One of my favorite movies of all time is April Fool's Day. It is billed as a horror movie, particularly a slasher flick, where several characters disappear. As the story unfolds these characters that disappear turn up dead. But before all of these murders begin there are a series of practical jokes, some hilarious, some very inappropriate and hurtful.
Muffy invites some friends from college to her families home for the weekend to have a good time. Things don't start off so well as the first mate of the ferry that brings the group to the island Muffy's house is on is injured in an accident after a practical joke. The first mate is whisked away to the nearest hospital and the vacationers continue on their way.
At dinner more practical jokes are shared. Nan sits on a whoopee cushion. Archie sits in a chair that is rigged to have the back legs fold up and deposit the person on the ground as they do a back-flip. Later as everyone heads off to sleep other tricks are played. Hal is smoking a cigar and it eventually blows up. Archie again gets deposited on the floor after someone moved the trick chair into his room. One of the cruel jokes is played on Nan when someone played a recording of a baby crying in her room.
It's after all these practical jokes that some of the characters start disappearing, starting with Skip. Someone attacks him from behind in the boathouse. And apparently kills him because the next we see of him is of his lifeless body floating under the boathouse freaking out the couple that was making out in the boathouse.
The rest of the group, the men at least, decide to find out where Skip is or find out who is responsible. Nan confronts Muffy about the tape, alluding to some dark secret she has been carrying around inside. Archie is searching the woods when he hears some noise and steps into a trap hoisting him into the air and is attacked by a mysterious figure. Muffy begins to act strangely and progressively gets worse.
Hal and Nikki head out to the well after they find out the pipes in the house are producing sludge. Hal drops the bucket in the well, and Nikki drops the flashlight. Nikki climbs down into the well where she falls in and finds the dismembered bodies of Arch, Skip and Nan after she falls into the water. Hal climbs into the well and rescues Nikki.
Everyone is under the impression that Buck, the first mate of the ferry, is the culprit. After talking to the Sheriff they find out that Buck is still in the hospital. As they are securing the windows, Kit finds an old photograph of two children, she is startled by Muffy. The rest of the vacationers are starting to snap at each other.
Rob and Kit go down to the dock to wait for the sheriff, leaving the rest in the house. Chaz is next to be killed by having his penis chopped off. Nikki is attacked and apparently killed. Rob reveals that the sheriff said not to trust Muffy. Seeing the flare from the sheriff Rob and Kit try to gather the rest of the vacationers but find they are the only ones left. Kit and Rob find Nikki and Chaz... dead. They enter Muffy's room to find Hal has been hung and they run.
Arriving at the dock they call for the sheriff, but don't find him. They find the boat but no key. Rob and Kit find medical papers describing the mental state of a Ms. St. John; they realize that Muffy might not be who she says she is. Rob and Kit return to the house to get the keys for the boat. They climb in through the basement window and find a trail of blood leading to a furnace where they find Muffy's clothes inside. They see height measurements on a wall and the names Muffy and Buffy. They realize that Buffy is the one who was in the mental institute.
They find Muffy's body. Buffy nails shut the basement window. Rob and Kit run up the stair looking for a weapon or a place to hide. Rob gets locked in a closet while Buffy chases Kit through the dining room and into the living room where Kit finds Hal, Skip, Nan, Chaz, Nikki, Arch and all the others mingling as if nothing has happened. Kit realizes that it has all been a joke. Buck reveals himself to Rob who freaks out. Buck releases the lock on the door and Rob comes running out to find out that the joke was on him and Kit.
Muffy reveals that she will inherit the house and turn it into a bed and breakfast that specializes in one in a lifetime experiences. Everything was an elaborate joke designed to frighten and mystify. And Muffy succeeded.
I love this movie. The acting was great, not forced. The plot was awesome, not telegraphed. I give this a 10 out of 10.
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