April Fool's Day

Wish there were extras...
"April Fool's Day" is yet another one of those holiday themed slasher films that emerged in the wake of the "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" successes. You know all about them if you follow the genre in any substantive way--movies with names like "Mother's Day," "Graduation Day," "My Bloody Valentine," and "Silent Night, Deadly Night." O.K., the last two don't specifically refer to dates, but it doesn't take a genius to infer that the two films play on Valentine's Day and Christmas. The slasher genre never died out thanks in large part to the billion plus sequels in the "Halloween" and "Friday the 13th" franchises, but their poorer cousins did fade into obscurity until DVD resurrected them. All I can say about that is thank goodness! I'm the first to admit that some of these films fail to rise above mediocrity, but several of them are quite good. "April Fool's Day" definitely falls...

Childish pranks turn into a bloody battle for survival!
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...

What do you expect?
When the trailers first came out for April Fools Day, they were accompanied by the song "Momma Told Me Not To Come" by Three Dog Night. I wasn't sure if it was a slasher movie, a comedy, a comedy-slasher movie, or even a frat-party movie. All I knew for sure was that Deborah Foreman (Valley Girl)was in it and in the mid-80's I thought she was so hot you could have cast her in a high school driving safety video and I would have paid admission.

Foreman plays Muffy, a rich college kid who invites a bunch of friends to a secluded island owned by her family for a weekend (an April Fools weekend) of fun and pranks. The island is only reachable by ferry and this is the last ferry until monday. An accident happens and the kids are shaken.

Here is where the mind games start. Not many of the young people know each other. All are supposedly friends of Muffy, but most of them don't know each other directly. April fools pranks are played non-stop. Dribble glasses,...

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