Category: Slashers

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Slasher Month: Don’t Go into Those Woods, 80s Style!

THE FINAL TERROR (1983) Unfairly criticized slasher/Deliverance hybrid about a group of twenty-something forest rangers who run up against a homicidal mountain man while on a weekend training excursion in the woods. Utilizing Oregon’s Redwood National Forest setting to its advantage, the movie creates a genuine feel of isolation, especially in the second half when the story shifts gears from a Friday the 13th wannabe to a survival-of-the-fittest adventure thriller. While mostly carbon copies from slashers past, the characters are sympathetic and smart, and the cast believable, especially a young Joe Pantoliano (The Sopranos) as a hotheaded mechanic who may be hiding a secret. Filmed in 1981, this was shelved for two years because of distribution problems and finally got a limited release in late ’83 thanks to rising stars Daryl Hannah and Rachel Ward. The Final Terror isn’t the best slasher you’ll ever see, but it’s far from the worst. B–

HUMONGOUS (1982) Offbeat and misunderstood slasher about a boatload of empty-headed teens who get shipwrecked on a woodsy island. In typical horror fashion, the kids are eventually picked off by a heavy-breathing killer who turns out to be the deformed, mentally disturbed son – I wonder where they got that idea from? – of the island’s owner who died years earlier. This is actually decent stuff, with a fair amount of suspense mixed in with the cat-and-mouse scenario. While charismatic, Final Girl Janet Julian lacks the energy needed to carry this type of movie, but she’s aided by Paul (Prom Night) Lynch’s good direction and suspenseful set-ups. Not perfect in any way, Humongous is still worth viewing and demands a hi-def re-release. B

THE FOREST (1982) A bonkers woodsy terrain-set slasher that was probably filmed the weekend after Friday the 13th was released. Two couples taking a weekend camping excursion in the Sequoia National Park bump into a cannibalistic woodsman, who’s haunted by the ghosts of his family that he murdered years earlier! Although amateur to the core and silly as heck, The Forest gets points for trying to be somewhat different than most of the era’s hack-and-slashes; the corny premise is charming, and the moments of black humor welcoming. But it isn’t long until the movie begins to run out of steam – and plot – and we’re left with a paper-thin story in which one of the campers is repeatedly told by the killer’s ghost children, “Daddy’s gone hunting!” A weak but marginally entertaining B-movie that has the second bill in a Double Feature written all over it. C+

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Slasher Month: Intruder, Mountaintop Motel Massacre, and The Toolbox Murders

MOUNTAINTOP MOTEL MASSACRE (1983) Crazy old Evelyn (Anna Chappell), recently released from an institution, is trying to live a normal life with her teen daughter deep within the Louisiana bayou at the Mountaintop Motel. After she discovers the young girl practicing witchcraft, Evelyn accidentally kills her in a fit of rage, snaps, and goes on a rampage, murdering the motel’s patrons with poisonous snakes and other instruments of death. This strange slasher has good atmosphere (its rainstorm-night setting and camp-like cabins remind of Friday the 13th) and likable characters, and although Evelyn is just a Norman Bates clone, Chappell sells it with a subtle performance. Mountaintop might be too slowly paced for some, but this is decent stuff and not the cheap exploitation flick its title would suggest. B

THE TOOLBOX MURDERS (1978) A seminal piece of sleazy ’70s exploitation, this cheap quickie features a Los Angeles apartment complex targeted by a sadistic murderer who uses hammers, screwdrivers, and nail guns to kill his mostly female victims. When the police don’t take a teenage girl’s disappearance seriously, her older brother (Nicolas Beauvy), who believes she was kidnapped by the killer, takes it upon himself to find her. As with most slasher movies that carry notoriety, Toolbox Murders is better than its reputation suggests, but that’s not to say it’s good, either; the story is hackneyed and the middle half drags considerably. But, it’s watchable hokum, contains a wacky performance by Cameron Mitchell, and features a fairly taut final 10 minutes. C+

INTRUDER (1989) A great bookend to the 1980s slasher cycle, this energized splatterfest is written by Tarantino’s future producer, Lawrence Bender. Closing time for a rowdy group of supermarket employees turns into a nightmare when a madman breaks in and begins hacking them to pieces. Is the culprit the obsessed ex-boyfriend of cute cashier, Jennifer (Elizabeth Cox), who earlier made threats against several of her coworkers? Although the plot is routine and textbook of the subgenre, Intruder fires on most cylinders because of an excellent cast, punchy characters, and terrific direction by Scott Spiegel (co-writer of Evil Dead II). While slow to start, this picks up speed and tension, skillfully structured to build to a slam-bang finale pitting Final Girl Jennifer against the maniac. A worthy entry in the late ’80s slasher cannon and featuring some superb KNB FX work. B+

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Slasher Month – Italian Style!

DEEP RED (1975) The quintessential Italian slasher, this terrific murder mystery put Dario Argento on the map and took the giallo to new, respected heights. After witnessing the brutal murder of a renowned psychic (Macha Méril), who earlier foresaw her own death, a jazz pianist (David Hemmings) becomes obsessed with finding the killer, and is subsequently pursued by the murderer, putting himself and others in danger. Soaking in Argento’s flamboyant style, Deep Red works on multiple levels and delivers a totally unique slasher/thriller that transcends the genre; with its complex storyline and well-rounded characters, including themes of self-loathing and post-traumatic stress, the film isn’t a disposable bloodbath, but a thoughtful and intelligent piece of psychological horror. It also features some suspenseful moments that would make Hitchcock proud. A–

THE NEW YORK RIPPER (1982) The pinnacle of Lucio Fulci’s American-filmed bloodbaths, The New York Ripper is perhaps the perfect Eurotrash slasher. Set against the sleazy backdrop of early ’80s New York City, NY Ripper spins the gleefully ludicrous tale of a duck-voiced maniac carving up the local female population with a straight razor, steak knife, and, in one of the film’s more notorious scenes, a broken bottle. The killer, in between their brutal escapades, calls up friends of the victims and taunts them with a hilariously awful Donald Duck impression! No, I’m not kidding. Your typical hard-boiled detective (Jack Hedley) becomes obsessed with finding the deranged Disney slasher, especially after his spunky hooker girlfriend is turned into mincemeat. Gaudy, gory, and campy as hell, NY Ripper is in a category by itself: dark, violent, and batshit goofy, it’s a movie that has its fingers in many genre pies – including comedy! – but mostly hovers between the giallo detective story and gory horror. It simply never ceases to be spectacularly absurd, and highly enjoyable. B+

NIGHTMARE BEACH (1989) “Welcome to Spring Break. The annual migration of the idiot.” Those wise words are spoken within the first ten minutes of Nightmare Beach, a surprisingly witty, full throttle, Italian-grade cheesefest filmed in Florida. In the wake of the electric chair execution of gang leader Diablo, arrested for the murder of a young woman, a leather-clad killer begins bumping off the babes and jocks of Manatee Beach by using a motorcycle rigged to cook its victims alive. Has Diablo risen from the dead, or is the real killer still at large? A good cast (John Saxon, Michael Parks, Lance LeGault), likable characters, a punchy attitude, and some gooey make-up FX – including a poor beach bunny’s melting face in a fireball – make Nightmare Beach a nice surprise, even when it’s not always working. One of the few ’80s Euro-slashers made Stateside that actually feels American-made. Director/writer Harry Kirkpatrick is actually Umberto Lenzi. B

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Slasher Month: Alice Sweet Alice, The Chill Factor, and Night School

ALICE, SWEET ALICE (1976) A wonderful mix of domestic drama, slasher flick, and overall hysteria. The death of nine-year-old Karen (Brooke Shields) at her first communion kicks off a string of brutal murders within a Catholic community by someone in a yellow raincoat and mask. The locals point their fingers at Karen’s jealous sister, Alice (Paula E. Sheppard), but when the murders continue after Alice is placed in an institution for troubled children, the search continues for the knife-wielding maniac. Influenced by Dario Argento and Don’t Look Now, Alice is both insightful and shocking, seamlessly mixing its religious symbolism, well-written characters, and 1961 period setting into its suspenseful and gory kill sequences. A must-see pre-Halloween slasher. B+

THE CHILL FACTOR (1993) No, not that Cuba Gooding, Jr. action comedy, but a dumb hybrid of The Exorcist and Friday the 13th which, despite some shortcomings, is marginally entertaining. A group of friends seeking shelter after a snowmobile accident in a remote patch of woods hole up in an abandoned summer camp that was once operated by a Satanic cult. After they discover and play with a spirit board, it unleashes a shadowy, demonic figure that slowly possesses one of them and kills the rest one-by-one. This has some good moments – the icicle-through-the-eye bit is a highlight – and its snowy landscape lends the movie a genuinely chilly feel, but a lack of energy, and emotionless, mundane characters, dampen a lot of potential impact, especially when the pacing speeds up towards the end. The crap-o music sounds like it was rejected from the pilot of Beverly Hills, 90210. Funniest scene: in response to her friend’s open bone fracture, “It’s probably not as bad as it looks!” C+

NIGHT SCHOOL (1981) Boston-set slasher whodunit about a killer clad in a motorcycle helmet who’s cutting off the heads of the student body at a private, all-female college. Suspects include the pompous anthropology professor (Drew Snyder), who specializes in the study of ancient head-hunting practices (hardy har!); the creeper bus boy (Bill McCann), who’s got eyes for the professor’s pretty assistant (Rachel Ward); and the moody homicide detective (Leonard Mann). Slickly made and nicely paced, Night School isn’t great, but it’s entertaining, well acted, and has a sense of humor, especially in a playful scene that runs like a game of “Guess Where the Decapitated Head Is?” Modern viewers might be more wise to the killer’s identity, but that shouldn’t prevent you from enjoying this modest effort. Look for a hockey mask in the background of a suspect’s bedroom. B

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Halloween: Resurrection, and Rob Zombie’s Halloween & Halloween II

HALLOWEEN: RESURRECTION (2002) In one of the many WTF moments in the Halloween franchise, Resurrection boasts perhaps the most insanely ridiculous explanation for Michael Myers’ return. After mistaking a paramedic as Michael and cutting off the poor guy’s head at the end of H20, Laurie Strode (Jamie Lee Curtis) has been locked inside an asylum for three years. As per usual, Laurie’s “Mikey Senses” tingle, and before you can say “retcon,” she succumbs to Michael’s knife in a very disheartening demise for the most famous Final Girl in slasher movie history. With Laurie’s death, a monolithic question arises: What does Michael Myers do now that he’s finally killed his other sister? The answer Resurrection brings forth is to murder more nubile young people with his ginormous butcher’s knife, of course, all of whom are conveniently filming a live webcam event at his childhood house on Lampkin Lane. Oh, boy! Halloween: Resurrection is just plain dumb. The story is soulless and makes no sense, the characters are fifth-generation photocopies of Halloweens past, and Michael is about as scary as a walking salami. Yet, Resurrection is often so bad it’s entertaining in a completely cheap and gimmicky way, like a trashy shot-on-video flick from the ’80s. Also, where else are you ever going to see Busta Rhymes do kung-fu on Michael Myers? It ain’t as bad as Halloween Ends. C

HALLOWEEN (2007) I was not a fan of Rob Zombie’s reimagining of John Carpenter’s masterpiece when it originally came out. I was so in my fanboy, “you-can’t-touch-this” mindset that I essentially shut down and poo-pooed the entire movie simply because it wasn’t the perfect scare show the ’78 vehicle was. After recently watching the abhorrent Halloween Ends, I decided to give Zombie’s film another try – well, actually, this was probably the fourth or fifth time – and my perspective of the 2007 version has changed completely. I now understand what Zombie was doing by focusing on 10-year-old Michael (Daeg Faerch) as a sort of Jeffrey Dahmer-esque animal-killer, and his white trash family. Zombie was making his story all about Michael and less about Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton). Once grown Michael (Taylor Mane) escapes from the institution, the film basically follows the same structural footsteps as Carpenter’s, with Mikey seeking his sister, Laurie, and killing anyone who gets in his way, including Laurie’s parents (Dee Wallace and Pat Skipper) in one of the movie’s more intense sequences. A visceral fast pace and quick cuts gives the experience a fresh take on the overplayed story, successfully creating a Halloween that both feels different but respects the subject matter; a true testament to Zombie’s love for the genre. The movie runs out of steam towards the end (especially in the two-hour director’s cut) and Laurie and her friends feel like hollow replicas of the original, but this is solid stuff worthy of a rewatch. And, it’s better than Halloween Ends. B–

HALLOWEEN II (2009) A lot has been said about Rob Zombie’s Halloween II. I don’t agree with most of it, but I can argue that it’s probably the most violent in the entire Halloween series. Is it good? No. Is it entertaining? Not really. There’s a big shift in tone from the 2007 movie. The Michael in Halloween II is almost animalistic, presenting more of a lumbering, Leatherface-esque personality who, in the first 10 minutes, saws off the head of a paramedic with a shard of broken glass in grisly detail. Two years after the events of Zombie’s Halloween, Michael has survived and is roaming the land (unmasked) doing a self-exploration/meditation thing and having angelic visions of his dead mom (Sheri Moon Zombie). Over in Haddonfield, Laurie (Scout Taylor-Compton) is suffering from severe PTSD and has turned into an annoying punk rock vegan who screams at her psychiatrist (Margot Kidder) when she’s not having epileptic fits and nightmares about murdering best friend, Annie (Danielle Harris). Dr. Loomis (Malcom McDowell) is riding high off the success of his tell-all book about Michael, revealing to the world Michael’s blood relationship with Laurie. An hour later, Michael finally makes it back to his hometown and the bodies start to pile. Much like Laurie, Halloween II is all over the place and can’t seem to find its footing. Zombie is trying for a more thoughtful take on the perspective of what makes a serial killer, as well as the repercussions of post-traumatic stress and its long-term psychological impact on friends and family. At the same time, the exploitative nature of certain scenes – Annie’s death has her totally naked and on the bathroom floor covered in blood – are so explicitly violent that it almost feels like there are two movies happening. It all builds to a hilariously awful climax that’s so OTT and exhausted by its “enlightened” ideas that when Laurie (in the lengthy director’s cut) is shot down by cops you’ll be applauding. But, it’s better than Halloween Ends. C–

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80s: Girls Nite Out and Madhouse

Madhouse, 1981

In the tradition of House on Sorority Row, Final Exam, and other early ’80s college-set slashers is 1982’s GIRLS NITE OUT. After the DeWitt University basketball team wins big during a championship game, the players and their girlfriends celebrate by having a costume party. Things get out of hand at the party when Sheila (Lauren-Marie Taylor) publicly shows affection for basketball mascot Benson (Matthew Dunn), a moment witnessed by her boyfriend Mike (David Holbrook). Mike makes a scene and storms out.

The next night, someone in the mascot outfit begins killing the all-female participants of the annual scavenger hunt, using a homemade glove with a claw made of knives (hello, Freddy!). With all the targets being women from a popular clique, does the killer have a misogynistic motive for the brutal slayings? Could it be Mike, still in a jealous rage over Sheila? Or maybe it’s Dickie Cavanaugh, a former university student who murdered his girlfriend years earlier and who may or may not be dead? And what about Benson? Hmmm…

Despite some good moments and an inventive killer, Girls Nite Out is unfortunately a misfire. Unlike Halloween, Friday the 13th, or similar movies, there’s no Final Girl or Boy to root for; the film is littered with too many uninteresting characters, with no central theme or plot line, creating a confusing web of relationships and stories. This is made worse by a slow pace and a meandering vibe that doesn’t push the story forward but stops it in its tracks. Friday the 13th Part 2‘s Taylor has the best kill, but if you’ve seen more then one of these flicks you can guess the identity of the killer early on. C

Girls Nite Out is available on Blu-ray from Arrow Video.

If there’s one thing Italian genre filmmakers knew how to do in the ’70s and ’80s, it was pumping out stylish, but cockamamie, slashers, and 1981’s MADHOUSE is prime example. Shot in Savannah, Georgia, the story follows schoolteacher, Julia (Trish Everly), on the days leading up to her birthday. After paying her psycho twin sister, Mary, a visit at the local mental health facility, Julia begins having memories of her dysfunctional childhood, which was made worse by the sociopathic Mary and her vicious Rottweiler.

Triggered by Julia’s upcoming birthday, Mary escapes the hospital and, with her trusty, bloodthirsty dog by her side, begins to kill Julia’s friends. When Julia believes Mary murdered one of her students, Julia’s uncle (Dennis Robertson) dismisses her as delusional, creating tension and paranoia in Julia – and a higher body count. Is Mary responsible for the killings, or is Julia just imagining it all in her clouded mind?

The movie is very well made and often has the look of a polished Hollywood film. Unfortunately, its characters and situations are presented so ludicrously that it’s difficult to take any of it seriously, especially when it’s trying very hard to be serious. It’s hard to muster much sympathy for Julia when her character keeps putting herself in hot water, leading to an ending that makes little sense and has zero suspense. Madhouse is a movie you’ll want to see repossessed. C–

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Summer Camp Slashers: The Burning and Madman

When you think of summer camp slasher flicks from the early ’80s, Friday the 13th and Sleepaway Camp automatically come to mind. While those two deserve their place on the mantel of great summertime splatter, there are two others that merit a spot in the top ten: The Burning and Madman. With a current resurgence of ’80s-themed horror movies – and the release of last year’s terrific retro summer camp slasher, Fear Street: 1978 – here’s hoping these two underappreciated gems continue to climb up the cult ladder.

Initially considered to be nothing more than a Friday rip-off, 1981’s MADMAN is an atmosphere-heavy, suspenseful chiller. Taking place over the course of several late night hours, the story follows a group of camp counselors at a woodsy retreat for gifted children. While they, along with the kids, sit around a late night camp fire, head counselor, Max (Frederick Neumann), spins a gruesome tale about legendary Madman Marz, a local, crazed farmer who murdered his family with an axe years earlier and seemingly vanished without a trace. Rumor is you can summon Marz forth by calling out his name.

When one of the teens does just that, he unknowingly lets loose the unstoppable Madman (Paul Ehlers), who, with axe in hand, goes on a bloody rampage, dispatching the clueless counselors in gory fashion. With wise old Max having left for the holiday, it’s up to feisty, young Betsy (Gaylen Ross, Dawn of the Dead) to defend herself, and the kids, against the hulking Marz.

Although filmed in late 1980, Madman wasn’t officially released until early 1982, which meant it had unfortunately arrived after Friday the 13th Part 2 had already secured Jason Voorhees as the predominant summer camp slasher. With not enough room for two camp counselor-killing maniacs, Madman was, for many years, ignored, which is a shame. Madman is an inventive and highly stylish slasher flick with good characters and a scary villain. And while the movie has plenty of juicy splatter, director Joe Giannone leaves room for ample amounts of suspense, especially during the final 20 minutes. B+

Madman is available on Blu-ray and is currently streaming on Tubi.

Originally inspired by the Cropsy urban legend, Madman changed its villain to Marz after discovering another film already in production was using the Cropsy name: 1981’s THE BURNING.

At Camp Blackfoot in upstate New York, shenanigans are underway late one night as a gang of teenage boys plot a prank against the creepy camp caretaker, Cropsy (Lou David). When their joke goes horribly wrong, Cropsy is set ablaze and left grossly disfigured. Five years later and after several failed skin grafts, Crospy is released from a hospital and, after murdering a spunky Times Square prostitute, heads back to camp for some bloody revenge.

Crospy, with large garden sheers in hand, stalks the grounds of Camp Stonewater and its multitude of nubile teenage campers. The characters include the hyper-shy Alfred (Brian Backer), who’s continually tormented by the camp bully, Glazer (Larry Joshua); there’s also the camp funny man, Dave (Jason Alexander, Seinfeld), virginal Karen (Carolyn Houlihan), and head counselors Michelle (Leah Ayres) and Todd (Brian Matthews). Things are made easy for Cropsy when the older teens basically line themselves up for a gory smorgasbord during an overnight camping trip down the river.

As with Madman, The Burning was unfairly overlooked during its initial release. And just like Madman, the film deserves its place on a list of ’80s horror gems. Suspenseful, shocking, and overflowing with dense atmosphere, The Burning is slasher gold that, as with the best of the genre, offers immensely likable and realistic characters that heighten the effect of the horror. There’s also some terrific Tom Savini make-up FX (much of it showcased in the infamous “raft of death” scene), a creepy musical score by Rick Wakeman, and an intense final conflict between Cropsy and Final Boy Alfred, the movie’s surprise hero. A–

The Burning is available on Blu-ray and currently streaming on Tubi.

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The New Scream Doesn’t Cut Deep

Warning: This post contains spoilers!

By Frank Pittarese

I went into the new Scream with low expectations, but wanting so badly to love it. It wasn’t the most necessary of sequels, but knowing that the original cast was returning was exciting. If nothing else, I was looking forward to checking in with their characters again. But since this was the fifth film in the series, the stakes needed to be high. This one needed to matter. We’ve already had four films with essentially the same plot, so if this “requel” didn’t level up, it would be a pointless. In my mind, that meant one of two things had to happen: Sidney Prescott had to die in a blaze of glory — or Sidney Prescott had to be the killer. But whichever way it went, it was time to close the door on Sidney’s too-long arc.

Scream 5 is, unfortunately, a half-baked regurgitation of what has come before. Self-referential? Check. Multiple killers? Check. Killers motivated by fame? Check. It’s fair to say that we want some familiar touchstones — the template for every Friday the 13th is practically the same and I never get sick of those. But with the Scream franchise — thanks to Wes Craven’s genre-defining launch — there’s an expectation of something better…a level of quality that should rise above a by-the-numbers, lazy, cash-grab

But that’s what we got. Oh, all our favorites are back — but every one of them is here strictly for fan service. The “old school” characters are hollow window-dressing in a story that disrespects every one of them. Apart from a phone call with Dewey, Sidney is sidelined for the first hour. Dewey and Gale have, for no justifiable reason, divorced between films — and to really drive a nail in the coffin, Dewey is killed off at the halfway point. He dies like a chump before ever reconciling with Gale. They barely even share screen time. Were you a Randy fan? Well, his teenage niece and nephew have been created for the sole purpose of name-dropping him multiple times. How about Billy? Well, one of the newbies is Billy’s daughter, retconned for the sole purpose of — what did I say? Fan service, and insulting fan service, to boot.

The mystery, such as it is, is rendered pointless when, in the final act, the main killer simply whips out a gun and starts shooting people. It’s like the screenwriters grew tired of their own laziness and gave up. Sidney and Gale, two strong women with a history of conflict, arrive on the scene and for a brief flash, I had hope. Maybe this was the point for Sidney and Gale to bond, work together, and save the day. But no, Gale is shot within seconds of meeting the killer. She survives, but the possibility of seeing something different or interesting play out evaporated at that moment.

The lead actress — playing our new Sidney, I suppose — is a bland, blank slate. Neve Campbell is the embodiment of the word “personality,” and gave us a character we could invest in for decades. This new girl, Sam, is just a CW character gone astray. She brings nothing to the table.

The one surprise is the second killer. Not that there IS a second killer, because that’s pretty apparent early on. It’s their identity that was a surprise. Somehow, they managed to structure the story and cast a performer who worked so well that I was honestly taken aback in a good way.

Word is, there’s another sequel coming. Nobody is asking for it, but we’re getting it. Perhaps they’ll redeem themselves, but given the mess Scream 5 left behind, I wouldn’t count on it. D+

Frank is a Brooklyn native, comic book editor, and horror fanatic. You can follow him on Twitter and Instagram

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Why April Fool’s Day is a Cut Above the Rest

Warning: This post contains spoilers!

By the mid-1980s, the so-called “golden age of the slasher” was essentially coming to an end. Jason Voorhees was dead and buried. Michael Myers had been replaced by a mask-making witch. And college dorms had become home to slapstick comedy and not revenge-fueled, knife-wielding maniacs. In the spring of 1986, Paramount – then home to the Friday the 13th series – released April Fool’s Day, a quirky whodunit horror-comedy that not only embraced the slasher but gleefully poked fun at it. It was what the subgenre at the time needed.

The film opens with a group of Vassar College friends heading to their mutual friend’s private island for the weekend. In traditional horror movie format, we’re introduced to each of the characters and their personalities. Chaz (Clayton Rohner) is the local hipster of the group and all-around perv, although he only has eyes for bombshell, Nikki (Deborah Goodrich), who isn’t afraid to explore her wild side in bed. Rob (Ken Olandt) and Kit (Amy Steel) are the all-American preppy, nice couple, although Rob’s happy-go-lucky demeanor slips when Kit discovers he didn’t get into med school. Best buds, Skip (Griffin O’Neal) and Arch (Thomas F. Wilson), love to play practical jokes on their friends, while newbies Nan (Leah Pinsent) and Harvey (Jay Baker) try their best to assimilate into the tight-knit gang; Nan’s bookwormish manner and Harvey’s desperation to be one of the rich kids don’t exactly sit well with the others.

And then there’s Muffy (Deborah Foreman), the Spring Break hostess whose island paradise is complete with sunshine, boats, and a giant country estate we later learn she will inherit. The weekend getaway doesn’t get off to a good start when one of Skip’s pranks goes awry and results in a ferryman getting his face crushed between the ferry and dock. Once on the island things get progressively worse when Skip disappears, leading to a manhunt in the nearby woods that results in Arch getting bumped off by a mystery assailant. It isn’t long until the bodies start to pile up and all fingers point to the disfigured ferryman seeking revenge.

While stuck on the island waiting for the police to arrive, Kit and Rob become amateur sleuths and eventually find out Muffy has a twin sister, Buffy, who was committed to an institution years earlier and has escaped. Is Buffy the one responsible for the murders? Or, is it all some elaborate April Fool’s prank?

Who done it? Turns out there is no killer. It was all a ruse created by Muffy: a big April Fool’s prank that also functioned as a test run for Muffy’s business idea to turn her family’s island estate into a murder mystery getaway. How’s that for a twist?

What makes the movie work so well is its ability to function as both a funny slasher and a mystery thriller. The screenplay (by Danilo Bach) has fun not only with its characters but with its audience by putting you in the same situation. It wants you to figure out the clues and unravel what’s going on. Even the final double-twist is the film saying to viewers, “We’re having fun, and we hope you are!” But the scenario wouldn’t have worked nearly as well had the cast not been as good as it is here. Steel and Olandt make a terrific detective couple, while Wilson and O’Neal genuinely seem like old friends. The entire cast meshes very well together and all of the characters are likable in their own way; as with the characters from Friday the 13th Part 2 or Halloween, you want to be a part of their inner circle.

Unfairly ignored during its initial release, April Fool’s Day has since gained a cult following, thanks largely to its frequent play on late-night TV throughout the late ’80s. Pushed aside by hardcore horror fans for its lack of gore and mask-wearing killer, the movie – recently re-released on Blu-ray by Shout! Factory – is now seen as a work of originality and stands high above the assortment of familiar slashers and low-grade sequels that drowned the era.

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SLASHER MONTH: Destroyer, Final Exam, Hatchet, and Silent Madness!

DESTROYER (1988) d: Robert Kirk. c: Anthony Perkins, Deborah Foreman, Clayton Rohner, Lyle Alzado, Tobias Anderson, Lannie Garrett. A muscle-bound mass murderer (Alzado), executed 18 months earlier, seemingly comes back from the dead and stalks a group of filmmakers making a women-in-prison flick in the now-abandoned jailhouse where Alzado was put to death. This pre-Shocker slasher is better made then it deserves to be and has a good cast – Perkins, Foreman, and Rohner are all in fine form – but stiff direction, slow pacing, and cut-rate gore FX keep the movie from being terribly interesting. C

FINAL EXAM (1981) d: Jimmy Huston. c: Cecile Bagdadi, Joel S. Rice, Ralph Brown, DeAnna Robins, Sherry Willis-Burch, Timothy L. Raynor. On the last day before Spring Break, the remaining students of Lanier College are terrorized by a knife-happy killer (Raynor) who stalks his victims in a black van. This is a textbook example of an ’80s slasher flick, complete with a killer who stays in the shadows, the disbelieving sheriff, the opening murder sequence, and a cast of teens that now seem like a cliché, including the nerd, the bimbo, and frat jock, and the virginal good girl. Heavily inspired by Halloween, Final Exam can’t hold a candle to that classic; its pacing is often too slow and the killer is presented rather lifelessly. But there is stuff for the hardcore slasher fan to enjoy, including a student (Rice) who’s obsessed with serial killers and horror movies – a prelude to Randy from Scream, perhaps? A solid final 20 minutes helps the overall positive effect of the film. B–

HATCHET (2006) d: Adam Green. c: Kane Hodder, Joel David Moore, Deon Richmond, Amara Zaragoza, Richard Riehle, Mercedes McNab. A spirited, and appropriately gory, homage to ‘80s splatter, this low-budgeter has more verve and energy than most “bigger” Hollywood movies. When their tour boat sinks in the middle of the New Orleans swamp, a group of tourists are stalked and slaughtered by the hideously deformed bayou legend, Victory Crowley (Hodder), with veteran actor, Riehle, as a poor victim who gets literally ripped in half. One of the best independent horror flicks of the 2000s, Hatchet is funny, fast-paced, and features a spate of wonderfully inventive make-up FX that will please any gorehound. Look for cameos by Robert Englund, Joshua Leonard, and Tony Todd. B+

SILENT MADNESS (1984) d: Simon Nuchtern. c: Belinda Montgomery, Viveca Lindfors, David Greenan, Sydney Lassick, Rodrick Cook, Solly Marx. A man (Marx) diagnosed as criminally insane is accidentally released as the result of human error and immediately goes back to the sorority house where he massacred several students 20 years earlier to do some more slicing and dicing. Talkier than the typical slasher of the time, and featuring a cockamamie subplot involving two bumbling hospital orderlies-turned-assassins, this is better made than you’d think and has a good cast, including spunky final girl Montgomery, and a couple of impressive kills, some of which look great in the original 3-D version. A silly but watchable time passer. B–