|
|
| Paramount (Australia). Region 4, PAL. 2.35:1 (16:9 enhanced). English DD 5.1, French DD 2.0, German DD 2.0, Spanish DD 2.0, Italian DD 2.0. English, English (FHI), French, German, Swedish, Danish, Norwegian, Finnish, Dutch, Italian, Portuguese, Greek, Turkish, Spanish Subtitles. 85 minutes |
| The Movie |
| Cover Art |
 |
| Credits |
Director: Fred Walton
Starring: Deborah Foreman,
Ken Olandt, Thomas F. Wilson,
Amy Steel, Jay Baker
Screenplay: Danilo Bach
Music: Charles Bernstein
Tagline:Childish pranks
turn into a bloody battle for survival!
Country: USA |
The Eighties, some say this was horror's
heyday. The popular psychopaths had their violent
ways with hundreds of horny drunken teens, aliens
attacked, the dead had their day and the cenobites
walked the earth. Yes, the horror fan walked in
fields of green and showered in sunshine. Occasionally,
though, there were hiccups in the serenity, flies
in the gory soup, and this is where we find April
Fool's Day.
April Fool's Day starts
with the usual college student stereotypes (played
by Ken Olandt, Amy Steel, Jay Baker, Deborah Goodrich,
Griffin O'neal, Thomas F. Wilson, Leah Pinsent
and Clayton Rohner), full of tomfoolery and April
Fool's Day hoaxes, waiting to catch the
ferry to the secluded island retreat owned by
Muffy St John's (Deborah Foreman) family.
Muffy, the gorgeous heiress who invited them all
has a horrible family secret…and upon arriving
on the island, the secret could result in a murderous
rampage that will may leave them all dead?
Written by Danilo Bach (Beverly Hills
Cop) and directed by Fred Walton (When
A Stranger Calls, which he co-wrote), April Fool's Day is the
little movie that couldn't and didn't.
It tries too hard to stand out in a crowd of slashers
and sequels by trying to be cleverer than what
it is, mixing too much comedy with not enough
tension and ultimately becoming an experiment
that failed.
Containing no gore, no tension and no nudity,
this film has far too much levity for it ever
to be taken seriously by horror afficionados.
Amongst the cast of annoying characters is Thomas
F. Wilson, taking a break from his Biff Tannen
duties, who is surprisingly entertaining and almost
raises a smile with his hi-jinks and pranks, but
the biggest April's Fools prank is the one
played on the viewer, for wasting 85 minutes of
their life. |
| Video |
| This is an unspectacular, 2.35:1 anamorphic widescreen
transfer that has no problems but isn't interesting
either. |
| Audio |
| A Dolby Digital 5.1 soundtrack is accompanied
by stereo soundtracks in French, German, Italian
and Spanish. |
| Extra Features |
None. |
| The Verdict |
Released as part of Paramount's 90th Anniversary
DVD celebrations and given the disrespect it deserves,
this bare bones disc is hardly worth the effort.
Got something else to say? Spill your guts on the
Digital Retribution Message Forum! |
|
|
 |
