10 More Horror Movies That Lied About Their Premise

9. April Fool's Day Was One Giant Joke

April Fool's Day
Paramount Pictures

1986's April Fool's Day was promoted as a fairly run-of-the-mill slasher, with the action taking place on the "secluded island estate" of Muffy St. John.

You see, Muffy is a minted sort who invites her cousin and his pals to her lavish mansion for a weekend of fun. Ever the prankster, Muffy has a few tricks up her sleeves for her guests. Well, until the dead bodies start piling up and its revealed that Muffy is actually Buffy, Muffy's murderous twin sister - complete with Muffy's severed head being discovered.

Again, for the time of its release, this was all fairly formulaic stuff. For better or worse, though, April Fool's Day was all built on a lie; a lie that the audience doesn't become aware of until they've sat through the bulk of the film's 90-minute runtime.

That lie is that Buffy really was Muffy, and all of the deaths throughout the movie had been staged as one big trick by Muffy. Oh, how we all laughed...

It's explained that Muffy intends to turn her mansion into a haunted house attraction, and so was merely trying out her gags, complete with Hollywood SFX, and somehow all of her guests were just playing along. Yeah, it makes less sense the more you think about it.

Some view April Fool's Day as having a fantastic twist ending, while others felt they'd totally wasted their time watching a horror movie that technically has zero kills.

Senior Writer
Senior Writer

Once described as the Swiss Army Knife of WhatCulture, Andrew can usually be found writing, editing, or presenting on a wide range of topics. As a lifelong wrestling fan, horror obsessive, and comic book nerd, he's been covering those topics professionally as far back as 2010. In addition to his current WhatCulture role of Senior Content Producer and Presenter, Andrew previously spent nearly a decade as Online Editor and Lead Writer for the world's longest-running genre publication, Starburst Magazine, and his work has also been featured on BBC, TechRadar, Tom's Guide, WhatToWatch, Sportkskeeda, and various other outlets, in addition to being a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic. Between his main day job, his role as lead panel host of Wales Comic Con, and his gig as a pre-match host for Wrexham AFC games, Andrew has also carried out a hugely varied amount of interviews, from the likes of Robert Englund and Eli Roth to Kevin Smith and the Russo Brothers, to Kevin Conroy and Frank Miller, to Bret Hart and Sting, to Mickey Thomas, Joey Jones, Phil Parkinson, and Brian Flynn, to many, many more. Where his beloved Wrexham AFC is concerned, Andrew is a long-standing season ticket holder and an FSA Award-winner for his time co-hosting the Fearless in Devotion podcast.