Shattered Ravings
Movie Review – Mischief Night (2014)
I thought I had seen every babysitter-versus-slasher-flick-idea ever imagined…but boy, was I wrong! Just when I think I have a genre solidified, an inventive filmmaker comes along and completely changes the game. Such is the case with MISCHIEF NIGHT. Director Travis Baker (no relation) turns the babysitter-versus-slasher concept upside down with this slick fright-fest, and the result is a terrifying trek into the bizarre!
If you are not familiar with MISCHIEF NIGHT, here is the plot synopsis courtesy of Lionsgate:
On the night before Halloween, young Kaylie is at work babysitting when she’s warned by a local night watchman not to answer the door, because nothing good can happen on “Mischief Night.” Soon, Kaylie realizes someone is stalking her. But on “Mischief Night,” nothing is as it seems. They say “Danger is on the other side of the door.” But they never said which side of the door you’re on.
Don’t confuse this After Dark Original film with the 2013 movie of the same title. The two are very different and have nothing to do with one another. But be sure to check this one out, as it is a very original take on an existing horror sub-genre.
MISCHIEF NIGHT starts out like any other film in this category, with the proverbial babysitter home alone with her charge while the parents are away. When strange things begin to happen, she reacts as every sitter does: locking the doors and windows while arming herself. But this is where the similarities end; the audience quickly realizes this girl is not like others before her…not by a long shot.
The film is made well and looks good onscreen. The production value seems high, and there’s really not a specific area where anything is lacking. The film overall is solid and moves at a nice pace.
The cast in MISCHIEF NIGHT do a great job with their roles, which is one of the reasons this movie succeeds. I always enjoy seeing Malcolm McDowell onscreen, and this film is no exception. To be honest, he’s not in the film that much, but enough so to give him due credit. And I have to commend Brooke Ann Smith with her portrayal of the main character, Kaylie. I have not seen Smith’s work before, but she plays this multilayered character with ease. I enjoyed her performance and look forward to seeing more of what she can do.
The special effects are pretty good as well, and there’s even a nice bit of gore (albeit a small dose). I would have preferred more carnage from a slasher flick, but what we get to see is nice. I particularly like the teenage prick that gets disemboweled. He definitely gets what he deserves, and the effects do the scene justice.
The story of MISCHIEF NIGHT is what really wins here, though. I love how this film takes the traditional babysitter slasher and completely changes it up. I didn’t see this twist coming, and it makes for an entertaining thrill ride throughout the film.
MISCHIEF NIGHT is a big win for me, and I recommend giving it a look. The film is available now in a variety of formats.
Horror Society
On the night before Halloween, her father is heading out on his first date since his wife died, leaving Emily home alone for the evening. Her plans for a quiet evening are shattered when a mysterious intruder stalks and terrorizes her, not yet familiar with her new surroundings, she must use her heightened senses to protect herself and her family in order to surviveMischief Night.
The acting is great across the board. Both Noell Coet as Emily and Daniel Hugh Kelly as her father turn in wonderful performances, but it’s Coet that really stands out. Her performance as a blind teenager trying to use her heightened senses of smell and hearing to escape from the intruder was remarkable for a young actor.
Horror Society
Starring: Noell Coet, Ian Bamberg, Adam C. Edwards, Stephanie Erb, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Erica Leerhsen, Charlie O’Connell, and Ally Walker
Directed by: Richard Schenkman
Written by: Jesse Baget (story), Eric D. Wilkinson (story), and Richard Schenkman (screenplay)
Running time: 87 minutes
Rated: Not rated (contains adult language, adult situations, graphic violence)
Mischief night is celebrated on October 30th in very small areas of the East Coast, primarily New Jersey and certain
parts of Michigan. It has also been practiced in the UK and parts of Europe. On Mischief night, youngsters participate in pranks and minor vandalism including soaping windows, egging houses, toilet papering trees, play ditch ‘em doorbell, and other mostly harmless mischief as a pre-cursor to Halloween the next day. In director Richard Schenkman’s Mischief Night, the holiday takes on a far deadlier significance.
parts of Michigan. It has also been practiced in the UK and parts of Europe. On Mischief night, youngsters participate in pranks and minor vandalism including soaping windows, egging houses, toilet papering trees, play ditch ‘em doorbell, and other mostly harmless mischief as a pre-cursor to Halloween the next day. In director Richard Schenkman’s Mischief Night, the holiday takes on a far deadlier significance.
Emily (Noell Coet) is a teenager who suffers from blindness ever since a horrific car accident that took her mother’s life when she was a child. Emily has adapted remarkably well to her blindness in the nine years since her car accident, but she still sees a psychiatrist regularly, played by Ally Walker (Profiler, Universal Soldier) because she blames herself for her mother’s death. She and her father, played by Daniel Hugh Kelly (Cujo) have recently moved into a huge new house in a seemingly secluded neighborhood.
On the night before Halloween, her father is heading out on his first date since his wife died, leaving Emily home alone for the evening. Her plans for a quiet evening are shattered when a mysterious intruder stalks and terrorizes her, not yet familiar with her new surroundings, she must use her heightened senses to protect herself and her family in order to surviveMischief Night.
Mischief Night is another film in the ever growing home invasion horror sub-genre that’s becoming so popular these days. The premise is beginning to feel tired and worn out, and the story is not as clever as the filmmakers would like it to be. A blind girl being terrorized by a killer is nothing new; it was done to much better effect in 1967’s superior thriller, Wait Until Dark. Although the story is nothing new, I have to give the writers a little bit of credit for trying to think outside the box. Ultimately though, it just doesn’t work, the film has a problem with believability.
The biggest problem I had, and it was a film killer for me, is the reason for motivation or lack thereof for the intruder. There is absolutely no rhyme or reason as to why the intruder is stalking and terrorizing this young blind girl, it doesn’t make sense. Are we supposed to just believe the intruder picked this girl and this house to randomly attack without anything to tie them together? I can use suspension of disbelief for a lot of films, but there has to be at least the tiniest of reasons to do so. At one point, the story was leading to what I thought was the reason for the attack, but that plot device turned out to be a dead end, leaving me again wondering what the motivation for this was all about. There is a scene where the intruder is asked why he was doing all this, and he says…”It’s Mischief night.” I’m sorry, but I need more than that for the story to make sense.
I may be too picky here, but there is another scene that really bothered me. A scene where Emily leaves her house and
is fleeing across a huge open field while being pursued by the intruder, she stumbles and trips over a body in the middle of the field that allows for a shameless tension builder as her stalker nearly catches up to her. OK, it’s a large open field and Emily could’ve ran in any number of directions, she just happens to run in a line that puts her directly in the path of a dead body to trip over, c’mon.
is fleeing across a huge open field while being pursued by the intruder, she stumbles and trips over a body in the middle of the field that allows for a shameless tension builder as her stalker nearly catches up to her. OK, it’s a large open field and Emily could’ve ran in any number of directions, she just happens to run in a line that puts her directly in the path of a dead body to trip over, c’mon.
On the plus side, the film is shot and directed beautifully. It looks absolutely gorgeous. The director makes wonderful use of the house and the shadows that lurk in all the nooks and crannies are used to great effect. There are also a couple of good gore set-pieces that stand out in the film that I wasn’t expecting.
The acting is great across the board. Both Noell Coet as Emily and Daniel Hugh Kelly as her father turn in wonderful performances, but it’s Coet that really stands out. Her performance as a blind teenager trying to use her heightened senses of smell and hearing to escape from the intruder was remarkable for a young actor.
I really wanted to like Mischief Night, it looks so good and is such a competently shot film, the filmmakers were really trying to create a story they thought would work, but for me, it didn’t. Ultimately, I couldn’t get past the story’s shortcomings enough to wholeheartedly recommend this film, I can only mildly recommend it.
2 ½ out of 5 Pentagrams!
Watch the trailer for Mischief Night here:
Full Movie on NovaMov
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