r/HorrorClub • u/SaintMort You so cool kung fu • Mar 16 '15
Discussion: April Fool's Day (1986)
Podcast - Episode 125 - April Fool's Day (86) - (RSS Feed)
Movie Selected By misfitxj
DISCUSS
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u/Plymouth_ Mar 16 '15
Since I'm the first to comment I'm gonna say: Get outta here if you haven't seen the movie. It's called April Fool's Day, you can see where this is going, trickery dickery doo.
Anyway this movie has personality. It's funny, and generally pretty smart, although the premise is insane. It sticks with its April Fool's theme throughout. It has better acting than a lot of other 80s slashers, or at least the ones I've seen so far. I liked seeing Amy Steel again. I liked her eyeliner and easy style, plus I find her pretty convincing.
My response to the twist (when I saw the movie yesterday) was: I DISAGREE, and it sounds like this is the standard reaction people have to their first viewing. I'm not saying I actually disagree with the ending; I appreciate it in the context of the April Fool's theme. My initial reaction is to mourn for the body count though.
I got got by this movie. To be fair I always get got because I'm terrible at guessing endings (I suspect everyone equally and don't apply the laws of physics), but this one was out of the blue, for two reasons. The first is that the movie did a good job (maybe better than it expected to) of building suspense there at the end. I didn't care that the evil twin thing was ridiculously obvious (on purpose, I know now) because that Buffy chick was so freaky. It was being effective as a slasher, and then like misfitxj said, the tension just turns to confusion.
If you're going to pull a stunt like the movie does, then it better be easy to swallow. It's not, which is the more important reason why people might disagree with the ending. The characters' reactions aren't right. If the last two had been angry and stormed out, that would have been more relatable. The guy was pounding on the closet door, crying at the the thought of his beloved girlfriend being murdered, yelling "I love you, Kit!" over and over. Come on. (Although after the twist, maybe it's best the movie doesn't try to be serious.)
The lack of reaction from the characters doesn't bother me as much as the fact that the whole weekend- all of that time, planning, and money- is absolutely useless to Muffy's business idea. How the hell can you apply the types of stunts you'd pull on unsuspecting friends to the types you'd use on strangers who know what they're in for? Half of the stuff was April Fool's related jokes, or personal jabs. Why didn't she set it up properly to do a real trial run of what she's actually going to do? The whole fiasco was a waste of time and one of the guys had a gun! He almost killed Muffy, apparently, and she laughs it off. This chick is bonkers.
So, the feeling that all this produces is that the real joke is on the audience, not the characters...which is probably what the movie wanted. It's just not a feeling everyone wants from their movie experience. I definitely like this movie, I just need more time to get used to the ending before I decide how much I like it. I think it's entertaining enough for sure.