April Fool's Day [Blu-ray]

Director: Fred Walton Fred Walton

Overview

April Fool's Day just happens to be the birthday of rich college student Buffy (Deborah Foreman), so she invites a group of friends from Vassar over to her family's island getaway to spend the weekend partying. Though some practical-joke shenanigans on the ferry over from the mainland lead to unexpected bloodshed and put a damper on the festivities, Buffy unleashes a flood of more benign pranks on her guests, setting a tone of giddy abandon. With plenty of randy guys and gals on hand and no parental supervision, it isn't long before drunken escapades ensue. As the weekend progresses, however, guests begin to disappear mysteriously, and before long Buffy and friends find themselves huddling in terror in their remote getaway. The next ferry isn't due until Monday, and the partygoers aren't sure whether any of them will make it that long. The mostly Canadian cast of April Fool's Day includes Leah King Pinsent, daughter of actor/director Gordon Pinsent, and Amy Steel, a veteran of the second and fourth Friday the 13th installments.

Product Details

Release Date:	03/24/2020
UPC:	0826663207613
Original Release:	1986
Rating:	R
Source:	Shout Factory
Region Code:	A
Language:	English
Time:	1:28:00
Sales rank:	17,330

Special Features

New Interviews with Director Fred Walton, actors Deborah Goodrich Royce and Clayton Rohner, Cinematographer Charles Minsky and Composer Charles Bernstein; Theatrical Trailer; TV Spots

Cast & Crew

Performance Credits

Jay Baker	Harvey
Deborah Foreman	Muffy/Buffy
Deborah Goodrich	Nikki
Ken Olandt	Rob
Pat Barlow	Clara
Lloyd Berry	Ferryman
Tom Heaton	Potter/Uncle Frank,Potter/Uncle Frank
Mike Nomad	Buck
Griffin O'Neal	Skip
Leah Pinsent	Nan
Clayton Rohner	Chaz
Amy Steel	Kit
Thomas F. Wilson	Arch
Leah King Pinsent	Nan
Pamela Basker	Actor
Fern Champion	Actor
Charles Bernstein	Composer

Technical Credits

Danilo Bach

Martin Becker	Special Effects
Fred Walton	Director
Jim Gill	Special Effects
Bettie Kauffmann	Special Effects
Frank Mancuso Jr.	Producer
Steve Minasian	Executive Producer
Dick Randall	Executive Producer
Reel SFX	Special Effects
Christopher Swift	Special Effects
John Wardlow	Stunts
Pamela Basker	Casting
Fern Champion	Casting
Danilo Bach	Screenwriter

Editorial Reviews

Amid the glut of gory horror films that clogged the cable schedules and cineplexes in the wake of Halloween and Friday the 13th, April Fool's Day stands out as a fairly restrained exercise in the '80s teen-slasher genre. Low on gore and high on suspense, it uses the boy-who-cried-wolf scenario inherent in its premise to keep the audience guessing as to where the practical jokes end and the body count begins. With her Sheryl Lee-like features and facial expressions, Deborah Foreman makes an appealingly off-balance scream queen, while the rest of the young cast puts a nicely personal stamp on what could have been a collection of college-age stereotypes. It helps that Hollywood vet Danilo Bach (Beverly Hills Cop) laces the script's sexual hijinks with actual character development and a few decent plot twists. Some creepy music and a few freaky set pieces add a visceral edge to a workmanlike film that spends more time playing mind games than it does spilling blood. When all is said and done, though, April Fool's Day has more roller-coaster thrills than most slasher flicks with five times the gore.

All Movie Guide - Brian J. Dillard