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 What Have You Done To Milan? Apr 19, 2009
I was a teenager when the original "April Fool's Day" hit the theaters. The critics and fans alike hated it. Twenty-five years later it's hailed as a slasher classic from the notorious slasher frenzy era. Executive Producer Frank Mancuso, Jr., who brought us the original, has released a remake. Despite the bad press from critics and fans, I was surprised to find it rather enjoyable. "April Fool's Day" is similar enough to be called a remake but different enough to delight those who saw the original.
I love a good murder mystery. (I've reviewed innumerable Italian gialli from the sixties and seventies.) "April Fool's Day" is definitely a murder mystery. On April 1, 2007, wealthy, gorgeous, spoiled Desiree Cartier (Taylor Cole of "Numb3rs") invites her friends to her mansion to celebrate her friend Torrance's coming out. In actuality, she is planning a vindictive prank against kind hearted Milan. Unfortunately, the prank ends in Milan's death. Exactly one year later, on April Fool's Day, Desiree begins seeing fleeting images of Milan, and one by one her friends are murdered. Has Milan returned from the dead to exact vengeance or has one of her friends decided to seek justice against the spoiled rich kids who murdered her?
Plot twists abound as each of Desiree's friends fall under suspicion of murder but are quickly eliminated by their deaths. There is some comic relief provided mostly from the pathetic Peter who is running for Congress and has a goofy smile forever plastered to his face. His wife Barbie is a beauty queen living the ludicrous life of a doll. The gossip columnist Charles, who is the homosexual version of Rona Barrett, is extremely annoying. You want to clap when he dies. Ryan, the poor friend, is a lonely, voyeuristic photographer; however, he is the only character with substance. The cast is gorgeous and perhaps this only adds to the viewer's hatred of the characters they portray.
The double twist ending caught me by surprise. It was truly horrifying and chilling if you think about it. It made the film worth watching. You must add "April Fool's Day" to your collection of slasher flicks. Twenty-five years from now it will probably be hailed as a great classic like its original.
As far as the DVD package, Sony could have done much better. "April Fool's Day" is in widescreen with closed captions. However, there is no "making of" featurette or any other extra features - not even a trailer.
 HAPPY APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!! Apr 01, 2009
In honor of today actually being April Fool's Day, I thought I'd write this review. I saw this movie last year after I watched the original. This is very different and not like the original, until the very end. Desiree Cartier is very rich. She is having a party for Torrance Caldwell, who is played by the sexy beautiful Scout Taylor-Compton. Desiree plays a prank, but it all goes wrong and someone dies. A year later, the people responsible for the prank become the targets of a killer, but it's all in good fun because it's APRIL FOOL'S DAY!!!
 Don't Bother Mar 14, 2009
I turned this pile of ~(a word Amazon will filter)~ off, not even 30 minutes into the film because of how bad the dialog was of a bunch of teenagers trying to act like snot nosed upper class snobs that just make you want to puke.
You just don't even care what happens in this as little miss Enchanted princess has a "coming out party?" (what the hell?) and a prank goes wrong that kills some ugly friend of hers. It looked like an even more annoying rip off of Cruel Intentions, just played out much more dull.
You just see this lame prank go wrong, and don't care what happens after that. Just avoid the movie, take a look at how many copies are for sale at not even a dollar each, and even the collectibles are not asking for much as there pretty much begging you to take it off there hands for free.
Don't bother to rent it, and avoid it if it's on TV for free.
Sooooooooooooo Bad Jan 25, 2009
be warned this the worst movie i ever seen the acting is so bad in it and the movie is so completly dumb and the character is so unlikable in the first fifteen minutes that i wanted to turn it off then i ended up watching it but i did in fast foward it so i won't have to watch it
2 of 2 found the following review helpful:
Oh, the stupid, it hurts. Nov 20, 2008
April Fools' Day (The Butcher Brothers, 2008)
The second straight-to-video-supposed-"remake" I've seen this year that looks absolutely nothing like the movie that spawned it, but where the Day of the Dead flick was actually a great deal of fun, April Fool's Day was a tiresome examination of how different the rich are-- kind of like Midnight in the Garden of Good and Evil, but without such niceties that film sported as talent and wit.
The Butcher Brothers' (The Hamiltons) third feature together opens on April Fools' Day 2007, at a coming out party for Torrance Caldwell (the beautiful and suddenly-ubiquitous Scout Taylor-Compton), hosted by the First Family of Atlanta money, the Cartiers. Desiree (Summerland's Taylor Cole) and her brother Blaine (Josh Henderson, recently seen on Desperate Housewives) have actually staged the coming out party as the basis of an elaborate prank on their former friend Milan Hastings (Whittaker Bay's Sabrina Aldridge), who has turned her back on the life of the idle rich and thrown herself into charitable causes). The prank goes horribly wrong, and Hastings ends up dead. Fast forward to a year later, and most of the circle of friends involved in the prank have all been summoned to Hastings' grave by mysteriously-delivered invitations. When they arrive, a package is delivered containing a laptop showing footage of the death of one of those absent. Assuming it was he who played the trick, they head over to his house and instead find him quite dead. From there, the flick develops into a bland, uninspiring slasher film. Aside, of course, from the big twist, which will come as absolutely no surprise to anyone who saw the original--it's the only thing the two movies have in common. (It will also come as no surprise to anyone who, you know, read the title of the movie before seeing it.)
I've seen far too many movies this year that have made me want that portion of my life back, and the ninety-one minutes I spent watching this movie can now be added to the tally. The script was loosely adapted from Danilo Bach's original screenplay by the Butcher Brothers themselves and first-time writer Mikey Wigart, and it's hard to know who to pin the blame on here (save Bach, whose original screenplay had all the humor, suspense, and fun that this one lacks). It seems to want to skewer the culture of the filthy rich, but I get the feeling that the Butcher Brothers, nee Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores, come from this type of background themselves; the characters are far too content to wallow in their shallowness for this to be an effective parody.
Well worth avoiding. I'd have bumped it up half a star for Taylor-Compton, but her overacting in the climactic scene is just painful to watch. (She's good for the rest of the movie, though.) *
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