April Fool's Day
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Movie Reviews of April Fool's Day
Movie Review: great movie!
Summary: 4 Stars
I love this movie, because it may seem like your typical 80's slasher flick, but its anything but! The scares are original, and twists are great.Movie Review: Childish pranks turn into a bloody battle for survival!
Summary: 3 Stars
Finding an inexpensive copy of this DVD in the Amazon Market Place, I figured 'What the heck?' and picked it up. The movie begins with a familiar theme, a group of college kids on their way to an isolated location (queue foreboding music). Apparently this group was assembled by a common friend to spend the weekend at spacious house on an island whose only access is by ferry, which only runs during the week, so they are basically stuck there until Monday. Through the use of a video camera, we are introduced to the various guests and they seem like your typical group for an 80's horror movie.After an eventful trip on the Ferry of Death, they arrive on the Island of Death, and are greeted by their Hostess of Death (sorry, I'll cut it out), Muffy St. John, played by Deborah Foreman, probably most recognizable as Julie from the 1983 movie Valley Girl. Muffy leads them to the secluded house, which is more like a mansion, and we find out that this house will be part of her inheritance when she turns 21. After a number of practical jokes, which Muffy set up, every turns in for the night, except for Skip, Muffy's cousin, who is still upset about an unpleasant event that happened on the ferry. Alone and visible drunk, he wanders down by the boathouse, ventures inside, and, as you can guess, the murderin' begins.
The next morning no one really seems to miss Skip (I know I didn't, as I thought he was kind of annoying), and a couple breaks off from the rest of the group and proceeds to go down by the boathouse to screw around. Their horizontal tango is cut short as the girl catches a glimpse of Skip's body floating under the boathouse, which, I guess, killed the mood as the couple goes running back to the house in a panic. Relating what happened, the dead body part, not the sex part, to the rest of the group, they think maybe Skip is pulling a prank, so a few of the guys go off searching for him in the woods around the house. This leads to another murder or two, which spoils the festivities altogehter.
After a few more murders, and a couple of revelations, the movie finally spills its' proverbial guts, and what appeared to be your typical slasher type movie shows itself as something else. Actually, I sort of caught on about halfway through. I'm no mental goliath, no Sherlockian powers of deduction here, but the clues were there, and I didn't have to strain too hard to get in on the 'know'. There were some pretty large plot holes, certain elements that didn't jibe, but it didn't ruin the movie. There was some suspense, but I was never really on the edge of my seat. Overall, a fun movie, but probably wouldn't hold up too well to repeated viewing. Nice wide screen presentation with good audio, but no extras.
Oh yeah, watch for the character of Rob near the end as he gets locked in a pantry closet and nearly starts crying and stuff as his girlfriend is being chased around the house and terrorized. As flimsy as that door was, I could have been out of there in like a minute with a kick or two. Heck, my old granny could have gotten out of there with relative ease. What a nitwit...or is it a witless nit? Whatever...
Movie Review: Cute slasher flick that actually has a real twist.
Summary: 3 Stars
April Fool's Day (Fred Walton, 1986)
IFC has really been pulling the obscure ones out of the closet for the last couple of months, and I can't thank them enough. I'd even forgotten I went to see this opening weekend. Twenty years later, I didn't remember a thing about it. Which tells me something.
You've got the usual setup-- group of kids goes to big, deserted island for a vacation that will include much partying, carnal interest, all that sort of thing. On the way out, however, a horrid boat accident dampens the mood somewhat. And when guests start to go missing, well... it's a mid-eighties slasher flick, what do you want?
The thing that separates April Fool's Day from the wash of other slasher flicks common at the time is that the end just ain't at all what you think it's gonna be. (And you'll kick yourself for not seeing it earlier.) All the usual slasher-flick conventions are here, but Walton (who, after being responsible for When a Stranger Calls-- the first twenty minutes of which should be used as a textbook on how to build suspense in film-- spent most of the rest of his career directing TV movies) never takes it too seriously; it never quite gets to the level of spoof seen in Pandemonium or Student Bodies, but this is a film where you can be pretty sure you're laughing with the director, not at him. Couple this with a cast of bright young things, most of whom have gone onto respectable character-actor roles (remember that most slasher-flick victims have no career whatsoever after they get offed in interesting ways), and you've got yourself a turn-your-brain-off good time. Classic cinema it's not, but it's fun, in a goofy sort of way. ** ½
Movie Review: A passable holiday horror movie
Summary: 3 Stars
Well they already covered Christmas, Halloween, and Valentine's Day, why not April Fool's Day? This is actually one of the more fun and memorable entries of the 80's slasher craze, and one of the better who-dunnit themed ones as well.
Muffy, the rich girl everyone wants to be friends with, has invited a group of college classmates out to her lake cottage for a weekend. However a weekend of fun and relaxation takes a turn for the worst when some people start disappearing and Muffy begins acting a bit odd. Once they start stumbling upon the bodies of the missing persons, the rest of the party-goers struggle to escape the cottage and the un-named culprit behind it all.
One of the best things about April Fool's Day is that it has a bit of a Friday the 13-ish vibe to it, which was a much better movie than this. Coincidentally it also stars Amy Steele of Friday the 13th, Part 2. The characters aren't the best acted or the most likable, but at the same time they aren't quite as disposable as most slasher movie characters are. There's a little gore, the music score isn't bad...Overall a decent slasher, nothing too out of the ordinary or groundbreaking. To me, the cheesy ending hurt the movie more than it helped.
Also recommended: Friday the 13th Uncut (Deluxe Edition),My Bloody Valentine.
Movie Review: April Fool's Day (1986)
Summary: 3 Stars
A suprise delight of a horror/mystery film, "April Fool's Day" is an enjoyable slasher romp that has some suspenseful scenes and a good cast. Muffy St. John (played by Deborah Foreman) invites a large group of college students to her mansion for a weekend party. Many of the students are surprised and suspicious about the invitation, for they do not like Muffy and do not understand such a selfless deed. Fun and games (which mainly consists of reading poetry and playing practical jokes) turns to terror when a killer prowls the mansion and starts knocking off the teens one by one.Director Fred Walton uses a funny, yet haunting script to create a slasher film with a twist. Nothing too special, for it stills holds very true with the genre, "April Fool's Day" will greatly satisfy fans of a film that combines humor and violence, while others purely dedicated to the slice-and-dice theme might be turned off. All in all, this is a film for those who enjoy horror sprinkled with laughs.