Talk us through itSome upmarket teens head on over to an island mansion to party on down with fun gal Muffy St. John. Just when this movie is headed for the typical teen sex romp outing we dread, a psycho killer kicks in to cull the herd and give us a movie. You know the drill, who’s the final girl, who’s the killer, and what’s the motive. For those not in know with slashers, there are no adults getting in the way of a good time, and the usual stereotypical characters are rolled out for our enjoyment. This movie does have a couple of above-average twists coming at you, and a surprisingly enjoyable time ensues. Ready to leave the mainland?
Review“Respectable young Quaker couple returning from a quiet afternoon of non-violent sex.” – ChazBy the middle of the eighties the slasher sub genre was in deep trouble. The clichés had been established, every conceivable holiday on the calendar had its own body-count movie, and self-reference amongst these movies was rife. A handful of films in the late eighties tried to take things in a new direction and April Fool’s Day was leading the rebel pack. You get a sort of non-slasher slasher here, as what we expect to happen gets shoved to the sideline while the main game gets down and dirty in the trenches. Mixed metaphor ahoy, Captain, I’m feeling good over here. Thought it was high time ScaryMinds rolled with some non Down Under slasher flicks, come on we all love em to death! The film starts with some dude doing the video cam of his compadres on a dock while they wait for a ferry to take them over the water to Muffy Mansion. Nikki’s speech to camera is almost worth the price of admission alone, and indicates that this movie won’t be heading down the by then well-travelled streets of slashertown. We finally get onboard the ferry and meet the meat. People, I’m talking hair in need of attention stat here, and that was just the guys. Good concise introduction to our victims, with the proviso that it was maybe slightly too quick as it took me a further 20-odd minutes to work out who was who. We also get a number of practical jokes that should have horror radars beeping that things will not always be what they seem to be. The primary joke to take note of here is the dude supposedly getting a knife to the stomach, then falling overboard, which leads to Buck the deckhand getting into some serious medical strife after being pinned between the ferry and the island wharf. Jot that one down if keeping score. Once we get to the mansion more practical jokes ensue before the movie heads into some weird territory with the first night. It’s all slasher from then on in through the next day and night. Director Walton is by and large on the ball with April Fool’s, and knows his genre boundaries and requirements. He opens the movie with a prologue flashback to Muffy as a young girl receiving one weird jack-in-the-box and re-examines the motive in the final twist scene. Still not entirely sure what he was doing there, but since the final twist is one too many I was not overly concerned as the end credits rolled. 
Walton quickly rolls the dice on our potential psycho and thankfully there’s not too many red herrings netted by the audience. The choices are the disfigured deckhand out for revenge, Cal the ferryman with a whole who-pays-the-ferryman buzz just waiting to happen, and Muffy herself, who goes through a personality twist from the next morning onwards, (that gets explained and isn’t left as a possible plot hole). Equally Walton has our Final Girl pretty obvious up-front, which was a bit of a weakness really when you think about it. Amy Steel’s character Kit is the obvious choice; note that it’s implied that she bonks her boyfriend, but not shown. With a slightly more developed role for Leah Pinsent’s Nan, we could have had some muddied waters on the Final Girl side of the equation. There’s a lot of crisp dialogue going down – “On a clear day you can see the Kennedies” – and Walton uses it to good effect. Loved the group dynamic, and its breakdown as the survivors batten down the house for the final night’s activities. Walton is quite happy to go beyond normal slasher visuals and throws some picturesque moments utilising a wonderful location at us. He also is not above having a sly wink at the audience on occasion. Highlight scene for mine was the dude making the statement that tonight someone would pull their wang, and then we cut to a weiner being forced out of its plastic wrapping. Okay I’m sick and need medication, but that shot just appealed to me. Scriptwriter Danilo Bach goes beyond requirements with a well-crafted, logical, and dare we say it, above-average turn at the keyboard. Things progress in an ordered fashion, and yes, I bought into the major twist that sets this movie apart from run of the mill rehashes of Friday the 13th. Acting is mostly good for a slasher. Besides Ami Steel (Kit), who, let’s face facts, was a veteran of the subgenre by 1986, we get Deborah Goodrich (Nikki) nailing the bad girl role, Deborah Foreman (Muffy/Buffy) really delivering a strong performance, and Ken Olandt (Rob) doing his bit to make the movie above average. Special note of Thomas F. Wilson (Arch) who has a perv mission of his own, and shamelessly dug into that one. For the sharp-eyed viewers, yes he’s Biff from the Back to the Future movies. T&A is definitely on the tease side of the butcher’s knife. Amy Steel shows off her blue knickers, and Deborah Goodrich replies with a skimpy white pair of lacy goodness. Gals can look forward to mucho beefcake going down. Calling it ladies’ night at the blood-bowl-a-rama here. Gore is pretty much non-existent with all kills happening off screen, and there’s a reason for that. We get plenty of sights of the aftermath, with the well scene in particular bringing a smile to my face. Under control and suitable for mid teens if wondering. Charles Bernstein threw down one heck of a good score for us to be jiving to. It’s childlike in places, plays with expectations, and hits the tension stakes when director Walton requires just that bit extra. Out of interest, Bernstein also delivered the score to A Nightmare On Elm Street. We also get "Mama Told Me (Not To Come)" by Three Dog Night, and the highly amusing "Too Bad You're Crazy" by Jerry Whitman and Linda Harman. Tell me that’s not a good deal!
Summary ExecutionApril Fool’s Day is probably going to get me some flack from rabid horror fans, but what the heck, I call ’em as I see ’em, and this film was a freaking hoot from start to finish. A well-crafted movie that is better than the sum of its parts, I wanted to be chugging beers while watching. Finally, a slasher that delivers on the promise, and dares to go right off the beaten track into uncharted territory.The movie brought in $12,947,763 in North America, and once again I don’t have figures for the international markets. I would imagine this wasn’t in any way profitable as there were no sequels pumped out post-release. I would highly recommend April Fool’s Day to both slasher and non-slasher fans. The movie shows what can be done in the sub genre with a little thinking outside the box, and with above-average filmmakers helming. Besides the haircuts, and the taking-on-the-man attitude displayed by our self-indulgent teens, the movie has aged pretty well. Of course this review could all be simply an early April Fool’s Day joke, dial in to find out.
ScaryMinds Rates this movie as ... A slasher that isn't a slasher?
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