Disclaimer: Contains spoilers!
Plot Summary: A group of college friends, vacationing at an isolated mansion, appear to be targeted by a killer.
Review: Although they were scraping the bottom of the holiday horror barrel, this is one of the more unconventional '80s slashers out there. Sure, the cliches and tropes are plain as day to see, but the filmmakers had self-awareness and toyed with the audience's expectations. On top of that, there are a few worthwhile aspects to consider. For one, you have Thomas Wilson, notorious for playing Biff from "Back to the Future." The whodunnit angle is a bit obvious, but they offer many red herrings to keep you guessing. Finally you have the main chick from Jason 2 coming back for another slasher role; I know some fans like these connections. The only real detriment is the polarizing ending. You're either going to love it or see it as a huge cop-out.
The story is mostly straightforward, but you'll notice many loops being thrown. The connection between the characters is kind of confusing at first since they all appear to be close friends or whatever. Some do know each other, but their main link is the mutual friend of a girl named Muffy. Yeaaaah...Muffy. Well, Muffy is very rich and invites this group to stay at, what appears to be, an island mansion. Coinciding with April Fool's Day, the film starts off with shenanigans until things go too far with a guy getting messed up in an accident. With this prank gone wrong putting a damper on their little vacation, the group tries to get over it until a killer starts to pick them each off. Besides the usual suspects of the group, you have the guy who got messed up or the possibility of a third party unseen. Sure enough, the killer is a third party character, Buffy, Muffy's twin sister. Sounding a bit too corny? Well, that's the real crux of the twist--everything has been one, giant April Fool's Day joke. Each "death" was just the point in which Muffy let a person in on the joke. There were plenty of clues to this revelation as well including many contrivances and the mention that Muffy is studying drama. Muffy reveals that she wants to turn the mansion into a murder-mystery vacation spot and used her friends as a test. The red herring characters were in on it too, but a few of the red herring plot points are addressed as jokes that did, in fact, get taken too far for the sake of realism. All of this is presented extremely well, but I can definitely understand viewers feeling cheated by that ending.
If you're the type that has seen it all when it comes to '80s slashers, this is one that can still stand out among the crowd. The story may not necessarily offer anything unique when compared to other contemporaries, but the revelation and lack of genuine deaths is certainly original for the era; I can't think of anything that comes close from the same time frame. I have always enjoyed this twist and its play on the genre, but I realize it can be viewed as cheap; just something to consider before watching. Likewise, the film is far from perfect with shoddy acting galore, poor character decisions, and a complete lack of true gore. Nonetheless, this is an enjoyable trip into '80s holiday horror and deviates enough from the norm to attract casual fans.
Notable Moment: Any scene with Biff hamming it up. I mean, come on, it's Biff!
Final Rating: 6.5/10
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