April Fool’s Day – 1986, Canada/US, 89m. Director: Fred Walton.
Basket Case – 1982, US, 91m. Director: Frank Henenlotter.
The Church – 1989, Italy, 102m. Director: Michael Soavi.
APRIL FOOL’S DAY (1986) A practical joke gone horrible awry sets the tone for this Agatha Christie-inspired slasher. Friends partying on a private island for spring break are done in by a killer who may or may not be the demented escapee twin of the wealthy hostess (Deborah Foreman). Drinking and flirting turns to worry and panic when people start inexplicably disappearing, including the trickster (Griffin O’Neal) whose earlier prank sent a ferryman to the hospital. Or is it all just an elaborate hoax? The screenplay spends more time on character and mystery than bloodshed, and in doing so delivers a solid thriller that balances suspense with laughs. The film’s “is-it-real?” scenario is, in a way, a parody of a subgenre that often took itself a bit too seriously. The good cast also helps bring the story to life, especially Friday the 13th alumna (and fan favorite) Amy Steel, as well as eighties regulars Clayton Rohner (I, Madman), Deborah Goodrich (Just One of the Guys), Ken Olandt (Summer School), and Tom Wilson of Back to the Future fame. It underperformed at the box office, but April Fool’s Day eventually gained a wider audience through repeat viewings on late night television and is now considered a cult classic—and comes highly recommended. Director Fred Walton previously helmed the 1979 sleeper When a Stranger Calls. B+
BASKET CASE (1982) A young man named Duane (Kevin Van Hentenryck) arrives in New York City to find the doctors who separated him from his conjoined twin brother, Belial—a one-foot tall, deformed creature with a thirst for revenge. Belial immediately goes about tearing off the faces of the doctors who wronged him and Duane, as well as anyone who gets in their way, which includes a plethora of seedy city types. Basket Case‘s minuscule budget is quite noticeable but ironically it adds flavor to the film’s gruesome atmosphere, something its bigger budgeted and slicker sequels lack. In fact, the film’s vulgar, grand guignol vibe plays extremely well with director Frank Henenlotter’s dark sense of humor, which is pumped into many of Belial’s gore-drenched escapades—including when one of the doctors gets a taste of her own medicine by having her face pulverized with a half-dozen scalpels. A twisted little gem, not to be missed. B+
THE CHURCH (1989) The restoration of a large cathedral uncovers the sinister truth behind the place’s nefarious history. Built over the mass grave of murdered 12th century villagers by a superstitious sect known as the Teutonic Order, the church becomes infused with evil powers and traps a group of employees and tourists within its structure. When a librarian (Tomas Arana) breaks open a seal in the basement, he unleashes a demonic force which subsequently possesses and turns him into a moody dope who incessantly pounds the “6” on his typewriter. Arana infects more people, turning them into demons until the place becomes a regular monster jamboree. One of the characters suffering from demonitis takes his own life by impaling himself on a jackhammer. Random characters try to find a way out through the labyrinthine dwelling but meet gruesome ends, including an insufferable bonehead who digs through to the underground transit system only to get her face splattered across the windshield of a train. In a rip-off of Rosemary’s Baby, a woman (Barbara Cupisti) lies naked on an altar surrounded by Satan-worshippers and is raped by the Devil himself. What could all of this mean? Why it’s yet another stylish but empty supernatural melodrama from the reigning king of Italian supernatural melodrama, Michael Soavi, this time aided by producer/co-writer Dario Argento. Good special effects and use of sound, but in the end The Church feels like just another Demons/Evil Dead clone. C–
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