Halloween Night

'Mischief Night' did intrigue me first hearing of it, when it appeared in my recommended for you section. This was when reviewing another low-budget horror recently as part of one of my many completest quests. The concept was pretty great and could have been quite creative and the cover looked very creepy.

Unfortunately, the potential 'Mischief Night' had was not lived up to. There are definitely far worse films, at least 'Mischief Night' didn't insult my intelligence or make me regret even watching it. It did leave me feel frustrated because it could have been good, was not expecting originality but was sort of hoping that it would be engaging, entertaining and scary, neither of which were there enough. There are moments, but we don't want moments, consistency in my mind is preferable. This is not coming from somebody with a bias against low-budget, far from it, there are some good ones out there that overcome budget limitations. Nor is it coming from somebody who wanted to hate it, would never do that with any film.

As said, 'Mischief Night' has its moments and good points. It doesn't look too bad, some atmospheric lighting, an unsettling setting and some style in the photography. There is some creepiness and a sense of unease, a few did make me jump or bite my nails.

Nor is the acting a complete disgrace. Not incredible certainly, but they at least try. Noell Coet and underused Ally Walker come off best. The music has some eeriness.

However, the story does lack tension and suspense on the most part and suffers from a generally dull pace, too many easily foreseeable moments and that a potentially creative premise has very ordinary execution. The kills, which are not many, are not scary or innovative and they are also pretty tame, lack build up and treated indifferently. Things don't make sense either, something that is apparent as early on as the confused and far from relevant opening, everything just comes over as vague and the conclusion feels unfinished.

Script is full of awkwardness and cheese, the direction is lethargic and the characters are underdeveloped and in some cases annoying. The editing can lack cohesion, with continuity errors and inconsistencies to fill a novel the size of the longest Stephen King book, and limitations show in the cheap effects. Didn't get any threat out of the villains.

Overall, far from a complete mess but the severely lacking execution of the story ruins it. 4/10 Bethany Cox

I might be a little out of touch, but I'm pretty sure "Mischief Night" - if that's even a thing - never involved breaking and entering, stealing car keys and cellphones, disabling cars, cutting landlines, and otherwise shoving large knifes into people's throat.

TIPS for blind people:

Never walk around barefoot - especially if you've dropped glass on the floor.

Keep television volume at low to medium so you can still hear your surroundings.

Don't use headphones to listen to music thereby removing one of your few remaining critical senses.

Keep your cellphone on your person AT ALL TIMES.

Keep your lifesaving asthma inhaler on your person AT ALL TIMES.

There's really no reason to ever keep your blinds open.

Don't go running through an open field at full speed - you're blind!

This is yet another movie where EVERYONE walks around - even when responding to emergencies - with a cell phone that's dead or nearly dead.

Poor Emily is told to "Stay here" literally 4 times (I counted) - once by boyfriend Jimmy and 3 times her Dad. And things still went horribly wrong.

Emily, for what it's worth, has the DUMBEST "smart" phone in the world - because APPARENTLY it can't distinguish the words "home" from "cell" from "Dad" from "911" - arguably the most rudimentary words in its audio file.

And when Jimmy and Emily decide they must leave the house IMMEDIATELY to avoid a potential killer, Jimmy decides he wants to walk down memory lane and paw through sentimental photos. Then he decides it's more urgent to look for bandaids than to get out the house to flee the killer.

And, the idea that after your leg is half amputated by a CHAINSAW, you can simply "hobble around" silently thereafter is quite ludicrous.

All these annoyances aside, the movie was still intriguing and somewhat entertaining to watch. The better of these movies of the genre have the blind girl use her blindness to better clever advantage than here. But it was still a decent thriller.

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.

I went into this film with zero expectations and was *very* pleasantly surprised. Film is about a teenager, Emily, who becomes blind after being in a car accident that killed her mother. The actress playing Emily, Noell Coet, turns in a very strong performance. I can see her becoming a major star. The movie suggests Emily's blindness is psychosomatic. Anyhow, Emily and her father move into a house, where we see the previous occupants get slaughtered on "Mischief Night". Well, Mischief Night is back, and the miscreant who killed there before is back. Except this time, Emily's dad has left on a date and Emily is alone. The psycho killer enters the house and eventually a taut game of cat and mouse ensues between the killer and this blind girl. The killer is scary and there are some scenes that are very creepy. There are a few things in the film that are not explained (which I won't reveal), but in the end, they don't detract from the film. If you want a good suspenseful movie, check this one out!!