I Know What You Did Last Summer -- book vs. movie

I keep getting e-mail from kids who are doing book reports on I Know What You Did Last Summer and say things like "My favorite part was when Julie was trying to hide in the ice chest and found the heads of her two best friends." That's when I know they didn't read the book at all. That scene took place in the movie, not in my novel.

When a production company options a story, the author loses all control. Hollywood takes over, and the script writer can change "the property" in any way he chooses. I had no idea my book was being turned into a slasher film until I went to the theater, (buying my ticket just like everybody else), and sat down to watch it. The lights dimmed and there was a scenic view of the ocean. How could that be? My story was laid in New Mexico. Then a fisherman with an ice hook appeared on the screen. He wasn't in my book. By now I was starting to think I'd walked into the wrong theater by mistake. But, no -- up came the title -- I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER. I was bewildered. Who was that fisherman, and what was he going to do with that ice hook?

Well, I soon found out. He was going to decapitate my characters. Heads flew off, blood spurted, the audience screamed, I SCREAMED -- I was so horrified I couldn't even open my popcorn. The first thing I did when I staggered out of the theater was phone my married daughter, Kerry, and tell her, "Don't let my grandchildren see it!"

So, never, NEVER judge a book by the movie. Usually they have little, if anything, in common.

I've been terribly embarrassed by this movie, despite the fact that it was a box office hit and made my novel a best-seller.