After all the promotional work I did for Travis Baker’s Mischief Night here at HorrorSociety.com, you knew my official review was coming sooner or later. Only question is: did the film meet my expectations? I’ll throw this up here to kick things off: THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS. DO NOT READ AHEAD IF YOU WANT TO AVOID SPOILERS.
Mischief Night is written and directed by Travis Baker and produced by Richard Tanne (Swamp Shark). Cast members include Brooke Anne Smith (“Awkward”), Marc Valera (“Melrose Place”), Nikki Limo (Smiley), Matt Angel (My Super Psycho Sweet 16), Malcolm McDowell (Rob Zombie’s Halloween, Silent Night), Erik Palladino (“666 Park Ave”), and Lilly McDowell (“Sons of Anarchy”).
“The night before Halloween, a teenage babysitter is stalked by a masked killer; but in an unusual turn of events, victim and victimizer begin to develop romantic feelings for each other.”
It is important for me as a reviewer to mention just what fans will expect when purchasing a movie. The world of marketing and promotion is a tricky place and often films are marketed to fans without staying true to the genre and tone of the movie. Being that this is a horror film website, I think the biggest question is, considering the romance mentioned in the synopsis, is Mischief Night a real horror film or not? My answer is a confident yes, Mischief Night is a real horror film, however, it doesn’t follow the traditional scary movie format. If I examine the movie as three parts – beginning, middle, and end – then it would be horror movie, romantic thriller, and horror movie. The only difference in format between Mischief Night and other babysitter vs. slasher movies is that where other titles would be amping their way up to the climax, Mischief Night is devoting its time to exploring a very complex relationship.
With that said, this movie has all stylings of a typical horror feature – the night before Halloween, a babysitter all alone in an unfamiliar house, jump scares and suspense, cat and mouse games between the killer and the survivor girl, and random killings sprinkled intermittently. Do you really think After Dark Films would have distributed this title with Lionsgate if it wasn’t a real horror film?
Speaking of the survivor girl, Kaylie (played by Brooke Anne Smith) is probably one of the most complex characters ever written. There are so many layers of development to her, that have to be agonizingly pulled back every ten minutes. She receives such a full transformation that by the end of the movie, she is a completely different person. At the beginning she is sweet and very much the girl next door, but still, something about her seems a little off. It isn’t until a particular scene where she is tied to a chair that you really get the full scope of how damaged she is. I would love to have a sequel to this movie only to see how her character would progress next. The Man (played by Marc Valera) is also a complex being, but you don’t get to see his emotional inner struggles until the end of the movie. And while we’re talking about characters here… If you’re wondering how big Malcolm McDowell’s role is, do not fear! He appears in the beginning and at the end of the movie! A solid ten minutes of Malcolm McDowell is worthy the rental!
Examining Mischief Night from a production standpoint, it is cohesively flawless. While interviewing the cast and crew of this film, I was made aware of the very long days and nights that made up principal photography of Mischief Night. Long hours on a film set is commonplace, but the fact that co-star Marc Valera slept on set some nights goes to show you just how dedicated everyone was to bringing horror fans a high quality production. I’m not sure what the real budget for this was, but to me it looks like it was made with at least half a million dollars. Independent, yes, but with a lot of the format and etiquette you’d get from a big Hollywood film. Cinematographer Sean O’Dea, editor Joe Lyndquist, production designer Tenniel Chu, assistant director Andrew Spieler, special effects artist Conor McCullaugh, and of course Travis Baker and Richard Tanne all deserve a round of applause for making it feel like Halloween in May/June. I can’t think of one thing to nitpick about the quality of the film.
I’m going to rate this one an 8 out of 10, folks! Check it out if you get the chance!
