I saw the original April Fools Day about twenty years ago when it was out on video. It was one of those nights where my friends and I would browse the horror section of the local video store trying to find a film we never saw before. It just so happens April Fools Day was the film that night. If memory serves me correctly; I remember this film being one big joke with an ending with one big twist. I guess you can say we have the same kind of film here except in retrospect to the original film it plays a lot more different in both characters and story.
April Fools Day is about a high class party that is being thrown by a wealthy young southern belle named Desiree Cartier at her southern mansion. Each year Desiree plans a party full or pranks and fun on April Fools Day. However the party is about to have killer twist. When people who attended the party start showing up dead. Desiree her brother and a few of their friends are now in the middle of everything. Now in order to survive the daunting task put in front of them and they must find out who is behind the killings before they end up victims themselves. Is it just a cruel joke being played on them to go with the theme of April Fools Day, or is there really a killer out to get them?
Alright, is this film one big giant joke that someone has decided to play on me? Cause this movie played out like an adult version of Disney’s High School Musical without the music. Honestly folks the whole movie is written like a soup opera, looks like a soup opera, but is lit like a movie that would appear on the Disney channel. In all seriousness this movie was in fact written for television and is based off a teleplay script, rather than a screenplay. Speaking of the screenplay or in this case teleplay. It’s not bad, but its not great either. Honestly folks, this film starts off horrible but it does get somewhat better. Plot wise it’s a different spin on the original, but it has the same elements. The dialogue is bearable to a certain point, most of the time it’s really annoying, but when the actors aren’t acting like a group of rich ass phonies at their dinner parties, the script is actually somewhat bearable. But the question remains is the script for this film good? I’m leaning toward it being more bad than good. But at times it’s bearable. It’s just one of those things where their are some points in the story that remind me of episodes of Dark Shadows or some of the earlier Hammer films. it’s just too bad that those shows and films worked for their time and this film unfortunately does not.
I was not a big fan of the acting in this film one bit. The first scene in this film is absolutely horrid, terrible acting just litters the first half of the movie. But it does get better, not much better though. Scout Taylor-Compton of Halloween remake fame give the best performance in the film, but it’s not saying much. The rest of the lead cast holds their own as the film progresses but I can’t give any of the supporting cast outside the group any credit. The script is very much to blame however as it’s just a script that is not good enough to make horror fans go crazy over this movie.
The films high point is it’s production value. While the movie is extremely over lit in many of the scenes, it does at least have a lot of detail in it’s costume and set design. Don’t expect any great effects in this film either. There is really nothing going on and there is not much in terms of blood and gore. In fact leave the gore part out because this film has none.
Overall I feel very bi-polar about this film. Because this is a bi-polar film where there are points in the script that are not half bad, but for the most part the script is what ruined the whole film for me. It’s hard to explain because some scenes where actually decent, but for the most part the way this film played off, really turned me off as a horror fan and it seems like this film was made to be one of those really bad Lifetime original movies. It’s not a film for the hardcore horror fans, it’s a film that older women or teenage girls will probably enjoy.
– Horror Bob
- Interview with J.R. Bookwalter - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Andrew J. Rausch - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Rick Popko and Dan West - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Director Stevan Mena (Malevolence) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Screenwriter Jeffery Reddick (Day of the Dead 2007) - January 22, 2015
- Teleconference interview with Mick Garris (Masters of Horror) - January 22, 2015
- A Day at the Morgue with Corri English (Unrest) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Writer/Director Nacho Cerda (The Abandoned, Aftermath) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actress Thora Birch (Dark Corners, The Hole, American Beauty) - January 22, 2015
- Interview with Actor Jason Behr, Plus Skinwalkers Press Coverage - January 22, 2015
