April Fool's Day

Plot synopsis:
In the cellar of her house, Muffy St. John (Deborah Forman) picks up a jack-in-the-box, and thinks back to her 10th birthday party where she received it as a birthday gift (a tiny alien which jumped out and scared her, making the other party guests laugh).Meanwhile, a group of young college students wait at a dock to be picked up by a ferry and transported to Muffy's island cottage for the weekend. They include Kit (Amy Steel), and her boyfriend Rob (Ken Olandt), Nikki (Deborah Goodrich) and her boyfriend Chaz (Clayton Rohner), and Arch (Thomas F. Wilson) whom are best friends. The rest of the group includes Nan (Leah King Pinsent), Hal (Jay Baker), and Muffy's cousin Skip (Griffin ONeal). On the ferry, Skip and Arch play a game of 'stretch' (throwing a switchblade and both trying to stretch for it), until an irritated Arch throws the blade at Skip and hits him in the stomach. Skip falls off into the water in which the ferry crewman Buck (Mike Nomad) and Rob jump in only to see Skip with a trick knife-belt. Skip and Arch laugh at their April Fool's Day joke which happens to be that very day. Buck stays in the water and tries to hook the ferry as it comes into the dock, and as the group argues, Buck is hit by the ferry. He jumps out of the water with a chopped face. Buck is taken away by the ferryman (Lloyd Berry) in a motorboat screaming "they did it!" A local policeman, Constable Porter (Tom Heaton), is angry at the kids for letting this prank get out of control and tells them to stay put on the island as he accompanies Buck to the local hospital.Muffy takes the group up to her house where she shows them the living and dining room areas and shows them their quarters to spend the night. That evening, the group sits around the dinner table as Skip, still upset over what happened to Buck, stays outside and drinks. Muffy, with a smirk on her face, invites everyone for dinner as Nan sits on a whoopee cushion, and Arch leans back in a breakaway chair. They talk over what they will do after graduation in which Muffy tells them about her inheriting her father's house and talks about turning it into a country inn. They drink to a toast as Muffy's smirk gives away another gag she sets up as everyone spills champagne on themselves from the trick drippy glasses as Muffy laughs.They retire to their rooms for the night as they encounter more gags left behind my Muffy, which includes a trick cigar that blows up when Hal lights it; spurting water faucets, and trick lights that don't turn off. Hal finds snipped newspaper articles about people dying in a fog and a fire, which he apparently was involved in some years back. Arch finds a drug paraphernalia in his bathroom cabinet which he is disturbed by over his past as a junkie. Nikki finds a studded collar with a chain in which her reaction gives away her interest in S&M and bondage. Nan comes out of the shower when she hears a baby cry, and she finds a tape recorder playing in her drawer which makes her upset. Outside, a drunken Skip enters the boathouse near the dock when he is grabbed by someone.The next day, Kit and Rob find Muffy in the kitchen cooking breakfast with her hair astray and acting strange. The group enjoys hanging around the back yard, while Nan tries to chase down Muffy. Rob is still upset about his own discovery in his and Kit's bedroom where his counselor informed her that he was not serious enough to get into medical school. He and Kit go to the boathouse to kiss when Kit sees Skip float by and the two of them run to tell the others. Chaz finds Skip's broken and bloody trick switchblade, but no trace of Skip's body. Arch suggests that it is Buck who has returned to seek his revenge for his being maimed the previous day.Meanwhile, Nan catches up to Muffy and angrily tells her about finding the cassette-tape joke, and Muffy claims not to know what Nan is talking about. Nan tells Muffy that she had an abortion some years back and kept it quiet between them.In the woods, as Arch is running through to the house, he gets caught in a trap when he is hung upside down by a snare, while a snake is on the ground trying to bite him. An unseen person appears, kicks away the snake, and stands over Arch who screams. On the same path a few minutes later, no one can find Arch. Rob tries to call the police on the house phone, but is unable to get through.When the water faucets in the house turn off, Hal and Nikki go to the nearby well. Hal accidentally drops the bucket into the well and does not want to go down to retrieve it. Nikki climbs down into the well when a rung breaks, making her fall into the water. As Hal climbs down to help her, Nikki finds the severed head of Arch, as well as Nan's dead body in the well.That evening back at the house, Constable Porter calls and says that he is at the hospital with Buck and tells them that he is coming to the island with an important thing to tell them and he will send a flare up at the dock when he arrives. Aware that there is a killer out there, the group goes around locking all the doors and windows of the house. In the study, Kit finds an old photograph of twins. Nikki says that Muffy has been acting strange all day and looks different from a pasty white face to her Catholic Girls School clothing as well as mentions the clodhopper "nurse shoes" that she also is wearing. Hal mentions that he heard Muffy and Nan arguing earlier about something in Nan's room, referencing an abortion that Nan was rumored to have gotten. They talk about the things found in their rooms when Muffy enters and says that she is going to bed. Chaz and Nikki go upstairs to their room as Rob heads up to the attic to keep an eye out for the constable. Kit goes off with Rob while Hal stays to watch the rooms downstairs.As Nikki packs her bags to leave, Chaz tries to calm her down by putting on a leather mask. Annoyed, Nikki pushes him to the bed and leaves the room. Nikki returns to see Chaz lying still on her bed. He does not respond to her and when she moves his hands away from his crotch, she sees blood. She is approached by someone standing behind the door.In the attic, Rob tells Kit that no one is to be left alone with Muffy for he does not trust her. They find a collection of dolls, apparently representing dead people, and a red flare goes off in the distance outside. They run out of the attic and call to everyone, but cannot find the others. The two enter Nikki and Chaz room only to find a bloody room, but no bodies. Kit runs into Muffy's room and finds Hal dead after being tied up and hung.In a panic, Kit and Rob run outside and to the dock where they pull in a motorboat, but no one is on board. They find a letter on the boat addressed to Constable Potter which talks of "Miss St. John", a dangerous mental patient who escaped several days ago from a clinic. Kit says it can't be Muffy for she was with her at Vassar all that time. They try to start up the boat to leave, but the keys are gone having been taken by Constable Potter who has gone off. Rob says that there are a spare set of keys to the boat in the house and the two of them return to find the house totally dark with all the doors and windows closed, and the shades pulled down. They enter through a cellar window where they see a bloody trail and find Muffy's clothes from the night before in the basement fireplace. Height measurements are found on one of the basement walls for 'Muffy' and 'Buffy'. Kit recalling the photo of the twins, says that it must be Muffy's twin sister, Buffy, who has been doing all the killing.Kit and Rob see eyes looking at them from behind a painting and, after pulling it away, discover Muffy's severed head. They run up to the kitchen to find the keys for the boat when Muffy/Buffy appears at the back door armed with a large breaking knife, trying to get inside. Buffy forces the door open and pushes Rob into a closet and locks it and goes after Kit, who runs into the dining room and tries to reason with the pasty-faced, wild-eyed Buffy who does not respond and terrorizes her with the breaking knife. Kit pushes Buffy back when she tries to stab her and runs into the adjacent living room to find all of the dead people, alive and well, sitting around the room. Buffy walks in and.... pushes the fake blade of the breaking knife into her hand as she everyone else looks up at Kit and yell... APRIL FOOLS!!!!!!Buck appears in the closet with Rob, pulls off his prosthetic injury, and slaps it on Rob's face and unlocks the closet door for him. Rob runs out and into the living room where everyone laughs some more. Kit and Rob are relived, but not amused at this giant practical joke on them. Muffy thanks all of them for participating and helping out. She tells everyone about her idea about making the house into a country inn, but having a special type of "whodunit weekend" where guests are to figure out a simulated mystery and she wanted a "rehearsal". Once a person was "killed" they were let in on the joke, with Rob and Kit being the last ones left and the winners who figured it all out. Muffy explains that her twin sibling is actually her cousin Skip, Constable Potter is actually her wealthy uncle, and Buck is a make-up artist who constructed all the severed heads and fake bodies. Even the ferryman was in on the whole thing as well. Muffy apologies for some of the more personal jokes, and the group drinks from dozens of bottles of champagne that Muffy brings out and they all have a happy good time.Later that night, a very inebriated Muffy returns to her bedroom for the night when she finds a package on her bed and upon opening it up finds a jack-in-the-box. As Muffy warily beings turning it to open, the jack jumps out when suddenly Nan jumps out behind the bed, grabs Muffy by the hair, gorily slices her throat, and Muffy screams. Nan smiles and shows Muffy the fake knife with the fake blood spraying from it, as a final back-at-you joke. "April Fools" says Nan to Muffy, as the jack-in-the-box winks at the viewers.

Tags: cult, murder

Review:
While the cast may be youthful, the characters and story set this film way above "teen" slasher or horror flicks.
It's a good thing I saw this film in a theatre when it was first released in 1986 -- because the VHS cover has something on it that would have kept me AWAY if I had not seen the film already: "It's just what you'd expect from the producer who brought you Friday the 13th -- Parts Two, Three, Four, and Five."  You just can't put April Fool's Day in the same category as those films!
April Fool's Day had lesser known stars for that time (Deborah Foreman, Amy Steel, Clayton Rohner, Griffin O'Neal) and that worked as an advantage.
So if you are up for some slasher fun, want to see some nice looking girls(Deborah Foreman and Deborah Goodrich), and are intrigued by a creative ending - April Fool's Day is for you!.
One of the more fondly remembered horror entries of the '80's is this unique gem that's much more clever and amusing than the average slasher film.Young woman invites her beloved college friends to her island home for a weekend of fun, but everything goes wrong.
A freak accident occurs, mysterious things appear in the guests rooms, our hostess starts acting strangely, and bodies are starting to pile up!With its clever combination of Agatha Christie-type mystery, teen horror film conventions, and quirky humor - it's not hard to understand why this film has developed a bit of a fan base.
APRIL FOOL'S DAY has just recently gotten a sort of cult status among horror film fans.
Casual horror viewers or those who are diehard gore hounds haven't been kind to this film, but it is quite possibly the most intelligent, best-acted, and coolest of all the 80s slasher films.A group of college friends venture to the island home of one of their classmates for the weekend and wind up being killed by an unknown assailant, believed to be the victim of a cruel practical joke played by one of the students.
I can't think of a bad thing to say about this movie except that some viewers will feel cheated by the two surprise endings, like I did at first.
But appreciate the fact that they are totally unexpected and work better than any other ending thought up for the film.APRIL FOOL'S DAY is strongly recommended to serious horror film fans and even casual viewers.
April Fool's Day has a very likable cast, a good plot and wonderful setting what is doesn't have is a lot of suspense and scares.It looks like a lot of time was put into this film to make it a classy horror picture.
Perhaps this was due to the print used on the DVD, maybe there's a better version...I don't know.The ending itself may put off hardcore horror fans but I found it quite amusing and it helped to make the rest of the movie gel together and answers some questions/concerns I had about about the movies story.Overall April Fool's Day is quite enjoyable.
Only Amy Steel, from FRIDAY THE 13TH PART 2, is worth mentioning.When the surprise ending happens (being familiar with horror films and I can figure out what will happen according to what they show and don't show, the surprise ending wasn't really surprising to me), I felt like I wasted my time on this gimmicky flick.A letdown.
Just look at the DVD-art.April Fool's Day is of course another 80's Slasher, but with something different, which of course I mean the ending, which everyone will already probably know by now, when I first saw it I thought what a cheat I was really disappointed, but now I think differently, the ending is something different and quite original even by todays standards, and was copied in the awful 2005 horror flick "Cry Wolf".The gore factor is also a letdown as all deaths are off-screen but this movie was still entertaining.
My fave character has to be, well I can't remember her name in this movie but "Amy Steel" a brilliant addition to the cast, a great heroine I loved her in "Friday The 13th part 2" and I also love her in this, it's such a shame that she never became a big star, but she will always be remembered as a terrific actress in my heart, she was always my fave lead heroine of all of the Jason movies, and yet again she plays the female lead in this which I was very happy with and again she was great.And finally the big reveal the ending which I thought was a major letdown, but at least they did something fun with it that no one expected.All in all "April Fool's Day" is a mediocre but entertaining slasher flick, starring the ever likable and wonderful Amy Steel..
I love horror movies - in particular slashers - that are holiday or calender related, so April the 1st is the perfect day/evening for sitting down and enjoying this one.
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.
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..
Once there – surprise surprise – they start getting picked off one by one.Now, unlike other slasher films at the time, the killer is never seen (until the 'big reveal' at the end, obviously), making it like an early 'Scream' film and part 'who-done-it' as well as simple teen-chopping fun.If you're into your early slasher films then this one is worth a watch.
Without going into anything that may spoil it, it's actually quite clever here and there with a few things that you might not see coming.Naturally, it has all the flaws of the genre, such as the nice girl surviving longest and anyone who has s*x dies first, but if you're generally a fan of slasher films you've long since learned to forgive such traits and should be able to enjoy it for what it is – good, reasonably gory silly fun..
The movie's boring until the ending (the only good thing about the film).
The movie looks like its trying to come off as some big mystery, when in reality its not interesting enough to keep the audience involved in the film.
April Fools Day is one of the reasons why slasher movies got such a bad name..
Gotcha!"I'm almost to the point where I can guess which minute during the running time his dark fate will fall.Enter April Fool's Day, an entire movie about one of my greatest horror-movie pet peeves.
Those positive remarks aside, April Fool's Day doesn't really have anything else going for it.The rest of the characters belong to the uninspired slasher film stereotypes.
A group of college buddies convene at a friends isolated abode and get killed off one by oneGreat fun, Fred Walton, Frank Mancuso Jr. and Danilo Bach tap cheekily into the 1980s obsession with slasher films and produce a self aware horror movie of mighty dark comedy proportions.
This is a pretty funny and unpredictable horror flick about a group of college students staying at a friend's remote island mansion during the April Fool's Day weekend and finding themselves falling victim to vicious crimes.The movie starts off very slow with the college kids just cracking each other up with cheesy, unfunny and crude sexual jokes while waiting for their ferry to taxi.
"APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!!" So there's no slasher in the film, the whole thing is a joke.
'April Fool's Day' had great atmosphere to it, which made the film feel scary and gritty.
Fred Walton's "April Fool's Day" is a bit of an anomaly in the slasher genre: there's very little violence.
The movie does have a few of the things that we expect in a slasher flick (namely a sex scene), but I literally did not see the ending coming.
Released in 1986 this film stands out of a whole bunch of slashers from the decade; not because it's one of the bests, not because it has the level of gore expected by a fan of the genre (in fact it doesn't have real gore), AFD shines because of it's original and unexpected ending.
However, there are a few things that make a horror film successful, and April Fool's Day misses the boat on most of them.
The ending of this film is, in fact, quite good, and it makes April Fool's Day stand head and shoulders above the rest of its 80s slasher peers.
The film is also quite funny thanks to some great dialogue (and some excellent physical comedy by way of Biff from Back to the Future fame), which helps create a genre-bending, horror/comedy experience for the viewer.Overall, April Fool's Day is an interesting little anomaly in the world of 80s horror, and not just because it leaves out the gratuitous gore and nudity.
The film is full of gore and suspence and I thought that was excellent but I felt that the ending was a bit rubbish.It just seemed like a cheap way to end a film.It was like Oh we've ran over time so lets give it one last twist.........I do so hate that.Anyway if you have'nt seen this get it out with a few friends (preferably female) and enjoy what is for the most part a great film.
the movie wants to create an horror climate but at the same time wants to be a comedy - it's a shame you only realize that at the end, i could have much more fun watching it.all the characters in the movie are quite shallow, there's almost no blood, the film can't build a good atmosphere, it just seems like the characters knew what the ending was all about.
Everything seems to be going fine but, one by one, people start disappearing and Muffy begins acting VERY strange...Back in 1986 me and a friend went to see this expecting a gory (it's R rated) and stupid slasher film.
April fools day is shot like a home movie and acted such with random dialogue that never made sense, its the kind of film you would show a B movie party.
Fun from beginning to end.Director Fred Walton uses a funny, yet haunting script to create a slasher film with a twist.
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.
Before the likes of "Scream" and "Cabin In The Woods" turned slasher movie tropes on their heads, "April Fool's Day" -- a Trojan horse of sorts -- did just that, all while operating in a vein similar to the popular holiday-themed stalk n' slash flicks of the era like "My Bloody Valentine" and "New Year's Evil."Rich and slightly aloof Muffy (Deborah Foreman) invites a group of her friends to her private island for a weekend of good times.
But whereas the average slasher flick of the time opted for gore over story or tension, "April Fool's Day" keeps most of its violence off-screen and/or implied, giving the film its own look and feel.
April Fool's Day is a wonderful,funny and suspenseful Horror/Comedy Slasher film from the 1980s that's filled with fine direction,a great ensemble cast,a haunting score and memorable make-up effects that make April Fool's Day one of the most entertaining and memorable Horror/Slasher movies of the 1980s.April Fool's Day tells the story about a group of College students who have been invited by their friend Muffy(Deborah Foreman)to spend the weekend at a mansion on an island leading up to April Fool's Day. Unfortunately,someone is taking April Fool's Day too seriously and is trying to kill Muffy and her friends one by one and now Muffy and her friends are trying to find out who the killer is and survive April Fool's Day.Released in 1986,April Fool's Day is an entertaining and underrated Horror/Comedy Slasher film that while was a modest success at the Box Office divided Horror fans and Slasher fans when it came out as some Horror fans were expecting a typical holiday Slasher film and they got something different from the norm.
Thankfully,over the years April Fool's Day has found an audience and Cult status among Horror fans and is consider one of the better Slasher films of the 1980s.
April Fool's Day is a terrific Horror/Comedy in the highest order a movie that balances out great laughs and non-stop terror for 89 minutes.
The Comedy and Humor in April Fool's Day is great because it's driven by the main characters and the way they act or the situations and interactions that they all have with each other which is at times quirky and over the top.
As a Horror movie AFD isn't really scary but it can be suspenseful and atmospheric because there are certain scenes that will have viewers on the edge of their seats and because AFD is more in the style of an Agatha Christie Mystery like Murder On the Orient Express or Ten Little Indians where the movie keeps you guessing and asking questions about who's doing the killing and when will it end.
I also think that April Fool's Day has one of the best casts I have seen in an 80s Horror movie or in an 80s movie in general because the film features Deborah Foreman(Valley Girl),Amy Steel(Friday The 13th Part 2),Thomas F.
The ending of April Fool's Day is amazing and one of the best endings and twists of I have seen in a Horror film but if you're a Horror you are either going to love or hate the ending I happen to fall into the former category because the ending is very funny,daring and truly unexpected and I think the ending adds to the greatness and quality of April Fool's Day. A terrific ending.The cast is great.
Great Make-up effects,Reel EFX.In final word,if you love Horror Films or 80s Slasher films,I highly suggest you see April Fool's Day,a wonderful,underrated and funny Horror/Comedy Slasher movie from the 1980's that you can watch again and again is a great time.
APRIL FOOL'S DAY is one of the 500 million or so holiday-themed slasher films released in the '80s to cash in on the monster success of HALLOWEEN.It has a pretty basic set up: Half a dozen college kids are invited to a weekend retreat on a mysterious island by their ludicrously rich friend Muffy St. John.
April Fool's Day is a mediocre slasher film at best and is good for at least one viewing, but it will leave most die-hard slasher fans disappointed because it is more like a murder mystery than it is a slasher.
april fool's day is pretty bad, 1985 is when horror started to go down and this one helped, a bunch of rich kids are getting gutted or are they?
April Fool's Day. Foreman plays host to some college friends who are invited to her parents' secluded island home for the time of their lives, but she forgot to tell them that it might be the end of their lives.
Attempt at making humor out of horror has some fun moments, including the ending, but overall the film is a crack at badly made 80's slasher flicks...Nothing more..
Muffy invites a group of her college friends to her parents island for a weekend.Even before they arrive the kids are amusing themselves by playing April Fool's Day pranks on each other.Everything is all fun and games until some of them turn up murdered and now they have to discover who the killer is before they get dispatched themselves."April Fool's Day" is a slightly unusual slasher.It has very little blood and the death scenes are off-screen.The film is also filled with some really funny pranks and the ending is quite surprising.So if you enjoy low-budget slasher films with plenty of suspense you may give this one a try.However if you are like gory horror films you will be disappointed.My rating:8 out of 10..
April Fool's Day tells the tale of Muffy St. John (the brilliant Deborah Foreman) who invites a group of her college friends to her family's isolated island mansion.
This film finds a group of college students with dark pasts invited to an isolated mansion by a friend (Deborah Foreman) of theirs on April Fool's Day where they fall prey to a killer.
Better Than a Slasher Movie Should Be. People said it wasn't believable....well, maybe not, but it had a great Agatha Christie feel to it, sort of like the film "Ten Little Indians".
Deborah Foreman as Muffy/Buffy St. John the twisted psychopath was a decent slasher assailant I liked her.These 3 cast of actors are the reason why this movie is so good, the death scenes are terrifying and in the first hour it goes very, very slow.
She will always be in my heart.April Fool's Day is a 1986 American mystery horror film directed by Fred Walton and starring Deborah Foreman, Amy Steel, and Ken Olandt.
The basic plot of April Fool's Day is similar to many of the teen horror/slasher movies of the 1980s.
**possible spoiler**I think that "April Fool's Day" is one of the very first slasher films to openly make fun of its own subgenre, beating "Scream" by a full decade.
I remember when I saw APRIL FOOL'S DAY for the first time (must have been around 13 or so) that it was a big disappointment and I felt really cheated in the end.