Mischief Night

MISCHIEF NIGHT is a pretty lacklustre movie that feels entirely derivative of previous, better films in the genre. There are elements of THE STRANGERS here in the presence of masked villains who say very little and creep around houses, alongside throwbacks to the classic 'blind woman' thrillers like WAIT UNTIL DARK. Another blind woman thriller I saw recently was the Michael Keaton-starring PENTHOUSE NORTH, which is about on par with this one.

After a fairly confused and irrelevant opening sequence, we're introduced to the usual type of premise: there's a young blind woman in a house on her own at night, on "mischief night" of all things, which is when houses get egged and the like (it's sort of a tamer version of THE PURGE). Inevitably the bad guys show up with murder in mind, and there's a lot of tiptoeing back and forth and suspense scenes involving broken glass, poor mobile phone signals, and the like.

Sadly this is the type of film where we've seen it all before, and it doesn't help that the lead character is completely unsympathetic so I had no particular desire to see her make it through the night. The filmmakers try very hard to make this frightening and suspenseful, but if I'm honest I was bored by it all.

It was watchable because the acting was actually OK. it was the lack of story line that sucked. There was no explanation for anything and no twist since there was really no plot. I guess a cheap stab (pun intended), at copying the purge. Bit of a let down. poorly written, which is too bad since the directing seemed good. This review needs 10 line to be able to be posted so ill drivel on but i think the first four lines sums it up. I wouldn't buy this movie in the $1 bin but if you can watch it for free it will kill some time. I truly believe American cinema as well as some well known authors think the story solely lies on the way to the end. I however believe there should be some sort of reason and surprise to the end. I don't care how delicious orange sherbet is, if there is no gum ball at the bottom it is not a cannon ball.

"Mischief Night" was actually a nice surprise. I hadn't initially expected much from this movie, but still decided to watch it. And it turned out to be a rather good movie actually.

The story is about a teenage girl, Emily (played by Noell Coet), who is rendered blind after a tragic car accident with her mother. Now on October 30th, what is known as Mischief Night, where youngsters play physical pranks on people and houses alike, Emily is about to stay at home all by herself, as her father (played by Daniel Hugh Kelly) is about to head out on a date after 9 years of solitude after his wife died. However, things quickly turn to horror as Emily is terrorized by an unknown assailant, who eventually gets inside the house.

Storywise, then "Mischief Night" was entertaining and thrilling, with just the right amount of thrills and twists of events to keep the movie fresh and interesting. If you are here for a slasher movie, then you will be sorely disappointed.

The acting was quite good, despite the relative small ensemble of cast members. Noell Coet was nicely cast for the lead role, and she carried the movie quite nicely.

The movie cover says "the lucky ones die quickly", well that is sort of misleading as this movie isn't particularly high on body count. So don't get your hopes up on that account.

"Mischief Night" is entertaining and should be on your to-watch-list if you enjoy thrillers.

Reviewed by: Dare Devil Kid (DDK) Rating: 1.5/5 stars

A mediocre, run-of-the-mill horror film, with a done-to-death plot, flimsy back-story, and completely derivative scare elements, which we can now conjure up ourselves even in a state of slumber.

This weak endeavor at chilling our senses might have encountered some moderate success 10 to 15 years ago, but now with the gargantuan influx of myriad horror films that have flooded our cinema halls and DVD shelves, such a derivative film must at least be treated uniquely and the characters need to be given some depth to make it enjoyable for the viewers.

This movie so much like "The Purge", or otherwise it is pale copy of it.

Also this movie "Mischief Night" does not show the real connection of the first event (the lovers who are killed in the beginning) with the second event (father and daughter who are struggling for their survival) about how come father and daughter in the same house without first being aware what happened before; which is the real reason for doing this intruders, whether for fun, revenge or something else? Are they the same intruders from the beginning? Who are they really? - because you are constantly expecting an epilogue at the end and like many other movies comes to smaller or larger disappointment.