15 Best April Fools Day Pranks: Practical Jokes from Movies

When it comes to the best April Fools Day pranks, it can be pretty hard to come up with great practical jokes to get back at your buddies. So it's a good thing that movies are here to inspire us with a slew of great pranks perfect for April Fools Day. However, as funny as the practical jokes in the following movies are, please don't actually do any of this stuff to anyone you know (use them for movies to watch on April Fools Day to honor the best pranks and practical jokes instead):

Porky's - When it comes to classic movies full of pranks to watch for April Fools day, you've got to check out this oldie but goodie. A group of guys are first all set up to believe that they're about to meet and greet Miss Cherry Forever, but thanks to the disturbing noises coming from the next room and what ensues, they end up believing that they just witnessed her murder. And so the bare-skinned buds are chased outside by a machete-wielding madman. This is one of the pranks from movies that I bet some guys out there have tried on April Fools Day, but I definitely would not recommend this one.

The Breakfast Club - So why did jock Andrew end up being a part of the Breakfast Club? He tried to pull one of the meanest practical jokes of teen movies: taping another student's butt cheeks together. This may not be one of the best movies for watching on April Fools Day, since the prank isn't ever shown, but it's still a lot of fun to watch. However, this is another of the pranks here I wouldn't recommend doing (back then it might have gotten you detention; today it would be considered sexual harassment).

Bride Wars - This is one of the movies that's best for watching on April Fools Day because it's loaded with mean-spirited pranks. Plus it's also one of the best April Fools Day movies for the ladies, since the fairer sex doesn't usually get to have as much fun as the guys. Tampering with a gal's mystic tan to make her orange; messing with hair dye to make a bride's "something blue" her new hairdo; and sending loads of sweets to an enemy so that she can't fit into her wedding dress are just a few of the pranks pulled here. So when it comes to movies for April Fools Day that focus on more feminine practical jokes, this is definitely one of the best.

Dumb and Dumber - Here's another of the movies on this list that's loaded with pranks, and one that's sure to be an April Fools Day favorite. How can we forget classic pranks like spiking your best bud's drink with a laxative right before he's supposed to meet up with a beautiful lady? There's also the old sell-a-dead-parrot-to-a-blind-kid prank and a practical joke that involves slipping extra-hot peppers into an unsuspecting diner's burger. However, out of all the pranks in 'Dumb and Dumber', my favorite has to be the free beer trick: tell a group of guys that you're going to buy them a beer. Walk up to the waitress and tell her that the guys offered to buy you the beer and to put it on their tab, and point to their table. They'll wave, thinking that they're simply showing the waitress where to bring the brews. Then drink up and get the hell out of there. But while this seems like one of the best April Fools Day pranks to pull, it's definitely not one I'd recommend. However, when it comes to movies for April Fools' Day, this is one of the best and dumbest.

Animal House - This is definitely one of the best movies to watch for April Fools' Day, not just because it's loaded with pranks and practical jokes, but because it's a hilarious classic. Of course the best prank has to be sneaking a spoiled frat brat's horse into the dean's office (although it's horrible that the poor horse hits the hay, eternally). Once again, definitely not one of the pranks from the movies that you want to try yourself, but one of my favorite movies for watching on April Fools Day.

Van Wilder - File this one under the grossest practical jokes from movies and one that you should never, ever try for April Fools Day or otherwise. Like 'Animal House', this movie involves a lot of college guys playing pranks on one another, but the King of Campus takes and bakes things a little too far by replacing the cream inside of a fraternity's pastries with something extremely disgusting. When it comes to April Fools Day pranks involving food, here's my advice: just watch movies like this and avoid potentially making somebody really sick.

Carrie - When it comes to pranks that really backfire, this is one of the movies on this list that might make you think twice about partaking in April Fools Day pranks. Making a girl prom queen just to dump a bucket of pigs' blood on her head is pretty cruel, and it could lead to the destruction and death of the whole school. So for April Fools Day pranksters looking to try and pull practical jokes on the downtrodden, this is one of the movies you definitely need to watch before April Fools Day.

Jawbreaker - And here's another of the movies on this list that features a prank gone horribly wrong, and another that proves that April Fools Day pranks involving food are a bad idea. In this instance, a girl is kidnapped by her friends on her birthday. They jam a jawbreaker in her mouth as a gag and toss her in the trunk of one of their cars, but their unfortunate pal chokes to death on the extra-large candy. Of course her pals attempt to cover up the accident, having to deal with the guilt and lying about what happened to her. Once again, you probably need to watch movies like this before planning your April Fools Day pranks.

Amelie - And here's one of the few movies that features pranks that aren't dangerous or disgusting to inspire you for April Fools Day. Amelie has a flight attendant take pictures of her father's garden gnome in different places around the world, making her father believe that his lawn decoration is a living globetrotter; sends long-lost love letters to a woman that misses her dead husband; and plays a few mean-spirited pranks on a neighbor that deserves it after she steals the key to his flat (like reversing the bathroom door knob and making his speed dial button that says "mother' dial a psychiatric helpline). So if you're looking for movies for April Fools Day that don't feature disgusting or horrible pranks, here's a fun film that features friendlier practical jokes.

Revenge of the Nerds - Nerds are known for being pretty smart guys, so it only makes sense that they would be behind some ingenuous pranks. Unfortunately, pretending to be a girl's boyfriend and letting things go too far is not a good idea, and it could get you in quite a bit of legal trouble. However, the "liquid heat" (muscle rub) in the jock straps idea was brilliant. Still, the practical jokes in this April Fools Day movie are best left to the nerdy experts.

Borat - This whole movie basically is one big prank, so where to begin? I love his hijacking of the rodeo (the pro-America remarks are riotous, and Borat almost manages to cause a riot), but the scene where he returns to a dinner table of genteel Southern folk with something most unsavory in a plastic baggy is one of the funniest moments of the movie. So if you're looking for movies featuring the most epic real practical jokes for April Fools Day, you won't do better than this one.

Bruno - But this is one of the movies that comes pretty close to 'Borat' when it comes to real practical jokes. Bruno tried to convince Paula Abdul to sit on his living furniture (two gardeners hired to be human chairs); did an interview with Ron Paul, treating him like RuPaul the entire time; pretended that he had a baby shipped to him in a box; and told a television audience that he had obtained the baby by swapping it for an iPod and was giving him a traditional African name: O.J. However, the homoerotic end sequence that takes place in a cage-fighting rink in front of a very angry homophobic crowd is truly epic. So this April Fools Day, forget your own silly little pranks and get schooled by the master with the only two movies on this list comprised of real practical jokes.

MASH - Working on the wounded during the middle of a war is one tough job. So what's the best way to deal with it? Practical jokes, of course. Hawkeye and the gang came up with plenty that are April Fools worthy here, but the best include exposing Hot Lips to the whole camp by raising the wall in the shower tent and giving a suicidal man a fake poisonous "black capsule" and then a nocturnal visit from a nurse to give him a new lease on life. And another of the best pranks from the movie includes anesthetizing an enemy ally and posing him with prostitutes as a form of blackmail. Once again, not pranks that you can try for April Fools Day, but all's fair in love and war (and movies).

American Graffiti - Amidst the moonings, cherry bombs, and Wolfman Jack's on-radio prank calls, this movie contains one of the biggest practical jokes of filmdom: to get initiated into a motorcycle gang, a crafty teen has to tie a cable onto the rear axle of cop car, securing the other end of the cable to a post. He succeeds, and when the cop car takes off after said gang as they speed away from the scene of the crime, the two wheels and axle are yanked off in a glorious display of sparks and screeching metal. But while it may be one of the best movie pranks of all time, try to pull something like this, and you'll be doing hard time.

Fast Times at Ridgemont High - Back when Sean Penn didn't always seem so angry, he was playing a surfer dude with a gnarly attitude, a toker and practical joker more worried about catching waves than making the grade. So what is his big claim to prankster fame? Having a pizza delivered to class (and you've also got to give kudos and a big tip to the pizza guy who complied with Spicoli's munchies-induced request).

HONORABLE MENTION:

Jaws - Learn this lesson from 'Jaws', kiddies: The fake shark fin in the water is never funny (and you might just be taunting the ocean gods into sending a real great white your way). It's not one of the best movies for April Fools day here, but it will definitely give you a good dose of pre-summer prank fear.

So if you're thinking about coming up with great April Fools Day pranks, please don't try any of these at home, but do enjoy watching some of the best movie pranks of all time in place of torturing a real human being.