''April Fools'' is a 2007 American

slasher film A slasher film is a genre of horror films involving a killer stalking and murdering a group of people, usually by use of bladed or sharp tools like knife, chainsaw, scalpel, etc. Although the term "slasher" may occasionally be used informally as a ...

written and directed by Nancy Norman. It stars

Daya Vaidya Daya Vivian Vaidya (born May 20, 1980) is an American actress. She is best known for her role as Nina Inara in the television series ''Unforgettable''. Early life Vaidya was born on May 20, 1980 in Kathmandu, Nepal to an Indian Gujarati father ...

, Aaliyah Franks,

Darrin Henson Darrin Dewitt Henson (born May 5, 1973) is an American choreographer, dancer, actor, director and producer. Hensen was a brief member of freestyle music group Trilogy and was featured on their single "Good Time".

, and

Obba Babatundé Obba Babatundé (born Donald Cohen; December 1, 1951) is an American actor. A native of Queens, New York City, he has appeared in more than seventeen stage productions, thirty theatrical films, sixty made-for-television films, and two prime-time ...

Plot

While pulling an

April Fools' Day April Fools' Day or All Fools' Day is an annual custom on 1 April consisting of practical jokes and hoaxes. Jokesters often expose their actions by shouting "April Fools!" at the recipient. Mass media can be involved in these pranks, which may ...

prank on a

nerd A nerd is a person seen as overly intellectual, obsessive, introverted or lacking social skills. Such a person may spend inordinate amounts of time on unpopular, little known, or non-mainstream activities, which are generally either highly tec ...

y classmate named Melvin, a group of high school friends (Missy, DeAnna, Eva, Diego, Malik, and Marlin) accidentally kill him when Marlin hits Melvin with a football, causing him to fall on and he is impaled by a piece of

rebar Rebar (short for reinforcing bar), known when massed as reinforcing steel or reinforcement steel, is a steel bar used as a Tension (physics), tension device in reinforced concrete and reinforced masonry structures to strengthen and aid the concr ...

as a result. Panicking, the group drag Melvin's body into a wooded area, and stage it to look like he was the victim of a random gang-related attack. Exactly one year later, DeAnna is stabbed to death by a hooded figure while interning at a hospital. After murdering DeAnna, the killer writes "April Fools" on a wall with her blood. Hearing about DeAnna's death, Missy meets up with the others, convinced that DeAnna's murder may have something to do with Melvin's death, though her worries are dismissed. Later, Eva is stabbed in a locker room after dance practice by the same hooded assailant, who once again writes "April Fools" on a wall in blood. Unaware of Eva's death, Missy goes to the high school's Spring Jam, despite being unnerved by surveillance footage of DeAnna's murder, accidentally left in her room by her detective father. At the Spring Jam, Missy recognizes the attending killer from the surveillance footage, and looks for help from Malik after witnessing Diego and a teacher be murdered. Malik and the killer fight, sparking a brawl on the dance floor that covers the killer's escape after he fatally stabs Malik. Along with the other revelers, Missy is rounded up by the authorities, and at the police station she admits to her and her friends' involvement in Melvin's death to her father. A police officer escorts Missy home, where she is confronted by "the April Fools Killer" - Marlin, who has killed the officer, and the one stationed at his house. Marlin claims that he was only one affected by Melvin's death, his life falling to shambles after it while everyone else easily moved on, enraging him. Marlin attacks Missy, but she manages to briefly incapacitate him and get outside, a recovered Marlin giving chase. Marlin soon catches up with Missy but is killed in self defense when she hits him with a rock, and turns his own blade on him. Stumbling away from Marlin's body, Missy collapses into the arms of her father, who had gone out looking for her after piecing together the April Fools Killer's identity.

Cast

as Detective Malcolm Combs *

as Detective Ward * Aaliyah Franks as Missy Combs *

as Eva Hernandez * Anthony Hixon as Marlin "Scoop" Watkins * Malik Middleton as Malik Frazier * Ramses Jimenez as Diego Mendez * Melanie Reif as DeAnna Price * Ricardo Prosper as Ace *

Lamorne Morris Lamorne Morris (born August 14, 1983) is an American actor, comedian and television personality. He is known for roles such as Winston Bishop in the Fox sitcom ''New Girl'' (2011-2018), Darrin Morris in the National Geographic docudrama ''Vall ...

as Melvin Fox * G. Lane Hillman as Adam * Ricardo Gamboa as Kid #1 * Peter E. Pohlhammer as Grimm * Dane Campbell as Raheim * John Norman as Desk Sergeant * Sheila Bland as Reporter #1 * Chavez Ravine as Mrs. Watkins * Wilson Cain II as Albert * Tomica S. Jenkins as Mrs. Johnson * Lanre Idewu as School Counselor *

Lil' Flip Wesley Eric Weston Jr. (born March 3, 1981), better known by his stage name Lil' Flip, is an American rapper. He embarked on his musical career as a freestyle and battle rapper before earning a record deal with Suckafree Records in 1999. Lil' F ...

as himself

Reception

Black Horror Movies wrote, "You have to love ''April Fools''. Otherwise, you might end up blowing your brains out. What feels like a film with production values above typical 'urban horror' fare turns out to be frustratingly devoid of quality. But where quality is lacking, camp appeal reigns supreme, and if camp is ''April Fools ultimate goal, it's downright brilliant. This is a perfect storm of incompetence on all fronts: acting, writing, direction, editing, continuity, special effects, and basic human decency." Film Critics United said, "The young actors struggle with their lines, the story – though liberally stolen – stole only the worthless parts of movies that weren't that good anyway, the ending was completely outlandish, the camera work was spotty at best, and it wasn't scary. In fact it was quite funny."

References

External links

* {{IMDb title, 1083844, April Fools 2007 films Hood films American slasher films Camcorder films Holiday horror films 2000s high school films 2007 horror films Films about bullying African-American films American police detective films 2007 direct-to-video films American high school films American independent films American teen horror films Films about school violence Direct-to-video horror films Films set in Chicago Films shot in Chicago Fictional portrayals of the Chicago Police Department 2007 directorial debut films 2007 independent films 2000s English-language films 2000s American films