Film Review: I Know Who Killed Me (2007)

The career of Lindsay Lohan represents a cautionary tale about the challenges that Hollywood child actors face when transitioning their careers into adulthood. To say that the star of family-friendly Disney comedies failed that test is an understatement. Yet, it had less to do with the film she starred in, and more with her personal life issues, mainly the effects of substance abuse and hard partying lifestyle, which had brought more media attention than any of her screen efforts could. Some of that negative publicity began to rub off on her films, most notably on the 2007 psychological thriller I Know Who Killed Me, which quickly gained a reputation as one of the worst films ever made and brought Lohan a number of Razzies, some even invented specifically for the occasion.

In the film, Lohan plays the protagonist Aubrey Fleming, a young woman from a wealthy family living in a quiet neighbourhood of New Salem. The area recently became a hunting ground for a vicious serial killer who abducts, tortures and mutilates women before murdering them. Aubrey is abducted, but is later found in a field alive, albeit with her leg and hand amputated. As she gradually recovers, she surprises anyone, her parents Daniel (played by Neil McDonough) and Julia (played by Julia Ormond), claiming that she is not Aubrey, but Dakota Moss, a young woman from the wrong side of tracks who turned to stripping to survive. An FBI psychologist believes that this story is nothing but delusion caused by trauma, but "Dakota", who in the meantime gained modern prosthetics, is determined to solve the mystery, even if it means facing the killer.

Like with many Razzie-winning films, the abysmal reputation of I Know Who Killed Me isn't completely justified. While hardly a classic, or even a good film, its badness isn't outside the normal parameters of Hollywood mediocrity. Lindsay Lohan is actually one of the aspects of the film that actually works; despite creating all kinds of delays and other issues on the set due to her off-screen antics, she delivers more than a decent performance on the screen, handling a demanding double role with apparent ease. As a true professional, she even took pole dancing lessons in order to convincingly portray a stripper; sadly, those scenes, due to a no-nudity clause in her contract, aren't as realistic as at least some of her fans would like.

I Know Who Killed Me caught attention among some critics because director Chris Sivertson extensively used two colours in many scenes - blue and red. Sivertson, by his own admission, tried to make his film into some sort of modern day giallo and tribute to the classics of the genre, explicitly mentioning Dario Argento's Suspiria as an inspiration. This, however, backfired, because, compared to those works, Sivertson's film looked terrible.

The film's biggest problem is in the messy and incoherent script by Jeff Hammond that tries to solve the mystery with an unconvincing soap opera-like twist, while at the same time, creating many serious plot holes. Many scenes look too outrageous to be taken seriously, while at the same time not funny enough to be seen as self-parody.

I Know Who Killed Me nevertheless, in certain segments, displayed just enough "trashy" quality to gain affection by viewers with a penchant for bad films. While the film spectacularly failed at the box office and more or less ended Lohan's ambitions of turning into a genuine film star, it was slowly beginning to attract some sort of cult status, which reflected first in more than decent results at home video market, and gradual reevaluation that made Sivertson's work look like an interesting failure than a complete waste of time.

RATING: 3/10 (+)

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