April Fools Day: The Biff Tannen Fan Club is Now in Session.

Something about this VHS cover always sparked my interest as a child. It wasn't especially scary but I just loved the way the woman had her hair braided into a noose and the knife she was hiding behind her back. I think I always had a really hard time picturing someone being able to strangle someone with a noose braid, but other than that- this movie has always interested me and I'm surprised I waited so long to see it.

The movie begins with some preppy hos and guys waiting for the ferry to take them over to Muffy St. John's mansion where she is hosting a lovely weekend getaway. Right away we are dealt a very important piece of advice- that it is April Fools Day. Once the boat arrives there is an unfortunate accident and one of the guys gets his eye severely gouged out- April Fools joke or serious injury? I don't know it looks pretty bloody- and he was under the water for such a brief amount of time- how he could apply a latex wound to his head?? After this mishap things start to go from bad to worse. Muffy is big into the April Fools Pranks- champagne glasses that make you spill all over yourself, faucets that spray out at you, haywire lighting, and a tape of a baby crying hidden in a closet- the girl is a prank pro. Soon people start dropping like flies and after uncovering some startling information about their host- the surviving party goers must escape with their lives before it's too late.

I had a lot of fun watching this movie and was strangely entertained the whole time. It reminded me of Clue- one of my guilty pleasures- and also felt like And Then There Were None. It's a whodunit with some added blood and fun- what could be better?! Nothing is overly gorey in this and nothing is really crap your pants scary- but it was still extremely fun to watch. The discovery of the dolls in the attic and even some of the harmless pranks were kind of creepy. The baby crying was really...weird. and I loved the portrait with the eyes that moved revealing one of those cat clocks.

But the best part by far was the appearance of one of my favorite characters of all time.....

BIFF TANNEN


Biff's character is great- still kind of a major douche but lovable in his own special way. Ooh Biff.

Now a word about the ending- which I will not reveal. Some people have a problem with it but I rather enjoyed it. From the very first scene you should learn that you really shouldn't take anything these characters do too much to heart. It is April Fools Day after all.

The best moments for me were the evil jack-in-the-box in the beginning, that shot of the hotdog being squished out of the package (yes it looked like a dong.) The fact that Muffy's name is Muffy, and the bloody barbie dolls in the attic.

Overall I feel that this movie is very underrated. I've heard pretty much no one talk about it and I was pleasantly surprised that it wasn't a snoozer. Sure there's not a lot of blood or boobs- make that no boobs actually. But there is a movie that will keep you entertained and trying to guess what the hell is going on and who is wearing those awful Jason Voorhees type boots? They are also apparently remaking this- and while I am against remakes I am curious to see how they will handle this- probably make it more into a slasher film than a horror comedy/ easy on the gore heavy on the smiles type thing. We shall see.
I also extremely enjoyed the song that played during the credits- which you can listen to after the trailer.