I Know Who Killed Me

I Know Who Killed Me

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Chris Sivertson
Produced by Frank Mancuso, Jr.
David Grace
Written by Jeff Hammond
Starring Lindsay Lohan
Julia Ormond
Neal McDonough
Brian Geraghty
Garcelle Beauvais
Music by Joel McNeely
Cinematography John R. Leonetti
Edited by Lawrence Jordan
Production
company
360 Pictures
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
Release dates
  • July 27, 2007 (2007-07-27)
Running time
 105 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $12 million
Box office $9.7 million

I Know Who Killed Me is a 2007 American psychological horror thriller directed by Chris Sivertson and starring Lindsay Lohan. It is the second movie in which Lohan plays twins, the first being 1998's The Parent Trap.

The film's story revolves around a student's twin who was abducted and tortured by a sadistic serial killer. She manages to make it out alive but after she regains consciousness in the hospital she insists that her identity is that of another woman.

The film was released on July 27, 2007. It was nominated for nine Golden Raspberry Awards and won eight, setting a new record for most awards won in a single year[1] until Jack and Jill (also a film in which the lead actor plays twins) won ten in 2012. Lohan tied with herself to win Worst Actress and also won Worst Screen Couple for both characters she portrayed.

Plot

The quiet suburb of New Salem is being terrorized by a serial killer who abducts and tortures young women, holding them captive for weeks before murdering them. Aubrey Fleming (Lindsay Lohan), a pianist and aspiring writer, appears to be his latest victim when she disappears during a night out with her friends. She is later seen bound and gagged on an operating table as her hands are exposed to dry ice. As the days tick by, the special FBI Task Force convened to track the killer begins to lose hope of finding him before it's too late.

Late one night, a driver discovers a young woman by the side of a deserted road, disheveled and critically injured. The girl is rushed to the hospital, where Aubrey’s distraught parents, Susan (Julia Ormond) and Daniel (Neal McDonough), wait by her side as she slips in and out of consciousness. When she is finally able to speak, she shocks everyone by claiming to be a down-on-her luck stripper named Dakota Moss, who has never heard of Aubrey Fleming. Convinced Aubrey is suffering from post traumatic stress disorder, her doctors, parents, and law enforcement officials can only wait for rest and therapy to restore her memory. But after returning to her parents’ suburban home, she continues to insist she is not who they think she is, despite bearing bizarre wounds identical to those of the serial killer's previous victims, which include her hand and half of her leg cut off.

An FBI psychologist believes Dakota to be a delusional persona of Aubrey, and the agents speculate the persona is to distance and protect Aubrey from the events that happened. Examining Aubrey's laptop, they discover a short story about a girl with an alter ego named Dakota. In addition, a DNA test confirms that Dakota is Aubrey.

Unaware of this, Dakota explains away her injuries as various events that happened before she arrived in town. She begins to suspect she may be Aubrey's identical twin sister, and comes to believe her injuries are sympathetic resonance with her twin's wounds, in a stigmata-like fashion. However, Susan shows Dakota a video of her pregnancy ultrasound clearly revealing there was only one fetus in her womb. Dakota then confronts Daniel and asserts Susan's child died shortly after birth, and that Daniel took Aubrey from Virginia Sue Moss (another character from Aubrey's short story), a crack addict and leaving her with Dakota to raise alone.

Confused and terrified, Dakota starts seeing visions of a menacing figure slowly butchering his captive. One of these visions take Dakota to a nearby cemetery. After investigating the grave of Aubrey's recently murdered friend, Jennifer Toland (Stacy Lynn Gabel), Dakota finds a blue ribbon from a piano competition, with a message from Jennifer's (and Aubrey's) piano teacher, Douglas Norquist (Thomas Tofel). She is followed by Daniel, and declares "I know who killed me".

The two go, without FBI backup, to Norquist's home to confront him. Daniel heads into Norquist's house alone leaving a panicking Dakota in the car alone. Attempting to calm herself, Dakota refers to herself as Aubrey. Daniel is seemingly overpowered, and it is implied killed, by Norquist. Dakota, having enters the house, attacks Norquist in self-defense and cuts his hand off before being overpowered and tied up. Confused, Norquist asks why she has returned and exclaimed he had buried her (referencing an earlier vision Dakota had). Freeing herself, Dakota kills Norquist and heads into the nearby wood finding where Norquist had buried Aubrey alive. Having freed Aubrey, seemingly verifying Dakota's version of events, Dakota lays on the ground next to her.

The movie ends without resolution, leaving it open to interpretation if Dakota and her version of events were the real narrative or if Dakota was an unreliable narrator; an aspect of Aubrey's imagination either as part of her short story for school, an alternative personality to deal with trauma she had suffered, or an imaginative attempt by her to solve who had kidnapped her and that she had never escaped in the first place (as evidenced by Dakota's random an unexplained pain and bleeding).

Cast

Production

Before filming Lohan actually took pole-dancing lessons to prepare for her role as a stripper.[2]

Filming dates took place between December 2006 and March 2007. Principal photography was mostly held in California. In the first week of production, filming was halted after Lohan was hospitalized, her representative saying "she was overheated and dehydrated."[3] Production stayed halted soon after as Lohan underwent appendix surgery.[4][5][6] Filming was soon then delayed even longer after the incision was infected and the filmmakers were waiting for a doctor's approval for Lohan to continue working.[2] This all occurred around the same time Lohan admitted herself to the Wonderland Center rehabilitation facility for a 30-day stay.[7][8] During the stay she continued shooting the film, returning to the facility at night.[9][10] Because of all the negative reputation Lohan was getting she could not even walk to her trailer without the paparazzi photographing her, sometimes they would even end up in the background of some shots of the film.[2]

In July, Lohan was arrested for driving under the influence, which prevented her from doing promotion for the film. She even had to withdraw from a scheduled appearance on The Tonight Show with Jay Leno in which she had been due to promote the film.[11][12][13][14][15]

Reception

Box office

The film premiered on July 27, 2007 to what Entertainment Weekly called "an abysmal $3.5 million."[16] The film grossed $9 million worldwide on a $12 million budget.[17]

Critical reception

The film was not screened in advance for critics.[17] Rotten Tomatoes shows a 7% approval rating based on 73 reviews with the consensus: "Distasteful and ludicrously plotted, I Know Who Killed Me is a career nadir for all involved -- particularly Lindsay Lohan in a dual role".[18] It currently holds a 16/100 rating on Metacritic, which indicates "overwhelming dislike". CinemaScore audience polling gave the film an F.[19] Richard Roeper ranked it number one on his "Worst movies of 2007" list; a few years later, Roeper named it the worst film of the 2000s. Michael Rechtshaffen of The Hollywood Reporter said "There's a fresh candidate in the running for worst movie of 2007 honours. "I Know Who Killed Me," a ridiculous thriller (minus the thrills) starring the embattled Lindsay Lohan in a dual role, has all the hallmarks necessary for qualification: A nonsensical plot that grows sillier by the second, tawdry special effects, heavy-handed symbolism that's big on electric-blue hues and mechanical performances are all culprits as far as the title's concerned." Empire Online named it number 34 on its 50 Worst Movies List, saying "Remember how great Lindsay Lohan was in Mean Girls? Or Freaky Friday, or The Parent Trap? Well, if you do, be sure never to watch this, because it will spoil those memories forever. We could forgive Lohan for wanting to make a racier, adult thriller. If only it were thrilling."[20] It was also on MRQE's 50 Worst Movies list.[21][22] However, the film did garner some positive reviews. Fangoria praises the film's imaginative use of color, saying "[T]he director and his visual team bathe the film in deep blues and reds, a welcome departure from the dirty green, sodium-lit palette of similarly themed horror fare, and the end result is simply a beautiful, eye-popping visual treat, so stylized that one can't help recalling Argento's approach to Suspiria."[23] The Radio Times also alluded to the director "recalling the style of Dario Argento" in a "twisty, perversely fascinating psycho thriller."[24] The horror-movie website BloodyDisgusting.com gave the film a glowing review and suggested that, "Lohan's continual issues with drugs/alcohol/DUI’s/rehab/on-set bitchiness" were part of a "whirlwind of media frenzy" that was unnecessary and "irrelevant to the movie". The film itself was "a more-than-pleasant surprise, well-filmed, well-acted, especially by Lohan herself, and a surprisingly intriguing and gruesome little thriller."[25] Boston Globe critic Ty Burr compared the film favorably to Brian de Palma's Sisters and Body Double, as well as the works of David Lynch.[26]

The film received nine Razzie nominations, the most of any film that year. It won eight, including two awards for Worst Actress (Lindsay Lohan playing twins), Worst Picture, Worst Director (Chris Sivertson), Worst Screenplay (Jeff Hammond), Worst Screen Couple (Lohan and Lohan), Worst Remake or Rip-off (rip-off of Hostel, Saw and The Patty Duke Show) and a special category, Worst Excuse for a Horror Film.[27] The only award it lost was Worst Supporting Actress (Julia Ormond), who lost to Eddie Murphy for his role in drag in Norbit. The movie set a record for the most Razzie wins in a single year, previously beating the tie held by Battlefield Earth and Showgirls with seven wins each, though Battlefield Earth has surpassed eight awards with wins in subsequent years.[28] The record for most wins in a single year was broken in 2012 when Jack and Jill won ten awards.

Home media

The DVD and Blu-ray versions were released on November 27, 2007. The art cover of the DVD shows Lohan, in blue, pole-dancing, with the faces of her alter egos Aubrey Fleming and Dakota Moss on either side.[29][30] Among the extras are alternate opening and ending scenes with the latter showing that the entire plot was actually written by Aubrey. However, test audiences thought this ending was too predictable, so it was cut from the film. Other extras include an extended version of Lohan's strip dance at the club and bloopers. By January, the DVD had grossed $11.99 million.[31] The Region 2 DVD was released January 28, 2008 with different cover art showing a close-up of Lohan, in red, doing her pole-dance at the strip club.[32]

Soundtrack

I Know Who Killed Me
Film score by Joel McNeely
Released July 31, 2007
Recorded 2007
Genre Film soundtrack
Length 1:35:09
Label Varèse Sarabande
Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
Allmusic[33]

The score for I Know Who Killed Me, composed by Joel McNeely, was released on July 24, 2007.[33] Despite the film's critical and commercial failure, the score itself (which had drawn comparisons to the television mystery scores by Billy Goldenberg) received almost unanimously positive reviews from film music critics, with James Southall of Movie Wave calling it an "unexpectedly classy score seems to go beyond the call of duty"[34] and Clark Douglas of Movie Music UK rating it 5 stars and calling it "one of the year's best scores, a must-have for those who are willing to take a trip into a deep, dark, and sometimes terrifying musical world".[35]

The score was subsequently nominated as Best Original Score for a Horror/Thriller Film by the International Film Music Critics Association.[36]

  1. "Prelude for a Madman"
  2. "Duality"
  3. "Fairytale Theme"
  4. "A Daughter Is Dead"
  5. "End of Innocence/Aubrey Is Gone"
  6. "A Mother's Grief"
  7. "Search for Aubrey"
  8. "The Bus Stop"
  9. "Spontaneous Bleed"
  10. "Going Home"
  11. "Jennifer's Room"
  12. "Some People Get Cut"
  13. "Investigating Stigmata"
  14. "The Mirror"
  15. "The Graveyard"
  16. "I Know Who Killed Me"
  17. "The House"
  18. "Dad Dies"
  19. "Death of Norquist"
  20. "Prelude/Reunited"
  21. "Valse Brillante, Op. 34, No. 2 in A Minor"

Unreleased tracks

The following songs appeared in the movie, but didn't appear on the soundtrack:

Awards and nominations

At the 28th Golden Raspberry Awards ceremony, the film won eight awards from nine nominations, was the big winner of the evening, receiving eight awards for a new Razzie record.

Year Ceremony Category Nominee Result
2008 28th Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Picture Won
Worst Actress (as Aubrey Fleming) Lindsay Lohan
Worst Actress (as Dakota Moss)
Worst Screen Couple
Worst Remake or Rip-off (of Hostel, Saw and The Patty Duke Show)
Worst Director Chris Sivertson
Worst Screenplay Jeff Hammond
Worst Excuse for a Horror Movie
Worst Supporting Actress Julia Ormond Nominated
2010 30th Golden Raspberry Awards Worst Actress of the Decade (also for Herbie: Fully Loaded and Just My Luck) Lindsay Lohan
Worst Picture of the Decade

References

  1. ↑ Leopold, Todd (February 23, 2008). "Lohan's 'Killed Me' sets worst-film record - CNN.com". CNN. Retrieved February 23, 2014.
  2. 1 2 3 http://m.imdb.com/title/tt0897361/trivia?ref_=m_tt_trv_trv I Know Who Killed Me Trivia
  3. ↑ "Lindsay Lohan Sent to the Hospital". People. July 26, 2006. Retrieved December 15, 2009.
  4. ↑ "Appendix Surgery for Lindsay Lohan". People. January 5, 2007. Retrieved April 17, 2010. Lindsay Lohan had surgery to remove her appendix on Thursday. "She does have appendicitis, and she is getting her appendix removed," her rep, Leslie Sloane, told PEOPLE Thursday afternoon.
  5. ↑ "Lindsay Lohan Checks Into Rehab". People. January 18, 2007. Retrieved April 17, 2010. Lohan, 20, has been filming the thriller I Know Who Killed Me, and a rep for the movie tells PEOPLE production had already been on hold due to Lohan's recent appendix surgery. It's uncertain when filming will resume.
  6. ↑ Finn 2007. "Production had already been halted at the beginning of January, when Lohan took a timeout for an appendectomy. She received the go-ahead from her doctor to go back to work early last week."
  7. ↑ "Us Exclusive: Lohan Enters Rehab". Us Weekly. January 18, 2007. Archived from the original on November 11, 2007. Retrieved April 6, 2010.
  8. ↑ "Star checks out of treatment centre". NOW. February 19, 2007. Retrieved October 4, 2014.
  9. ↑ "Lindsay Lohan Checks Into Rehab". People. January 18, 2007. Lindsay Lohan has checked into rehab, she said in a statement Wednesday. 'I have made a proactive decision to take care of my personal health,' she said. "I appreciate your well wishes and ask that you please respect my privacy at this time.'
  10. ↑ Finn 2007. "Per her rep, Lohan has been free to work and carry on with her life during the day and head back to Wonderland at night. She returned to the set of the upcoming thriller I Know Who Killed Me Jan. 26, nine days after starting treatment. 'She's on set today,' Zelnik added."
  11. ↑ Halbfinger 2007.
  12. ↑ "Lindsay Lohan Arrested For DUI, Narcotics Possession". KNBC. July 24, 2007. Archived from the original on September 27, 2007. Retrieved October 1, 2009.
  13. ↑ Winton, Richard; Blankstein, Andrew (July 25, 2007). "Just out of rehab, Lohan arrested again on DUI, drug charges". The Seattle Times. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  14. ↑ "Arrested Lohan Says 'I Am Innocent'". Associated Press via AOL News. July 25, 2007. Archived from the original on July 6, 2008. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
  15. ↑ "Lohan says 'I'm innocent' after latest arrest". The Guardian (UK: Guardian Media Group). July 25, 2007. Retrieved October 3, 2009.
  16. ↑ Smith, Sean (August 7, 2007). "I Know Who Killed Your Career". Entertainment Weekly. Retrieved April 18, 2010.
  17. 1 2 Sanford, James (July 27, 2007). "How bad is Lohan's latest? You don't want to 'Know'". Mlive.com. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  18. ↑ "I Know Who Killed Me". Rotten Tomatoes. Flixster. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
  19. ↑ http://www.thewrap.com/movies-you-loved-or-hated-films-got-or-f-cinemascores-photos-90331/12/
  20. ↑ http://www.empireonline.com/features/50-worst-movies-ever/default.asp?film=34
  21. ↑ "50 Worst Movies". Movie Review Query Engine. Retrieved 2011-03-07.
  22. ↑ http://www.mrqe.com/movie_reviews/i-know-who-killed-me-m100020853
  23. ↑ Decker, Sean (December 22, 2007). "I Know Who Killed Me". Fangoria. Archived from the original on 2007-12-22. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  24. ↑ http://web.archive.org/web/20120328034814/http://www.radiotimes.com/ListingsServlet?event=10&channelId=185&programmeId=96989755&jspLocation=/jsp/prog_details.jsp. Archived from the original on March 28, 2012. Retrieved May 25, 2009. Missing or empty |title= (help)
  25. ↑ ""I Know Who Killed Me" Movie Info, Review, Headlines, Gallery". Bloody Disgusting. 2007-07-27. Archived from the original on 2008-08-30. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
  26. ↑ "Talk Movies with Ty Burr". The Boston Globe. 2007-08-14.
  27. ↑ "Razzies© 2007 Nominees". Razzies.com. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
  28. ↑ "28th Annual Golden Raspberry (Razzie) Award "Winners"". Razzies.com. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
  29. ↑ "I Know Who Killed Me [Blu-ray]". Amazon.com. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  30. ↑ "I Know Who Killed Me [DVD]]". Amazon.com. Retrieved April 15, 2013.
  31. ↑ "I Know Who Killed Me (2007) - DVD / Home Video Rentals". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
  32. ↑ "I Know Who Killed Me". amazon.co.uk. Retrieved 2011-08-12.
  33. 1 2 Ankeny, Jason. I Know Who Killed Me at AllMusic
  34. ↑ Southall, James. "McNeely: I Know Who Killed Me". movie-wave.net. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  35. ↑ Douglas, Chris (July 27, 2007). "I Know Who Killed Me - Joel McNeely". Movie Music UK. Retrieved August 12, 2011.
  36. ↑ "2007 IFMCA Awards". filmmusiccritics.org. Retrieved 2011-08-12.

External links

Awards
Preceded by
Basic Instinct 2		 Golden Raspberry Award for Worst Picture
28th Golden Raspberry Awards 		Succeeded by
The Love Guru
This article is issued from Wikipedia - version of the Thursday, April 28, 2016. The text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution/Share Alike but additional terms may apply for the media files.