April Fool's Day (2008)
With the advent of the torture-porn genre of horror film (Hostel, Saw, Wolf Creek, et al) the slasher film has now become passé in Hollywood. It is not enough to see a squirt of blood here, or a lopped finger there. Now the audience is expected to revel in the minutiae of sadistic acts committed upon the vulnerable bodies of poor victims. To this point there is something pleasantly old-fashioned about April Fool's Day (Mitchell Altieri & Phil Flores). This is a film that harks back to the pre-Scream days of slasher thrillers that aren't ironically aware of themselves. April Fool's Day simply tells a story with a few neat twists and a number of semi-graphic slayings. It is a remake of a 1986 horror of the same name, yet very little of the earlier film is evident in this reworked version. In fact, the story, characters and style have more in common with I Know What You Did Last Summer and its sequel (Jim Gillespie, 1997 & Danny Cannon, 1998). Though not as effective as either the Scream or I Know... films, April Fool's Day will certainly appeal to the nostalgic horror buff.
Two wealthy siblings, Desiree (Taylor Cole) and Blaine Cartier (Josh Henderson), host a debutante ball at their palatial mansion where a sinister prank backfires, resulting in the demise of a beautiful young socialite. The death is determined to be a horrible accident with no intention of malice, but one year later, on April 1st, those involved with the prank are each threatened with brutal retribution. One by one the victims accumulate. When only a few of the original pranksters remain, suspicions quickly escalate and drastic measures are taken. There's a good deal of the familiar about this plot. The predictable nature of the material doesn't diminish the film as much as it's profound lack of wittiness. The Scream cycle of film's were so popular because they approached the genre's conventionality with humour. The slasher film had become so familiar that the only way to enliven it was to explore it from an ironic viewpoint. Unfortunately for April Fool's Day the directors have decided to play it straight and as such it is obvious and uninspired.
While the cast of April's Fools Day wouldn't look out of place in a glamour catalogue they are out of their depth when it comes to delivering good dramatic performances. These are beautiful people, gorgeous glamazons and Hollywood hunks. And if there is one lesson this film teaches us, it is beautiful people can get away with murder (and hammy acting). Tayler Cole looks incredible dressed in a little black dress with knee high black leather boots; an ensemble she wears throughout. Cole is a stunning looking woman, and mercifully she is on the screen for the majority of the film. Josh Henderson looks like he's arrived fresh off the set from the new 90210 series. When the actors are this attractive it is easy to forgive the film's shortcomings - like the frequent plot aberrations and sketchy dialogue.
It is harder to forgive April Fool's Day docile approach to fulfilling its generic responsibilities. This is a rather tame horror without much gore and lacking any truly frightening moments. The horror genre relies heavily on memorable death scenes - think Janet Leigh in Psycho - and in this respect April Fool's Day fails to deliver. A film of this nature either needs to have viewers squirming in their seats, or jumping clean out of them. A number of the killing sequences are merely silly, one character (who cannot swim) drowns in his own pool trying to save his beloved pet chihuahua, Elton. If you're wondering why this man owns a pool despite not being able to swim, you're not on your own! Despite gaping incongruities such as this, the story remains reasonably intact due to the short running time.
This is not the kind of film you'd use as a case study for the American penal system; it seems this part of the US is fairly relaxed when it comes to murder. It's unfair to split hairs about the silliness of the plotting and the unlikelihood of events in April Fool's Day. After all, this is a horror film and the story and its credibility will always play second fiddle to the scares and gore. The real issue with this film is that it fails to scare and/or repulse the viewer. April Fool's Day works mostly as a kind of semi-violent episode of The O.C. with a bunch of good-looking teens running around knocking each other off. I think we can all take some pleasure in watching rich and beautiful people die, I only wish it was more violent.
Glamazon
Two wealthy siblings, Desiree (Taylor Cole) and Blaine Cartier (Josh Henderson), host a debutante ball at their palatial mansion where a sinister prank backfires, resulting in the demise of a beautiful young socialite. The death is determined to be a horrible accident with no intention of malice, but one year later, on April 1st, those involved with the prank are each threatened with brutal retribution. One by one the victims accumulate. When only a few of the original pranksters remain, suspicions quickly escalate and drastic measures are taken. There's a good deal of the familiar about this plot. The predictable nature of the material doesn't diminish the film as much as it's profound lack of wittiness. The Scream cycle of film's were so popular because they approached the genre's conventionality with humour. The slasher film had become so familiar that the only way to enliven it was to explore it from an ironic viewpoint. Unfortunately for April Fool's Day the directors have decided to play it straight and as such it is obvious and uninspired.
While the cast of April's Fools Day wouldn't look out of place in a glamour catalogue they are out of their depth when it comes to delivering good dramatic performances. These are beautiful people, gorgeous glamazons and Hollywood hunks. And if there is one lesson this film teaches us, it is beautiful people can get away with murder (and hammy acting). Tayler Cole looks incredible dressed in a little black dress with knee high black leather boots; an ensemble she wears throughout. Cole is a stunning looking woman, and mercifully she is on the screen for the majority of the film. Josh Henderson looks like he's arrived fresh off the set from the new 90210 series. When the actors are this attractive it is easy to forgive the film's shortcomings - like the frequent plot aberrations and sketchy dialogue.
Rich Hotties
It is harder to forgive April Fool's Day docile approach to fulfilling its generic responsibilities. This is a rather tame horror without much gore and lacking any truly frightening moments. The horror genre relies heavily on memorable death scenes - think Janet Leigh in Psycho - and in this respect April Fool's Day fails to deliver. A film of this nature either needs to have viewers squirming in their seats, or jumping clean out of them. A number of the killing sequences are merely silly, one character (who cannot swim) drowns in his own pool trying to save his beloved pet chihuahua, Elton. If you're wondering why this man owns a pool despite not being able to swim, you're not on your own! Despite gaping incongruities such as this, the story remains reasonably intact due to the short running time.
This is not the kind of film you'd use as a case study for the American penal system; it seems this part of the US is fairly relaxed when it comes to murder. It's unfair to split hairs about the silliness of the plotting and the unlikelihood of events in April Fool's Day. After all, this is a horror film and the story and its credibility will always play second fiddle to the scares and gore. The real issue with this film is that it fails to scare and/or repulse the viewer. April Fool's Day works mostly as a kind of semi-violent episode of The O.C. with a bunch of good-looking teens running around knocking each other off. I think we can all take some pleasure in watching rich and beautiful people die, I only wish it was more violent.
April Fool's Day
