I've been following these filmmakers (clicking on Schenkman's and Wilkinson's IMDb pages) since "The Man From Earth". I loved that film and their output since has been hit or miss. From looking at their filmographies, it appears that this is the first movie they have made together since that film and I have to say, they are much better filmmakers as a team.
For me, Mischief Night was a lot of fun. While one might consider this as just another entry into the slasher genre or the home invasion genre, at the same time they have introduced some original elements to it that separates Mischief Night from it's bigger budgeted counterparts. The story is simple... On the night before Halloween, a blind girl is left alone as her widowed father goes out on his first date in almost a decade. An intruder enters the house (returning to the scene of a grisly murder he performed at the very same house, presumably a year before) to wreak havoc. Now the blind girl must defend herself in any way possible to stay alive.
LIGHT SPOILERS: I loved the idea of having the "killer" right in front of his prey and she doesn't even know it. The other thing I enjoyed was the fact that the filmmakers didn't even give the "intruder" a motive or any back story (not unlike The Strangers or Halloween... Michael was just "pure evil"). It just made the proceedings WAY creepier. The film is more of a throwback to Halloween, than anything else (let's face it, Halloween was a "home invasion film" way before we were calling them home invasion films). And like Halloween (including the late October setting), Mischief Night is also kinda light on gore. Since it was a slasher film of sorts, I was expecting more blood and guts (it has just enough few bloody shots to satisfy fans of the genre, but nothing overtly graphic like a Saw or Hostel). LIGHT SPOILERS OVER
The acting was also surprisingly top notch with kudos going out to the relatively unknown Noell Coet (as the blind girl), Daniel Hugh "Hardcastle" Kelly as the dad and Adam Edwards (also never heard of), who actually brought some personality to the killer, despite having nothing but one line in the whole film. Yes, there was some inexplicable but typical "horror movie behavior" from the characters (going upstairs? Going BACK to the house? Really?), but I also got the sense the film was playing to the expectations of the genre but attempting to do something new at the same time.
Overall, I liked it. Its MUCH better than the typical DTV fare (It said it had a theatrical release on October 30 on iTunes but I couldn't find it... I just rented it there). Just check your brain at the door, give in to the movie and you'll have a lot of fun. If I can find it for less than $10 when it comes out on DVD, I'd add it to my collection.
For me, Mischief Night was a lot of fun. While one might consider this as just another entry into the slasher genre or the home invasion genre, at the same time they have introduced some original elements to it that separates Mischief Night from it's bigger budgeted counterparts. The story is simple... On the night before Halloween, a blind girl is left alone as her widowed father goes out on his first date in almost a decade. An intruder enters the house (returning to the scene of a grisly murder he performed at the very same house, presumably a year before) to wreak havoc. Now the blind girl must defend herself in any way possible to stay alive.
LIGHT SPOILERS: I loved the idea of having the "killer" right in front of his prey and she doesn't even know it. The other thing I enjoyed was the fact that the filmmakers didn't even give the "intruder" a motive or any back story (not unlike The Strangers or Halloween... Michael was just "pure evil"). It just made the proceedings WAY creepier. The film is more of a throwback to Halloween, than anything else (let's face it, Halloween was a "home invasion film" way before we were calling them home invasion films). And like Halloween (including the late October setting), Mischief Night is also kinda light on gore. Since it was a slasher film of sorts, I was expecting more blood and guts (it has just enough few bloody shots to satisfy fans of the genre, but nothing overtly graphic like a Saw or Hostel). LIGHT SPOILERS OVER
The acting was also surprisingly top notch with kudos going out to the relatively unknown Noell Coet (as the blind girl), Daniel Hugh "Hardcastle" Kelly as the dad and Adam Edwards (also never heard of), who actually brought some personality to the killer, despite having nothing but one line in the whole film. Yes, there was some inexplicable but typical "horror movie behavior" from the characters (going upstairs? Going BACK to the house? Really?), but I also got the sense the film was playing to the expectations of the genre but attempting to do something new at the same time.
Overall, I liked it. Its MUCH better than the typical DTV fare (It said it had a theatrical release on October 30 on iTunes but I couldn't find it... I just rented it there). Just check your brain at the door, give in to the movie and you'll have a lot of fun. If I can find it for less than $10 when it comes out on DVD, I'd add it to my collection.