Well we are way past Halloween, but this little gem of a horror flick should not be passed up. Now on DVD Mischief Night puts on a very disturbing show that tantalizes and terrorizes right up to the very end. While the story does get somewhat predictable, it’s the getting to the end that makes it a winner. You’ll be wary of the egging on the night before Halloween after seeing this demented home invasion flick.
The film opens on October 30th best known as mischief night with a couple making love in an upstairs bathtub. At the sound of the TV all of a sudden turning on in the house the male gets a baseball bat and goes to see if her husband has returned. When he doesn’t return for his search the woman goes to find out what happened to her lover. The scene gets played out with a disastrous note for the two of them.
Switch to another family in the same house a year later and we find Emily (Noell Coet) a teenager fending for herself and psychosomatically blind as a result of a car accident that took the life of her mother. Her father (Daniel Hugh Kelly) sets out for his first date since the death of his wife nine years earlier leaving Emily alone. After he leaves the house gets egged by someone causing Emily to be nervous, so she calls her boyfriend Tommy (Ian Bamberg). So begins a night of relentless terror and blood.
While you have probably seen other home invasion films before, this one does have a few twists that those may not have had. Director and co-writer Richard Schenkman keeps the tension level high with the use of a character that is blind. He also uses a lot of setups that you realize later were not the answers to who may be causing all the damage. He moves his film along at a pretty fast pace holding the intensity throughout once the horror begins.
The main characters are the newbie’s, while support has many seasoned actors that carry the main scenes. Playing the main role Noell Coet puts on a very good show making me a believer that she is blind in all of her scenes. Even newcomer Ian Bamberg steps up to the plate with a very good performance as Jimmy the boyfriend of Emily who finds himself immersed in her ordeal. Creating a worried father and one who has to deal directly with the intruders at one point, pro actor Daniel Hugh Kelly does a great job of showing his concern and love for his daughter.
Mischief Night has not been rated by the MPAA but does contain violence, language, gore and extreme peril. You may want to see the film first before deciding to allow immature children see the film as it does have some scenes that are very inappropriate for adolescents.
The DVD has a special bonus feature that’s actually very interesting. Mischief Night behind the scenes introduces the stars and their roles in the film. Most of the actors did their own stunts and it shows how the killing was done. Director Richard Schenkman warns the viewers not to watch this special feature until they have seen the film as it gives away a lot of plot points.
The video quality is adequate on DVD and there are very few low light scenes that are hard to imagine what is going on. The scenes where most of the killing is shown are not visually up in your face graphic like in most films of this ilk, but strong enough to get the “point” across.
The sound quality using the Dolby Digital 5.1 works just fine. All the dialogue is easily understood, the special sound effects chilling and I even experienced some surround sound using my upgraded sound system.
Specifications and additional film information:
Cast: Noell Coet, Daniel Hugh Kelly, Ian Bamberg, Charlie O’Connell, Erica Leerhsen, Stephanie Erb and Ally Walker
Director: Richard Schenkman
MPAA Rating: Unrated
Genre: Horror, Thriller
Running Time: 1 hr 26 min
Video Release Date: December 17, 2013
Original Film Release Date:
Language: English
Format: DVD
Audio: Dolby Digital 5.1
Video: Widescreen Aspect Ratio 2.35:1
Subtitles: CC
Number of Discs: 1 Disc
Distributed by: RLJ Entertainment
