A year after an April Fool's Day prank which resulted in the death of one of their set, a group of friends find themselves targeted by someone who is out for revenge. (IMDB)
Directors: Mitchell Altieri (as The Butcher Brothers), Phil Flores (as The Butcher Brothers); Writers: Mikey Wigart (teleplay) (as Michael Wigart), Danilo Bach (story) and more; Stars: Taylor Cole, Josh Henderson, Scout Taylor-Compton, Joe Egender and more
April Fool's Day is a 2008 American direct-to-video horror film remake of the 1986 film of the same name. It is directed by The Butcher Brothers, also known as Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores, who also directed the vampire film The Hamiltons. April Fool's Day is described by star Scout Taylor-Compton as "Mean Girls crossed with horror", and was released straight to DVD on March 25, 2008. The film received negative reviews from critics and fans. To be quiet honest there are a dozen reasons why, but we'll stick to just a few simple ones here.
Supposedly, this un-needed remake was supposed to retain most of the original's humor. Flores said it is "pretty much contemporized, with off-beat humor, different settings -- something that would gel with today's audience." Sadly, even in 2008 I feel like a bunch of rich debutantes slipping a friend some kind of drug to teach her lesson isn't that funny. Especially in a time of ruffies. Though I do see the ties between the characters lives and America's fascination with the rich and therefore famous. The tabloid aspect of the aftermath works well into today's society. But the humor, falls ridiculously flat, unless Flores is referring to awkward ensembles chemistry. I actually felt bad for Egender's involvement in the film and who would have guessed that Scout would steal every little scene she was in. Well, of course we all did. But that is not tos ay that everyone else was bad, individually they played their parts well with the story given to them.
Altieri also noted that "It's kind of more a twisting and turning story" with "some really good scares". The scares were few, the first deaths seemed more like bad luck, or even supernatural in nature, rather than well choreographed coincidences. Without surprise, the best part of the whole movie was the end. Scout finally got to shine and proves the reason why she is the leader to this new wave of eclectic scream queens. I also can't deny the twist(s) is brilliant. But hardly enough to make up for the hour plus it took to get there. Sorry Scout, we love you here at the Creepercast and understand that even you couldn't save this one. Maybe what they really needed was Bill Oberst Jr. Now that's a movie we would love to see.
As always available at Amazon, judge for yourself, but watch the original afterwards for true to its time brilliance.
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