April Fool's Day (1986)

Terrible acting, screenplay and direction.

Highly Overrated But Still Good

Very interesting film. Was caught on the premise when seeing the trailer but unsure as to what the outcome would be for the showing. As it turns out, it was a very good film.

The film never slows down or bores, plunging from one harrowing sequence to the next.

I enjoyed most of this movie. It was silly and ticked most of the boxes of a good slasher. However, every reveal falls flat in my opinion, and the ending can only be described as painful.

The first thing I noticed when I switched this film on was Amy Steel from Friday the 13th Part II, so that immediately added a bit of a nostalgia factor the film right from the get-go. Of course, this being an 80's slasher flick, that wasn't the only thing nostalgic about the picture. April Fool's Day was quite a pleasant surprise as I expected it to be more on the cheesy side and less on the thrills- don't get me wrong, this movie definitely had some cheese but it was also pretty well written and directed and there was a fair amount of tension. The whole setting was very 'Agatha Christie', a name that's slyly dropped early on in the film, and reminded me of Bava's Four Dolls for an August Moon (a giallo film based on Christie Novel Ten Little Indians a.k.a. And Then There Were None), so that added even more of a nostalgic vibe to the film. Although this film was very nicely carried out, the plot was very transparent, and every twist was telegraphed a mile ahead... other than the ending which was just silly. For me, this really wasn't a problem as I wasn't looking for a dense mystery. In fact, this probably only added to the to the expectations and sense of familiarity that one generally wants when turning on an 80's slash- n-stalk.Just as a little side not so you can get an extra feel for the film, here's one of my favourite quotes.Harvey: I know you think I'm a hick, but I'd like to change your mind about that if you give me a chance.Hal: Why?Harvey: Because I would really like to plow your field.

The slasher boom of the early 1980's had more or less completely curdled by this point, but nobody had come up with anything to replace the long played-out template which had very little influence beyond initiating the replacement of tired stories about sexually neurotic psycho killers with tired stories about sexually neurotic psycho killer monsters. The film contains relatively little graphic gore, no actual nudity, and some pretty good actors, thereby going against the cookie-cutter recipe and, instead, concentrating on the development of likable characters, eerie atmosphere, and some genuinely effective spook-show scares. The plot is quite simple. A group of eight college friends (each more annoying than the next) gather together at an island mansion belonging to heiress Muffy St. John to celebrate their final year of school. They soon discover that each has a hidden secret from their past which is revealed, and soon after, they turn up dead. Yet, are they really dead? Or is it just part of some very real and cruel April Fool's jokes? The hostess, Muffy, is the only one who apparently knows what's going on. But then again, is it really her doing the killing? Fun from beginning to end.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. There is no argument that "April Fool's Day" was riding in on the wave of 80's slasher films, but that is where the similarity to other genre movies ends. You really have to think at this one. They really want to you ask yourself "is this all a joke?" and "could anyone have actually survived that?" I have to give some credit to the music for setting up some great tension. It adds to the feel without taking you out of the moment.Overall rating: 7 out of 10.

This 1986 horror film stars Deborah Foreman, Amy Steel, Ken Olandt, Deborah Goodrich, Griffin O'Neal, Jay Baker, Clayton Rohner, Leah Pinsent and Thomas F. Wilson. This tells about a group of college friends spending April Fool's weekend together. They begin playing jokes on each other until someone decides to play a deadly game of their own when each of them disappear one by one. Foreman (Real Genius) plays host & friend, Muffy, Steel (Friday the 13th 2) plays Kit, Olandt (Summer School) plays Rob, Goodrich (Just One of the Guys) plays Nikki, O'Neal (son of Ryan) plays Muffy's brother, Skip, Rohner (Just One of the Guys) plays Chaz, Baker plays Harvey, Pinsent plays Nan and Wilson (Back to the Future) plays Arch. This is a good 80's flick featuring a decent cast and good, eerie score by Charles Bernstein. I recommend this if you're into horror/slasher flicks.