10 Most Ridiculous Horror Movie Plot Twists

8. April Fool’s Day (1988) - Everything Is A Dress Rehearsal

april fool's day
Paramount Pictures

Oh, the 80s... hair was feathered, shorts were denim, and horror was good.

For those looking for campy B-movie fun or masterful scary cinema, the 1980s has everything you need. One such entry on the campier end of the spectrum is 1988’s April Fool’s Day. Sporting a colourful cast of unironically cliché teens (no offence to people actually named ‘Chaz’), this romp centres around a group of young adults getting ‘pranked to death’ on a spring break mansion getaway.

You heard right: “pranked to death”. That is what this movie is about. Beginning with innocent enough pranks such as whoopee cushions and exploding cigars, the stakes gradually increase to start picking off the core group of teens one-by-one in garish, twisted ways.

Just after the dust has settled and you’ve done your mourning, the film gut punches you with the reveal that the deaths seen in the movie were all pranks themselves. Yes, the twist of April Fool’s Day is that the group of teens we thought were getting slaughtered are actually involved in a kind of dress rehearsal for the ‘horror resort’ that they intend on opening up.

You’d think that this alone would be enough to satiate even the most shock-starved viewer - but wait, there’s more. This movie offers two twists for the price of one when, after this revelation, one of the teens appears to slit another’s throat for real... but that that too was a fun final pull on the thread of the audience’s sanity.

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Dan is a writer and actor originally from South Australia who now lives in a constant state of anxiety... and Los Angeles. Whether writing about movies, watching movies, or binging the Great British Bake-off, Dan approaches any endeavour with a steely resolve which is rivalled only by his ability to lie about his strengths. For professional inquiries, call Melissa Cropley - Dan's mum; she wishes he would call more often and you'd really be doing him a favour.