April Fool's Day (1986)★★★☆☆

I can’t believe it’s almost April already. 2016 has just flown past so far. Anyway, here’s a thematically appropriate, Throwback Thursday, April Fool’s Day movie for you. And it’s not bad. It’s not great either, but it’s not bad.

I thought at first this might be one of the earliest “found footage” horror films ever made, but they moved away from the handheld camera gimmick pretty quickly (for which I’m thankful). It was a cute way to get some character development out of the way, though, and set a silly scene for the rest of the film. And it’s a pretty silly film.

(Spoiler warning) So silly, in fact, that no one actually dies in it. I guess I kind of knew what to expect watching a movie called April Fool’s Day, but it was still a little disappointing when everything turned out to be an elaborate prank. Sure, they explained away the ridiculousness of it to some extent, but even still.

Also, I’ve never once met a “Muffy”. Though it does seem a completely appropriate name for a spoiled little rich girl, it was distracting to hear it throughout the film. As in, I wanted to giggle every time I heard her name, which is pretty often considering it’s her house everyone is staying at for the weekend. I did like that the fictitious twin sister was named Buffy, though.

Anyway, this movie is easy to follow, has a decent cast (that includes Biff from Back to the Future(s)!), and is well paced. It’s not overly gory or graphic, and while there are a few jump scares, this isn’t going to haunt your dreams. I’d recommend it for a date night…or if you’re bored on April Fool’s Day.