slayrrr666
"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
Claudio Carvalho
In the débutant ball of the socialite Torrance Caldwell (Scout Taylor-Compton) on April, 1st 2007, the jealous and futile millionaire Desiree Cartier (Taylor Cole) dilutes a powerful drug in the champagne of her dislikable acquaintance Milan Hastings (Sabrina Ann Aldridge) and her reckless brother Blaine Cartier (Josh Henderson) takes sexual advantage of Milan. Desiree tapes the situation with a camcorder while her friends Torrance, Barbie (Jennifer Siebel) and Peter Welling (Samuel Child), Charles Lansford (Joseph McKelheer) and Ryan (Joe Egender) snoop the couple in Blaine's bedroom. However, Milan has a seizure and falls off the balcony immediately dying. The group goes to court, Blaine looses the control of the family's fortune that shifts to Desiree, but they are considered innocents and the death of Milan is considered a fatality in a prank. One year later, each one of them receive a letter mustering them up to Milan's grave. While gathered in the cemetery, they receive a package telling that each one of them would die until the end of the day if the responsible for the death of Milan does not assume the guilty.The association of "April's Fool Day" with the franchises "I Know What You Did Last Summer" and "Cruel Intentions" is immediate. The author has certainly inspired in these movies to write his plot, and I noted that this is not only my impression, but there is at least another IMDb User that had the same feeling. However, the unoriginal, unbelievable and predictable story is not totally bad and entertains. The good point of this flick is the camera work, with long travelings and original planes and angles. My vote is six.Title (Brazil): "Dia da Mentira" ("Day of the Lie" (literally), meaning "April Fool's Day")
akul671
I guess, if you start watching this movie and then think it a silly and tasteless slasher and turn it off before it ends you can get a completely wrong impression. The end is twisted (2 times) and it is only then that we realize that the movie is not a slasher at all and why actually they used (and intentionally overused) that 'rich and beautiful' even trashy deco all the time. For the movie has a strong social, even communist, message much more 'serious' than those, for example, Romero (presumably) did. This movie surpasses the horror genre limitations (as any good horror flick should do). In the end it shows what the real horror is - the real horror is the rich, the upper class. It does so in absolutely non-melodramatic way any character being horrible, the decorations being intetionally horrible and the slasher being a joke before the real horror of the society. I'm from the former communist country and if this movie had come out some 30 years before it would have been the only horror movie my dear communist government would have gladly allowed to be shown. Really, I'm surprised at quite a low rating it gets here. It's stylish, very well thought-out and the ending is indeed surprising. And a real social message in a horror movie - it doesn't happen that often.
