Critics slam ‘I Know What You Did Last Summer’ sequel

Maybe the sequel machine didn’t know what it was doing after all when it trotted out a new installment of “I Know What You Did Last Summer.”

The latest film in the slasher franchise centers on a new generation of young friends — among them “Outer Banks” alum Madelyn Cline and “Bodies Bodies Bodies” star Chase Sui Wonders — who, much like in the original 1997 flick of the same name, cover up a supposedly fatal accident. They’re then terrorized the following summer by a vengeful masked killer.

Freddie Prinze Jr. and Jennifer Love Hewitt, who starred in the original aside Sarah Michelle Gellar and Ryan Phillippe, return as Ray and Julie, respectively.

As of Friday afternoon, the new iteration held a 39% approval rating on Rotten Tomatoes — where the original didn’t fare much better, with 46%. On Metacritic, the sequel earned widely mixed reviews, leading to a score of 44.

The latest film, according to Rolling Stone, “barely earns the rights to a theatrical release,” proving it’s merely “the kind of I.P. cash-in that earns franchise resuscitations a bad name.”

“It’s a lifeless attempt to squeeze blood from a stone that didn’t have much to offer in the first place,” quipped Detroit News, which gave the fourth chapter a D+.

The Boston Globe concurred, giving the “unnecessary and interminable reboot of one of the worst franchises in horror” a measly 1.5-star rating.

The similar 1.5-star review from The Associated Press said that until OGs Prinze and Hewitt arrive on the screen to spice things up, audiences might just be “rooting for the killer.”

But not all of the reviews were quite so scathing.

IndieWire dubbed the “lean, mean serial killer flick” the “catch of the season,” giving it a B+, while Entertainment Weekly praised its “clever” moments and a “sensational performance “ from Cline for keeping the franchise alive.

“I Know What You Did Last Summer” is currently playing in theaters nationwide.