I SAW WHAT YOU DID (1988)

Robert Carradine

I SAW WHAT YOU DID (1988 telefilm). Director: Fred Walton.

Two teenage girls named Kim (Shawnee Smith) and Lisa (Tammy Lauren) who are bored and home alone play a silly phone game in which they tell the person on the other end that "I saw what you did. I know who you are." Unfortunately for them, the recipient of the call, Adrian Lancer (Robert Carradine), has just finished murdering his gal pal after she rejected his proposal. Intrigued by the music the man composes, Kim pays a call on him, inadvertently letting him know exactly where she lives. When he shows up in her house, she is unaware that the police are already looking for him. What could go wrong?

Smith and Lauren

I Saw What You Did is based on the same Ursula Curtiss novel, Out of the Dark, that was the basis for the William Castle film I Saw What You Did in 1965. Therefore the plot lines are very similar. The big difference is that Adrian does not have an amorous and aggressively romantic neighbor as in the first film, but rather a brother (played by Carradine's real-life brother, David), who wants to help him but may just be in the way to his regret. Director Fred Walton may have been hampered by this being a TV production, but the telefilm is still quite slow and tedious, with occasional minor spurts of excitement. Smith is not impressive, but at least Lauren gives a spirited performance. The best acting comes from the Carradine brothers, who give it their all, whether the flick deserves it or not. The tacked-on postscript makes little sense considering the relationship between the brothers. Little Candace Cameron Bure makes a cute little sister for Smith. Fred Walton also directed When a Stranger Calls and When a Stranger Calls Back, both of which were much, much better than this. 

Verdict: The 1965 version at least has Joan Crawford. *1/2.