April Fool's Day (2008)

Great visuals, story delivers no surprises

Admirable film.

The movie's not perfect, but it sticks the landing of its message. It was engaging - thrilling at times - and I personally thought it was a great time.

Yes, absolutely, there is fun to be had, as well as many, many things to go boom, all amid an atmospheric urban jungle.

I was actually one of the very few who thought that a remake to the classic 1986 version of this movie would be quite an interesting concept, and I thought that it would be interesting to see what an updated version would bring more ideas and a fresh outtake, but when I finally got round to viewing this I was sadly mistaken and wrong, and it's just as botched up as all the other bad remakes of 80's classic slashers that came about these last few years.Although the general idea remained the same, the storyline is completely different instead of an interesting group of teens gathering round a secluded beach house, we get a bunch of vapid and boring rich teens gather round for a party at a mansion for a birthday party on April 1st, where the characters constantly play pranks on each other until the prank goes tragically wrong and results in a death and the others gets away with it despite media coverage and a year passes and someone hasn't forgotten and is intent on revenge on the group.Right firstly I just didn't like the style of this movie, it has more of a teenage soap drama vibe to it and none of the characters are worth caring about or likable, and I was instantly bored even when the murders happen, well there was no tension at all, and the scene where the guy was getting chased by a car was just downright hilarious, I just couldn't stop laughing and plus the mystery was way too easily figured out and despite the killer's methods being fresh, it was just plain dull. The only thing I found semi interesting was the ending, the twist upon twist was done quite okay, and it was just a shame that the rest of the movie was just rubbish.All in all "April Fool's Day '08" is just another terrible remake and better sticking with the original, even though that wasn't perfect, it was still better than this tripe.

"April Fool's Day" is an utterly terrible and nearly pointless slasher entry.**SPOILERS**At a special party, Torrence Caldwell, (Scout-Taylor Compton) finds that Desiree Cartier, (Taylor Cole) welcomes her into the society that friends Blaine Cartier, (Josh Henderson) Barbie, (Jennifer Siebel Newsom), Peter Welling, (Samuel Child) Milan Hastings, (Sabrina Aldride) Charles Lansford, (Joseph McKelheer) and Ryan, (Joe Egender) aren't that happy with, figuring it's merely a set-up for a cruel prank. As the party goes on, they catch her in the middle of a prank only for one of the guests to be accidentally killed during the event. When the pressure from the public has died down from the high-profile incident, they start to wonder about the validity of a series of incidents that have them convinced someone's pulling a prank on them, but when the group suddenly starts to die off, they race to find the killer before it's too late.The Good News: There was a few parts to this that can be managed to say were decent about it. There's a couple of actually really good stalking scenes in here, namely the first one done through the web-cam as the killer goes about his job. As it's filmed through the killer's viewpoint, it has a real hint of suspense to it as they wind their way through the surroundings up to the unsuspecting victim, the interactions set-up our feelings toward it quite easily as it's a proved suspense tactic, and then finally the way they're dispatched is quite shocking and ends the scene nicely. Another rather well-done stalking is the one in the parking garage, for it's a hectic scene within the cramped space, the fact that there's no idea who's behind it all, and with the way the action unfolds within, including being chased down on a straightaway section and chasing behind in their car, make this one quite thrilling and injects some excitement into this one. The last good stalking scene is that big one at the end, which is a prolonged and extremely extracted sequence within the mansion. Due to the large rooms, the number they visit and the thrill of trying not to be caught because of the killer appearing there, it manages to become quite chilling and highly creepy, which is what it should be. Once captured and tied up, it becomes a little better due to the hint of not knowing what's going to happen next, and it really plays this section up right. The last good part to this one is that the opening party scene prank is actually well-done, set-up nicely and feels like an appropriate sequence done at real-life parties of this type, and it feels really good. That's all that's right with this one, though.The Bad News: This one here has a ton of problems with it that really drag it down. The biggest issue with this one is the fact that the film has utterly no suspense at all from the kills, since the stalkings are done with absolutely nothing done to make them involving or thrilling for the viewer. A victim feels something is wrong, is given evidence to the contrary and believes it's safe, then comes the kill-shot every time. It doesn't work when it's repeatedly done, as despite the few good ones mentioned above, the majority are played off as lame, boring and just drag on so long, they eventually can't become anything more than tired and cliché-riddled. The fact that the victims in here are terrified of the killer through the lame stalking shown in here is a joke and wipes out a ton of feelings from the film. That also makes the fact that the kills are just down-right bloodless and utterly uninteresting another monumental flaw to get over. Since there's absolutely nothing about these kills to get worked up, excited or even grossed-out over, mentioning them accomplishes nothing but merely derision for the fact that they were allowed to remain in a film and not at all be changed to make a slasher fan interested in what happened in here. It's tame, lame and just makes it that much easier to despise this film. One more big hurdle to get over is the fact that this one has a rather tame feeling across the board, in spite of the gore, since it features an MTV-like feeling with it's pretty, popular faces lining the cast, bland stalking in sure-fire suspenseful sequences, and it's rather big issue, not a lot of scares but placed instead with them pouting or looking sullenly at each other no matter the situation. Coupled with the hyper-excessive editing when it doesn't need it, this one's glossy look and feel will wear thin with many of the more traditional fans of the genre out there. The last flaw to this one is the fact that there's just no way around explaining the stupidity amongst the final twist at the end. It manages to re-write the entire film so that it can appear to be shocking when it's finally revealed, and is just lame, and all for merely being able to say it fooled the audience. There's no purpose to it, and it even ends the film on a sour note. Some might find a problem with the fact that this is a remake, but it's a personal preference bit and has nothing to do with the film itself.The Final Verdict: Filled with a lot of problems and not a lot of positive good ones to raise it up, this one here is a pretty bad film without a lot going for it. Really only give this a chance if you're a fan of an actor or the style appeals to you, while the fans of the original or hardcore horror traditionalists should avoid this one.Rated R: Graphic Language and Graphic Violence

The film starts with a party where names like Barbie and Blaine are common. I expected to find a Muffin and a Biff. Not the crowd that I have ever associated with. It takes a long time to set up the story. It was 25 minutes into the film before we see the prank that resulted in Milan's (Sabrina Aldridge) tragic death.Now, it is a year later, and the fun begins.It was the dog Elsie that dies first. I have never seen such a fake dog in any film.One by on the party goes did, but the deaths were unremarkable.Very little blood and no nudity.

This new version of APRIL FOOL'S DAY is not really a remake of the 1986 original movie. In fact it's far away from that! The main idea is inspired in the 1986 film but apart from that we cannot say it's a remake. Many, many things are different. The plot is different, the characters are different, the scenario either, the film's message too. In common they just have the final twist and some other little details.I think this movie was more suspenseful than the original but it's even more clichéd! Aside from the final twist, which was pretty original and unexpected (at least for me!), the first APRIL FOOL'S DAY was very clichéd about the way characters died and about other details of the plot, presenting us some typical clichés of the 80's Horror movies. But this new version is even worse about clichés! It has plenty of the 90's horror movies clichés for sure! One clear example is that "I know what you did last..." kind of plot! At parts I thought I was watching "I know what you did last April the 1st" or something! But what I found more curious was this kind of combination between I KNOW WHAT YOU DID LAST SUMMER and CRUEL INTENTIONS! Yes, it seems to have the plot of "Last Summer" with the "Cruel Intentions" characters and message!So, originality, this film have none! I score it 4/10 for the suspense and some entertainment!