A group of college students on the verge of graduation gather at a secluded island mansion in the Pacific Northwest, a property one of them is set to inherit. Their celebration quickly turns deadly as they are targeted and killed off individually. The central question becomes: who’s responsible for these attacks? "April Fool's Day," released in 1986, falls into the familiar cabin-in-the-woods horror category, though here the setting is a luxurious mansion instead of a rustic dwelling. Amy Steel, known for her role as Ginny in "Friday the 13th Part II," appears in the film, which inevitably draws comparisons to that series. While the female cast isn't particularly memorable beyond Steel’s presence, they are adequate. Deborah Foreman, who previously starred in “Valley Girl” and “Real Genius,” also features. The male actors include Ken Olandt, who bears a striking resemblance to Kevin Bacon, and Clayton Rohner, evoking Val Kilmer. However, the film suffers from uneven pacing, which prevents it from building sufficient tension. Other films like "Friday the 13th" and “Slumber Party Massacre II,” released in 1987 and sharing some thematic elements, are more consistently engaging. Despite its shortcomings, "April Fool's Day" is commendable for its impressive location and a surprising plot twist that I won’t spoil. The movie has a running time of one hour and twenty-nine minutes and was filmed at the St John estate in Victoria, British Columbia, with additional filming taking place in Los Angeles studios. A reimagining of the film was released in 2008. GRADE: B-

Source on TMDB