April Fool's Day:A Mockery on DVD
By: Samantha Burmeister |
Friday July 04, 2008 |
April Fool's Day on DVD
Starring: Tayor Cole, Josh Henderson, Scout Taylor-Compton, Joe Egender, Jennifer Siebel, Samuel Child, and Joseph McKelheer
Unrated
How far will one go in order to get revenge? Some will go all the way to committing homicide in order to gain their own personal satisfaction of retaliation. April Fools Day, directed by American filmmakers Mitchell Altieri and Phil Flores also known to Hollywood as the Butcher Brothers recreates a twisted tale of betrayal and vendetta among a circle of friends. However, despite the corkscrew feeling of the plot line, the film lacks sufficient character development and, as a result, appreciation from its audience. There seems to be an absence of connection and fluidness between the characters which in turn makes the film uneasy and awkward to watch.
The film is set at a luxurious mansion in which protagonists Desiree Cartier (Taylor Cole) and brother Blaine (Josh Henderson) are hosting a debutant party. Realms of celebration and buoyancy turn to misconceptions and deadly accidents when Desiree’s wicked plan to drug a young woman in order to frame her brother for misconduct turn iniquitous. This sinister set up turns into an accidental murder in which people become wrongly accused of the incident. One by one, the members of the party begin to turn up dead as the friends search for clues about who is responsible for such acts. Little do they know, are the murders real or merely a disgusting April Fool’s Joke?
From the beginning of the film, the audience is unaware of how all the characters are related to one another other than the obvious relationship of brother and sister. As the above average plot line untwines, the characters do not fully develop themselves or create their own persona. This lack of self-development really makes the film emotionless and colorless because the audience does not establish a relationship with the characters. In the beginning of the film, the pinpointed victim of Desiree’s prank is dead after only about five minutes on screen. This murder proved to be the trigger for the rest of the film; however, her character depth and her relationship to others is not noted so her whole death seems careless to the audience.
Despite the deficiency of character development, the plot line is sound and complex. Waves of curiosity and anticipation are evident throughout the film’s entirety. There are numerous twists and underlying sub-plots that show their importance towards the end of the film. All of these distinct plot inclusions make up for the film’s absence of character connection and leaves the audience hanging at the end as to what actually happened and what was real and what was a joke. The surprised plea and the menacing cliffhanger at the end of the film, justifies its viewing.
The score adds the non present emotion that is needed in order to be a successful horror film. Mimicking similar Hitchcock melodies, the music is startling and integrates the burst of adrenaline that one receives whenever they are feeling scared. The whole dark notes are necessary with the establishment of the plot development in order to make the film worthwhile. Many different camera angles are also used in order to make the film more rigid and frightening. Blocked shots are incorporated so the audience is unaware of what was happening around the actors which left them clueless as to who was in the room with them or what was going to happen next.
Overall, out of five, I give this film a three. Definitely a slasher flick, April Fool’s Day, is one you might not want to watch when you are by yourself in a dark room. The rushes of thrill are enough to make one uneasy when viewing by himself. Just make sure you leave a light on, because you never know who’s familiar face is with you, without your knowledge.
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