Mischief Night (2013 Schenkman film)

Plot

Emily Walton is a young woman who suffers from psychosomatic blindness caused by a car accident that killed her mother. Emily is trying to adjust to her blindness and at the same time is being smothered by her father. On Mischief Night, when her father goes out on a date leaving her alone, she is terrorized by a hooded figure. Emily must fight for her life in order to survive and protect herself and everyone she holds dear from the intruder.

Cast

Production

It's been a mad dash, but we've made it across the finish line and Mischief Night is finished. I could not be more pleased with how it all came together. It looks great and sounds great. The score by Anastasia Devana is powerful and evocative, Richard Vialet's photography is beautiful, and the entire cast gave it everything they had. I think we've made a film which not only will please genre fans, but also a more general audience.

Release

Mischief Night was released on DVD on October 30, 2013. The film also had a limited theatrical release at the same time.

Reception

Critical reception for the film has been mostly positive.

Jamie S. Rich from The Oregonian gave the film a positive review stating, "It works fairly well, and “Mischief Night” should make for a pretty good pregame show the night before Halloween". Felix Vasquez Jr. from Cinema Crazed.com stated in his review on the film, "Surely it won’t win awards for originality, but it takes a pretty old idea and transforms it in to a very entertaining stalk and slash horror film worth watching". Alan Spencer from Cinesploitation.com gave the film a positive review stating, "Mischief Night is based more on execution and suspense rather than bloodletting. If you’ve seen them all, I say give this one a try. It stands out against the current standard slasher tripe". Eric Havens from Downright Creepy.com however gave the film a negative review stating, "It’s not the fact that Mischief Night is shallow and superficial that makes it such a disappointment, however. It is the obvious moments of promise. With certain allusions to possible themes and story arcs, it becomes very disheartening to see those allusions continually ignored and abandoned. What could have been a fleshed out story of a girl dealing with grief and guilt becomes nothing but a scream session filled with vague intentions and no real resolution. While this fits in fine with the theory of horror film as symbolic sacrifice, it does little to make Mischief Night a good film".

Awards

The film was nominated at the Saturn Awards for best DVD/Blu-ray Release.