Let’s All Go to the Lobby to Get Ourselves Some Meat! – APRIL FOOL’S DAY (1986)

Picture it: Los Angeles – Spring, 1986. Me and my friend were rabid Jason Voorhees fans, and so the notion that there was a new horror film coming from “the makers of FRIDAY THE 13th” was enough to get our asses in the seats on opening weekend.

Well, I have to admit that I was a bit disappointed walking out from seeing APRIL FOOL’S DAY. For those who haven’t seen the film yet (get with it!), I won’t blow the surprise ending, but the whole thing just seemed too fucking unsure of itself for my taste. I saw it again a few years ago and didn’t think much better of it, but there’s something interesting about how director Fred Walton seemed to pull the rug out from under audiences and their expectations. The film wasn’t a true horror film…or a comedy, for that matter. It certainly wasn’t a dumb skin flick, but it wasn’t exactly a cerebral workout, either. This cinematic identity crisis more than likely was the reason it stalled a couple weeks into its release and was quickly shuffled out of multiplexes.

Forty years on, I’m still not sure what demographic Walton, Paramount, and executive producer Frank Mancuso, Jr. were aiming for, but it certainly is different, I’ll give it that.

#letsallgotothelobbytogetourselvessomemeat #aprilfoolsday #fredwalton #frankmancusojr #paramount