7th Hea ...

as Mark Fielding * Susan Kellermann as Gym Teacher * Robert Winley as Randy

Production

''I Saw What You Did'' was written by

, and is based on the novel ''

'' by

. Casting began in May 1987, with

Stack Pierce Robert Stack Pierce (June 15, 1933 – March 1, 2016) was a Hollywood actor who was previously a boxer and professional baseball player.Speakers InternationaStack Pierce His acting career began in the early 1970s with television roles in th ...

being announced to have a role in the film. In June,

and

were cast as the leads. In the same month, it was also announced that real-life brothers

and

also had starring roles, Robert playing the film's villain and David his brother, described as "straight-arrow". The casting of the Carradine brothers was assumed to indicate that the role portrayed by

in the original film would be diminished in the remake. Filming of the movie began the same month in various locations in

Reception

Ratings

The film was broadcast on May 20, 1988 on

from 9:00 pm to 10:30 pm. During its broadcast, the film received a household rating share of 11.5/21 according to

Nielsen Media Research Nielsen Media Research (NMR) is an American firm that measures media audiences, including television, radio, theatre, films (via the AMC Theatres MAP program), and newspapers. Headquartered in New York City, it is best known for the Nielsen rat ...

, placing second in its

time slot Broadcast programming is the practice of organizing or ordering (scheduling) of broadcast media shows, typically radio and television, in a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly or season-long schedule. Modern broadcasters use broadcast automation ...

behind '' Rambo: First Blood Part II'' which garnered a 12.4. This means that 11.5 percent of all households with a television viewed the film, while among those households watching TV during this time period, 21 percent of them were actively watching the film.

Critical response

In his book ''Movie and Video Guide 1993'', film critic

Leonard Maltin Leonard Michael Maltin (born December 18, 1950) is an American film critic and film historian, as well as an author of several mainstream books on cinema, focusing on nostalgic, celebratory narratives. He is perhaps best known for his book of fil ...

refers to the film as "bland", compared to the original by

William Castle William Castle (born William Schloss Jr.; April 24, 1914 – May 31, 1977) was an American film director, producer, screenwriter, and actor. Orphaned at 11, Castle dropped out of high school at 15 to work in the theater. He came to the attenti ...

. Similarly, in ''Joan Crawford: The Essential Biography'', biographers

Lawrence J. Quirk Lawrence J. Quirk (September 9, 1923 – October 17, 2014) was an American writer, Hollywood reporter and film historian. Career Lawrence J. Quirk was born in 1923 at Lynn, Massachusetts. He was the nephew of James R. Quirk, former edito ...

and William Schoell refer to the film as "abysmall" and consider it inferior to the original. '' The Times-Tribune'' was critical of Fred Walton's directing, stating that the movie reified his status as a "B-moviemaker", and disapproving of him recycling old themes from his previous film '' When a Stranger Calls'' (1979). In his book ''Nightmare Movies: Horror on Screen Since the 1960s'',

Kim Newman Kim James Newman (born 31 July 1959) is an English journalist, film critic and fiction writer. Recurring interests visible in his work include film history and horror fiction—both of which he attributes to seeing Tod Browning's ''Dracula (1931 ...

argues that ''I Saw What You Did'' was responsible for the eventual creation of

Dark Castle Entertainment Dark Castle Entertainment is an American film production label and a division of Silver Pictures and Warner Bros. Pictures, It was formed in 1998 by Joel Silver, Robert Zemeckis, and Gilbert Adler. Susan Downey was the Vice President of Developm ...

, a

production company A production company, production house, production studio, or a production team is a studio that creates works in the fields of performing arts, new media art, film, television, radio, comics, interactive arts, video games, websites, music, and ...

that created

remakes A remake is a film, television series, video game, song or similar form of entertainment that is based upon and retells the story of an earlier production in the same medium—e.g., a "new version of an existing film". A remake tells the sam ...

of horror films.

References

Bibliography

* * * * *

External links

* * {{Fred Walton 1988 television films 1988 films 1988 horror films American horror thriller films Remakes of American films Horror film remakes American horror television films 1980s teen horror films Prank calling CBS network films Films directed by Fred Walton (director) Films about pranks Films based on American novels Films based on thriller novels Films about telephony 1980s thriller drama films 1988 drama films 1980s American films