Jay Maeder of the "New York Daily News" gave the film a scathing review, awarding it zero stars and spoiling the film's surprise ending, writing that it "is so offensively witless that we take a real pleasure in giving it away." Joe Baltake of the Escondido "Times-Advocate" panned the film based on its sexual content, comparing it to the "Friday the 13th" series, adding that "none of the mayhem keeps its characters from putting the make on one another or even stopping to have sex. Some of the screams in the night here could imply either brutality or sexuality. "April Fool's Day" is a film that confuses the two."