April Fools Day (2008) Review
Written by: the5thdroog
I guess I should start by saying that I’m was a fan of the Hamiltons and had a chance to hang out with the Butcher Brothers for awhile at a convention and it is probably one of the only reasons I was interested in seeing this remake. I enjoyed the original for what it was and wondered why anyone would want to remake it, especially with no Amy Steel (personal preference) involvement. It was by no means a classic, but it was a decent movie. I’m glad I gave it a shot.
This one starts out on April 1, 2007 at a debutante party being thrown for Torrance (Scout Taylor-Compton). The people hosting the celebration, siblings Desiree and Blaine, have a few of their closer friends over a little earlier to toast Torrance privately and welcome her to the inner circle. Once the rest of the guests arrive, we are introduced to Milan who had been given a same type of coming out party a year earlier, but had apparently turned her back on the group. We find out later that Desiree staged this whole party to front for a set up she was going to pull on Milan with her brother and a few of the friends. Something ends up going horribly wrong and an accident occurs. It is then explained how the siblings have been orphaned and have been sharing the family trust with Blaine being executor. After the accident the court finds Desiree to be the more stable of the two due to recent events and puts her in charge. Flash forward a year later and we see how everyone’s lives have changed due to the scrutiny surrounding the occurrence. Each of the group receives a curious invitation telling them to show up at a certain spot because they have proof of who is to blame for the accident from a year ago. After they meet up and decide what to do people start getting murdered from the group one by one, which was what was threatened if the person responsible never admitted the guilt. Who is doing the killing? Are they really dead or is like the original? Well I’m not going to tell you.
The acting was pretty good. There were moments where I was more annoyed than I should’ve been, but overall a good cast. I especially liked seeing a couple of the Hamilton brothers in the film. Joe McKelheer and Samuel Child were both amusing in their roles. Scout also did a good job, but it was limited. With their being a lot of scenes where the actors play off of each other I think it went over well.
The effects weren’t really present in the film. I guess when you think about it, The Hamiltons wasn’t gore laden either. They got the job done when necessary, but the occasion seemed to rarely arise. With the way the Butcher Bothers directed the movie, it was paced well enough to not be worried too much about those things and more about what was actually going on. Unfortunately for me, in that regard I knew most of what was coming fairly early in the movie.
It isn’t the worst redo I’ve seen, but it doesn’t really compare too much to the original for me. I do like the fact that they took their own path with the storyline. Where the 1986 version took place all in one locale this one takes full advantage of the on location shooting and may’ve helped continue the movie without slowing it down too much. It isn’t a terrible movie and maybe those not familiar with first one will enjoy it more, but I guess when it comes to my kind of practical jokes, I like them old school.