Ah, April 1st. The day where lying is socially accepted, and in fact encouraged. So call your parents and tell them you’ve won the lottery — although you’ll probably only make yourself upset with that one. You could also make someone believe you got into an accident, or even better (and more appropriately) take an axe and lunge it into your best friends back. A classic! Where I’m from they call me a legend when it comes to April Fools pranks.

Over the past couple of years I’ve searched through the web looking for April Fools Day themed horror movies. I thought I would find a plethora of great b-titles, but to my surprise there were only three–one of which was a remake. They all had one thing in common, though. They’re all terrible films… and ridiculously fun. Now what better day to share these titles with you than April Fools Day itself? If you’re already tired of getting prank phone calls from your friends or taking an ax to the spinal column. How about you kickback, relax, and watch your TV screen turn red.

April Fools Day follows 8 students, Harvey, Nikki, Rob, Skip, Nan, Chaz, Kit and Arch. Who gather together for Spring Break at the island mansion of their friend, Muffy St. John, on the weekend leading up to April Fools Day. During their stay Muffy sets up several little pranks (whoopie cushions, dribble glasses, etc) that transform into something more complex and disturbing (an audiotape of a baby crying in someone’s room, heroin paraphernalia in a guest’s wardrobe. The norm). As the night continues and the pranks worsen, some of the guests begin to disappear. One after another, the group is being shrunken down into a bloody mess. Those who are still alive must fall into a game of cat and mouse to find out who is responsible for the slaughter before it’s too late.

This film is campy and full of blood. Think of it as Clue: Slasher Movie Edition. You’ll find yourself running circles trying to figure out who the killer is, and each time you get closer the tables have turned or the one you believed to be the killer is dead. There are plenty of twists and surprises that would keep you, and even M. Night Shyamalan on your toes. A perfect film to laugh at and enjoy on this fantastic holiday.

april-fools-day-1986-movie-featured

I have no idea how I stumbled upon, let alone watched this film. It’s a disastrous piece of shit. It’s so bad I couldn’t even find a decent picture to use for it. This was the only one on Google gave me. April Fools is a straight to video catastrophe that follows a group of high school friends, who decide the best way to spend April 1st would be to pull a prank on the class nerd, Melvin. As they perform the stunt, a series of misfortune events take place causing the accidental death of Melvin, who falls down and is impaled by a piece of rebar. Panicking, the group drags Melvin’s body into a wooded area and stage it to look like he was the victim of a random gang-related attack. A year later, one of the students who took part in the killing is stabbed to death by a mysterious killer while interning at a hospital. The killer leaves the scene with “April Fools” on the wall written with the victims blood. One by one, more of the students are being murdered, and it seems that Melvin might be the source of the slaughter.

Now, I know that sounds like a lot. It even sounds like it could be pretty good. That’s what I thought, and boy was I wrong. April Fools was the embodiment of everything wrong with film. The story was bland, the actors incompetent (most of them seemed to struggle with their lines), the direction dreadful, the death scenes pathetic, and the picture quality abysmal. If you’re into that kind of stuff–then this may be the film for you.

April-Fools-2007-film-images-9dea28e4-acb0-4f8c-a192-09f221beb1b

April Fools day is a loose remake based on the 1986 film of the same name, but this time we are shown sibling rivalry, greed, and something having to with an inheritance of some sorts. At times it resembles April Fools (2007) in terms of the plot. Which, isn’t a great thing. Unlike the original that still holds up well, the remake tries way too hard to be serious and fails miserably. Everything about this film is laughable. While it is a terrible remake, the 2008 version of April Fools Day is a film that is fun to watch and not to be taken seriously… at all.

The remake follows a group of friends, led by Desiree and her brother Blaine, who host a party during which they play a prank, that causes the accidental death of their friend Milan. A year later, someone begins sending the friends threatening messages and  they begin getting killed off one by one. In hilarious, prank-like ways.

Well, okay. That sounds exactly like April Fools, but it is a hell of a lot better. This remake actually carries some quality with it. Not much, but some. All in all, April Fools Day is worth a watch on a day like this.

April Fools

There you have it! Three horror films that are inspired by this very day. Watch them by yourself or with your friends–if you don’t hate them by now. Most importantly: Happy April Fools Day, you axe wielding maniacs.