This'll be my last write-up for a couple weeks since I'll be going on vacation tomorrow.
April Fool's Day
I can honestly say that this is the first time I've gotten to the end of a movie like this and thought to myself, "That was cute", without any hint of sarcasm.
I really wouldn't call this a horror movie, though. It's got a few decent scares, but it's less of a horror and more a mystery-thriller. The first 2/3rds are more of a who-dun-it, without the gore, while the very beginning and the last 3rd is treated more like a traditional slasher. Oh, so the stupid kids think it'll be fun to be a bunch of pranksters, huh?
Not so fun anymore, is it?
Just about everything in this movie is over the top: The acting, the comedy, the story,
the ending. This is very much a B-movie, but it's a B-movie that doesn't take itself too seriously. And while the comedy mostly revolved around standard April Fool's day pranks, I found some of them pretty elaborate and amusing (The light trick made me giggle.)
The acting is also typical B-movie fare and leaves much to be desired. Deborah Foreman, who plays the host for the weekend does a decent job, but the rest of the performances range from the previously stated over-the-top to meh.
I felt the Texan in particular needed to be reigned in a little.
Still, it was a fun little movie and it left me wishing I'd seen it sooner. It's kind of like a satire on 80's slasher films. Not on the same level of satire and meta as
Scream, of course, but very reminiscent of it in a way and filled with more physical comedy. Kind of like a weird mash-up of
Scream and
Clue. Or better yet, try to imagine what a slasher would be like if it was written by Danilo Bach, the same guy who wrote
Beverly Hills Cop. Now if you can watch it without being disappointed at the lack of Eddie Murphy, then you'll be in for a fun little ride.
Cheers!
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