Pesce d'Aprile

If you're looking for a fun film with a lot of twists and turns, then give April Fool's Day a watch. A group of friends go to spend spring break at a friend's house on an island her family owns. Of course this vacation happens to fall on April 1st. There's definitely going to be pranks, but as someone starts picking off the friends, it's quickly becomes a nightmare.

The whole movie keeps you guessing. It's a fun slasher, but with so many surprises. It's hard to say much about this movie without spoiling it, so just take my word for it and give it a chance. There's a couple plot flaws, but it does not take away from the enjoyment of the film.

I first saw this in the early 90s on a vhs n was totally surprised. This movie came during the era of slashers but the kills were offscreen n the nudity nada. Revisited it recently n liked it very much. A group of friends take a trip on an island estate, on their way due to a prank gone wrong, a deckhand gets seriously injured. Later on the estate, one by one starts disappearing. The film has lots of twists n turns n a solid ending which was very surprising for those days. The location of the island estate is done well n the mansion really beautiful. It is a very different take on the slasher genre n a very clever one.



I think Michael Douglas' The Game is inspired by this movie.

I saw this for the first time over 35 years ago (and have seen it several times since then), and have always liked it!

It's quite an intricate whodunit, with a youthful touch - giving it the appearance of being a cheap Friday The 13th ripoff.

But there are good actors here, who play interesting characters that you want to know more about, and a story that for the first time viewer is pretty damn exciting!

In a large house on an isolated island, a group of young college students gather, invited there by Muffy St John, the future heir to a family fortune. She has planned a weekend full of April fools pranks, and so have the participants.

After a while, it seems that someone is hell bent on taking the pranks to a whole other level...

Deborah Foreman, Amy Steel, Ken Olandt, Jay Baker, Deborah Goodrich, Clayton Rohner, Leah Pinsent, Tom Wilson and Griffin O'Neal inhabit the island, and it is they, and Danilo Bach's story, that make this as watchable as it actually is.

Charles Bernstein's music adds to the mood, and I wish it had been used more.

-But, having said that, the lack of music during the first half of the movie is also what creates the atmosphere. The muffled sounds of footsteps, drawers being opened, and doors being closed, as the party-goers familiarize themselves with their rooms, feel uncomfortable.

And letting them make various unpleasant discoveries in their rooms, during complete silence, is effective.

The whoduni-story should mean that the replay value is low, but I've seen this a number of times, and still think it's pretty damn entertaining.

Here we have your usual assembly of would be slasher victims along with the spooky old house near the shore bit. But the noticable difference here is the amount of laughs injected into this that you dont see in 80s horror. And an ending never seen in any other typical slasher film. The cast is perfect; a wise cracking bunch constantly pulling gags on each other. Wilson (far from his "Biff" character he played in Back to the Future) is great, Foreman is spooky as the weirdo hostess, Baker as the stuck on himself southern guy, and Goodrich as the outspoken cutie, to name a few. Most have wavered about the ending; some say good, some say stupid, so just be prepared for something different.

Definitely not the typical slasher fare you might expect from the 1980s, April Fool's Day takes the ordinary slasher formula and spices it up - and in the process makes a much more palatable film than most of the films it initially imitates. A group of nubile teens(OK, not so different to begin with)go to their friend's remote island home somewhere in the Northwest. Here, they laugh, have sex, joke around because it is April Fool's Day, and, oh by the way did I mention, have sex. Although this part of the movie is pretty typical, it is well-shot compared to other films of its ilk and we do get some character development(not a lot) but some. Soon, people begin to die and things get serious. For a slasher film, this movie is very well-paced and, more importantly, is not over-the-top in blood and guts. The acting is uniformly average(something a Friday the 13th films craves!). What really takes this film beyond the mundane; however, is the stylish twist at the film's end. This, almost all by itself, allows this film to rise in the ranks. The ending is deftly done and does not look foolish or silly or forced; all of these things could have easily happened. 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!