APRIL FOOL'S DAY

Directed by Fred Walton
Produced by Frank Mancuso, Jr.
Written by Danilo Bach
Cinematography by Charles Minsky
Music by Charles Bernstein
Cast: Deborah Foreman, Ken Olandt, Amy Steel, Jay Bake, Deborah Goodrich, Tom Heaton & Lloyd Berry

1986/90 mins/Color/5.1 Dolby Digital
2.35:1 anamorphic/English/US/NTSC/Region 1

Review from the Paramount DVD

At last, a horror/satire movie that works.

When Buffy St. John invited her college friends up to her parent's secluded island home for the time of their lives, it just might be the last time of their lives.

As soon as the kids arrive on the island, someone starts trimming the guest list - one murder at a time. And what starts out as a weekend of harmless "April Fool's Day" pranks turns into a bloody battle for survival.

This was directed by Fred Walton (When a Stranger Calls) and produced by Frank Mancuso, Jr., who was behind many of the Friday The 13th movies. They are very experienced at this type of film and do a great job with AFD.

Finally, we get to see APRIL FOOL'S DAY in its OAR of 2.35:1 and it's anamorphic. One more laserdisc for the retirement bin. The print is in great shape and the transfer is wonderful - just what I expect from Paramount. There are none of the usual suspects (blemishes, dirt, nicks, etc.) that I could see and the colors are right on. I found the blacks and shadows to very slightly suffer in detail but I nitpick here. This is a fine transfer.

The sound available is DD 5.1 as well as DD 2.0 Surround and while not perfect, it does the job well. Included are a French mono track and English subtitles.

As is typical with Paramount lately, there are no extras at all, not even a trailer. This is disappointing but at least they still make a fine looking DVD. No ROM extras are here.

This is a terrific little movie - underrated, overlooked, and generally forgotten about and passed over. Perhaps this great looking DVD will begin to change that. In spite of the lack of supplements, this should satisfy the fans (it did me) and for those who haven't seen it before, it's highly recommended.

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Review by Brad Vautrinot. All Right Reserved. 2003. ©